98 Phil and madeleine maishman
Boat Description: Sailing ketch Length: 52 foot
Name: Cabo de Hornos Another couple with a river-loving cat is Phil and Madeleine Maish- man. They live on Cabo de Hornos (Cape Horn in Spanish) on the Kingswear side of the river with a very vocal oriental cat called Nikita. “Kita, as we call her, is scared of her own shadow but likes to boss us around (well Madeleine mostly!). She hates getting her paws wet and won’t go on the pontoon if there’s been any rain or snow but otherwise she enjoys visiting her friends on other boats.” She mainly spends her time wandering around the inside and outside of the boat watching the various comings and goings all around her. Phil is retired; he used to work at Dartmouth Smokehouse: “It doesn’t exist anymore as it has changed its name and moved to Plymouth. I had the satisfaction of switching the factory off on my last day – my 65th
birth-
day. I worked for them for almost 20 years. I can now concentrate on more important things like working on the boat and then taking her off on adventures - using her for what she was intended to do.” Madeleine isn’t on board for all of those journeys because she still works as a receptionist at the Dart Marina. Phil says it maybe anoth- er two years or more before she decides to retire and join him on his travels. The couple moved on to the boat in 2001. They sold their
house in Stoke Fleming and began their new river lifestyle with two of their four children on board, Tom & Charlotte. “Many other river users may have seen ‘Charli’ at age eight swinging around the boat’s rigging in a bosun’s chair! She still does it now at the age of 23. She used to get to school in a canoe each morn- ing - paddling off in her uniform as if it were quite normal!” Both Tom, Charlotte and Made- leine and Phil’s other children Hel- en and James have accompanied them on trips in Cabo to France, the Channel Islands and the Isles of Scilly. This year Phil is spending two & half months cruising Scotland’s
“Getting across the river in the tender when it’s raining or ‘blowing a hooley’ is sometimes a bit rough, but we manage - it’s all part of the fun!”
Western Isles. “Friends and family will take turns being my crew as Madeleine can only spend about three weeks with me in Scotland. Helen and Charlotte will be there but Tom, now married with a young baby, may have to wait a couple of years before he can come out and play!” Phil says he sees quite a bit of wildlife on his trips and was escort- ed most of the way along the Irish Sea by dolphins and a whale! “The dolphins appeared many times
Madeline and Phil
by day playing under our bow wave and at night creating amazing trails of phosphorescence swimming right next to the boat then diving underneath.” It hasn’t all been ‘plain sailing’ for
Madam Kita
Phil and Madeleine though. When they first brought Cabo to the Dart they had to moor her up river be- yond Noss Marina. “It was a lovely spot, but a long way from the fresh water tap in Dartmouth. Trying to find our way back to the mooring on the long dark winter nights was a challenge! Now it’s much easier on the Dart Harbour pontoon in Kingswear.” We often have family and visitors coming aboard and used to have big Christmas get-togethers on here. Madeleine is amazing; cooking turkey and the whole works for so many in a rela- tively small galley!” Now the family is growing up they tend to use a house for the big events. “The question we get asked most when we tell people we live on a boat is ‘what’s it like in the winter?’ Well, it’s fine! We have central heating along with most other normal domestic luxuries. The ketch is a roomy boat and can sleep 11 at a push so for two of us (and Madam Kita) it’s very comfort- able. Of course, getting across the river in the tender when it’s raining or ‘blowing a hooley’ is sometimes a bit rough, but we manage – it’s all part of the fun!”•
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