To Relax or Work...That is the Question!

We have times when we are on the boat at anchor and don't go to shore. There are various things both of us do to relax, like read, or we sometimes choose to be productive on the boat and do a chore.

Here Ed is blogging. If he is not blogging on his laptop, he's checking email, or checking weather.

Here's Ed enjoying a good book on his kindle.

 

I have been reading a lot also, but lately I have been wanting to finally finish making curtains for the boat. It's an added pleasure to do my cutting and pinning in the cockpit in the fresh air!

 Living room area all complete!

Knitting is another thing I do during our on-boat time.  I've knitted tea cozies, doll hats and I am currently knitting myself a tote bag.  

Sometimes I have chosen to make wire beaded bracelets.  When I really just want to veg. I play games on my phone.

I have also enjoyed cooking which is more fun on the boat than at home!  This is the book I have been using to give me ideas on what to make.  It follows my way of cooking pretty closely - if you don't have an ingredient then substitute something else.  The 2 ladies that authored the book give ideas on substitutions through most of their recipes.  It also gives great tips and ideas on how to prepare meals on the boat.  It's similar to cooking at home, but there are a lot of differences.  Space is probably the biggest issue.  With my new kitchen there is an abundance of counter space to work on.  In the boat it's almost like how it was before we remodeled, but even smaller.  Ed made brackets for me so I could use the cover to the stove as a counter top.  This has made a big difference.  I also use the table as a cutting station when I chop things.  I go through a lot of moving things around, i.e, since the frig. opens at the top, and there are things on the top, I have to move those things out of the way.  There is always something there since it's right next to the stove and I need to put the food there and/or the cooking utensils.  All of this becomes just the way it is after a while.  It is amazing what one can learn!  It all reminds me of cooking on a camping trip which I enjoyed as well!

Of course, blogging is a must do! 

 There are things that Ed does that he just has to do but are not fun jobs.  Like repair things when they go wrong.  I've already blogged about the head problem we had.  We ended up with another head issue, but this time it was not as major.  The gasket at the bottom of the head was loose and leaked on the floor of the head area.  Ed fixed that right up and I washed the whole area spic and span.  

Living on the boat is a whole different way of life.  Your space is limited, storage room is very limited, and there are more restrictions in your daily living then in a house, generally speaking.  Water has to be limited.  We have only 59 gallons of fresh water.  This has to last us from one refilling of the water tanks to the next.  Here in the Bahamas there are many islands in-between these fill ups because many of these islands are "wild" and don't have any or very few resources for boaters.  We use our fresh water for cooking and rinsing of dishes, washing hands and brushing teeth.  Our showers have come from the sun shower we have on the deck of the boat which were filled up with fresh water at one of our previous marina tie-ups.  It is just about empty.  We don't use the shower on the boat so we can conserve the fresh water and to conserve the power used by the water pump.  We have bathed in the salt water and then rinsed with the sun shower to get the salt off or at least most of the salt.  We both have become "old salts!"  Now I understand why sailors have been called "old salties!"  We also carry on board 2 - 5 gallon jugs of fresh water as well about 3 smaller jugs of fresh water.  We also have about 3-5 cases of bottled water.  This is not an easy concept to adapt to, but after a little while, it becomes a part of you.  This will be helpful upon our return, it is always good to conserve!

The above goes for our engine fuel, our fuel for the grill and the fuel for our stove.  We are now covering the opening to the alcohol burners on our stove to keep the alcohol from evaporating away.  The trick is to remember to take them off when you want to cook and then to remember to cover them when done!  We are not able to find denatured alcohol in the stores here so far.  We still hope to find some in Staniel Cay when we get there in a few days from now.  That is the nearest island which has stores for some reprovisioning.


To share a confined area with your spouse for as long as we have been on this boat is rewarding and yet has it's challenges!  Like when you want to quietly read a book and your partner just keeps talking without being aware your attention isn't there! (no tattling here as to who does the interrupting!)  When there is an argument and you need to go somewhere to cool down and regroup, where can you go?  What I have been finding is because there aren't many choices to make as to where to escape, we have been communicating more about what we want from the other and getting better at working out those challenges when they occur.  Sometimes there are voices a bit too loud (mine, in particular!) or no voices used for a while, but on the whole, we have been really enjoying each other's company and have shared a lot of the same activities.  Ed has been very gracious in putting up with sand, which he absolutely dislikes and with just a little complaining about how much sand there is on the dinghy!  

In trying to describe how we felt about living on a boat, a fellow sailor wife and I said that life, in general, is simpler on a boat.  It's not easier or a fairy tale type of life, but it brings you back to basics.  I love living on the boat!  It's limiting in some ways - I just can't hop in a car to go to the grocery store.  It's takes more planning for such things, but there's a sense of freedom and a lot of camaraderie amongst boaters.  We are a group of people who come to each other's help when called upon.  Someone we met when we first arrived in Bimini loaned Ed an extra radio when Ed thought ours was broken. That was such a generous thing to do!  We'll return it when we run into them again.  We invite each other over for snacks and drinks.  We greet each other all the time when we pass by them even when we have never met!  Best of all, when we are tired of our location, all we have to do is bring up the anchor and away we go!  There are a lot more things involved than what I have just presented, but it would take too long and I've gone on too long as it is!

Naturally, the most fun we have is when we go exploring an island, snorkel, or swim!

I felt the urge to just let you know a little of what's it like living on the boat besides what we have been seeing and doing.  Hope you enjoyed reading this!

Onto Shroud Cay......