Introducing a mischievous, free-spirited, adventurous tabby: Vita. Just looking at his photos is enough to guess what he has been through.

Eda Selçuk, Setur Marinas Finike Front Office Representative

They say, "people don't own cats, cats own people". This is even more true for tabbies. After all, being their own master is a common characteristic of almost every tabby.  They can be quietly resting and then suddenly start jumping up and down and running around wildly. We do not understand why they do what they do, but we cannot help thinking how wonderful creatures they are.

There! We have already described Mr. Vita to you without even realizing it.

Vita is a tabby who has spent almost his entire life on a boat, sometimes as a sailor, sometimes as a cruise captain and sometimes as a steersman. His owners set sail on their boat about three years ago from Istanbul, sailing from bay to bay, marina to marina, and finally arriving in the South. Vita wandered from street to street during their stops, sometimes on his own and sometimes with other cats he met there. But he never left the boat's route, he always returned to the boat. Until they arrived in Kaş!

Vita got off the boat in Kaş and never returned. Maybe he got lost on the streets of Kaş or maybe he got caught up playing with the other cats, but unfortunately the boat that brought Vita all this way had to leave without picking him up. But did it make Vita desperate? Did it make him hide under a building? Did it make him get lost on the streets? Not at all! Vita continued his route where he left off. And all by himself!

After spending time in Kaş and ending the season, he managed to make it all the way to Finike as a secret passenger by hopping on another boat he felt was suitable for him. He also visited Finike and made new friends. He lived in Kaş and Finike for a year and a half, free like a stray cat, away from his owners. Eventually, he found his way back on his own and returned to his owners.

But how do we know all this? Partly guesswork, partly from the information the chip in his body told us.

When Vita visits a boat in Finike Marina and draws attention with his aggressive behavior, boat owners begin investigating the story. The interesting point is that Vita chose that boat on purpose. As a matter of fact, the boat of Vita's owners and the boat he visited in Finike were moored side by side at the same pier in Kaş Marina when Vita was a baby. Vita did not forget about it and chose the old neighbor among all the boats in Finike Marina. (This was found out later when examining the pictures!)

When the owner of the neighboring boat took Vita to the vet, the chip in his body revealed his owner. They immediately reached out to Vita's owners, who were in Greece then. The crew, very happy to hear from Vita after a long time, immediately began preparations to return to meet up with him.

There are many boats sailing the seas and many pet sailors like Vita on board. The pleasure of the sea is incomplete without them. Fortunately, most of them eventually return, like Vita.

We wish Vita many adventures in his future voyages. We hope he never gets off-route again. Of course, his own route!