In order to let Sir settle down on the boat, at night he not only has access to the Big Wide World via a cat flap and the cratch area at the front, but we normally let him have the run of the boat too. Which means he sometimes ends up asleep curled up at the foot of the bed.

At some awful hour of the night of our return from Sidmouth, there was a sound of Sir seemingly exercising his claws on the floor mat at the rear of the boat,in our bedroom. At the same time there was a gentle growling sound from a lump at the end of the bed. Didn’t know he was stereophonic!

Sure enough, a foreigner… who had not only come in under the cratch cover and through the cat flap, but strolled the entire length of the boat, past Sir’s food bowl without indulging, and right under our bed and out the other side, just to strop his claws.

Words have been had about the policy on guests and friends staying over…