Boat Life

Sharing some sides to boating that surely can give some of the not-so-quite vision of perfect paradise we might otherwise accidentally convey at times another perspective....

*Finding your $16 dollar bag of pecans in a sealed bag a breeding grounds for new species of mold....ohh and your nice leather sandals too?
 

*Washing your dishes after Every meal, snack, cup of tea...WITH a sticky [very muscle necessary] hand pump of whatever body of  water the boat just may be sitting on (inland lakes, dirty river water, weeds...)

*Regardless of climate, everything...EVERYTHING seems to be a moisture soaking sponge aboard the boat = mildew, mold and all sorts of fun smells

*A seemingly reason-less pull over under mid-sail by the authorities...searching through all your belongings, personals and bags...because...legal duties call and they have to earn a living doing their patrol job

*Trembling, fear-ridden, sleep-less nights from any amount of wind, waves...ohh and did we mention torrential thunderstorms?

*Toilets that just won't flush

*Flesh feasting mosquitoes and you're the only living being in a however wide radius

*Assumptions that all who are boaters are wealthy or spoon-fed...and who ever spread "its an easy life" gossip tale about sailing?!

*Cooking in a 4 ft space with a 1 ft countertop..and someone else...in the heat or while the boat pounds into 5 foot swells

*Using your body temperature as a very accurate thermometer....and smell-o-meter

*No refrigeration = ice blocks..that melt...and make everything very moist...leading to...yes you guessed it. mold.

*Must state the obvious....27 feet feels like an increasingly smaller and smaller full time living space

*No matter how resistant or how much we hate sunscreen or much we love the sun...on the water, on white reflective surfaces, on 10 hour voyages = fried skin for evening dessert

*Freighters in fog blowing fog horns coming your way...but from which way?

etc...

BUT I can't deny that this has been the most live changing experience I have ever encountered.  Because we are young and agile being uncomfortable is actually enjoyable.  Especially when the sun sets over the calm horizon or the water tastes like home and such simple pleasures become enhanced in comparison with the more challenging day-to-day duties that used to be as simple as a push of a button or a flush of a switch.  Because for once, we have got to spend an unlimited amount of hours and days and months learning and discovering how incredible a friendship we have inside our relationship.  Days without electricity no longer have us bat an eye.  Food always tastes great when you're hungry.  Talking about one subject and analyzing it for hours.  Satisfaction finds you every day when all your belongings are in their places in the confines of 27 feet. When you meet unlimited supplies of intelligent people to learn from and listen to...and people that are always genuinely interested in your story.  The boat is a jungle gym when you have a climbing harness and lots and lots of lines everywhere.  You refresh and bathe in the lake and the first article of clothing you need in the morning is a bathing suit. Time actually exists for you to try the things and read all the books you have been meaning to.  And simply, when you make your way from point A to point B...simply by encompassing the power of the wind--it is a powerful moment in your life.  Stepping out of comfort zones, finding a way to do what you want to do and then actually accomplishing it...leads to a warm satisfaction and confidence that when you are really ready to enter the "real world" ...knowledge of the capability, capacity and determinedness will later fall into everything you do.

It is a journey, the trials and difficulties included.  Zephyrus, Corey and I have become an incredibly intricate unit functioning as a family for the first time in our lives.  And there's not much more liberating than that.


We the wayfarers take things step by step in this incredible journey of future.

Comments

StephanieSells said…
I am so enjoying all that you both write! Thank you for sharing your both physical & mental journey with us!!!!
Elizabeth S. said…
Sailing helps you to realize that the journey is getting from point A to point B instead of just experiencing a journey when you arrive! And when you rely upon the wind for your means of travel, you know there will be an adventure in tow! Enjoy yourselves.... smooth sailing : )