Jess Lloyd-Mostyn

Rats and sailors share an uneasy relationship going back almost to the beginning of time. When Jess and crew received an unwelcome visitor, drastic action was required

- JESS LLOYD-MOSTYN

A loud bang from the cockpit wakes me. Followed by a fleeting, scurrying sound, then a flurry of movement up on deck, a splash and my husband, James, shouting “Give me an oar!”.

“What the hell is going on?” I demand, scrambling up the companionway steps, blearily taking in the scene. But I can see from the chaos on the cockpit floor exactly what must have happened.

The rat escaped.

Let me backtrack a moment here. There is a long history of rats and boats. Indeed, most islands only have rats on them because they were transported by our sailing trading ships of old. And, in our pre-sailing life in London, it was said that you were never more than six feet away from one. Although, I think that was more of an urban myth.