Ahhhhhh Spring

To Meteorologists it is Spring, to Astrologists it's still Winter, to Live Aboards it's a nother day closer to sailing season. My Blogs are hopefully an insight to anyone who has the Dream of living on a Sailboat. I say sailboat mainly because that's what I live on with my husband(I refer to as Papa) and our 6 yr old grand daughter (whom we call Ava. . .because that is her name). I have many names which I will go into detail in a later blog. Oops was going down the wrong road there.

If you lived on a Trawler you would have more room to streatch out, optional seats for cruising and a warm view during the rainy or cold season.A House Boat is much the same, basically a condo on the water. A Power Boat I have no knowledge of at all so I won't even go there. A Sailboat is a challenge, many compare it to Trailer Living. . . maybe space wise they may be the same but it ends there. I remember when we moved on a little over 5 months ago how hard it was to get used to very little light and barely none in the evening. Lamps are not an option on Adventuress. You do adjust but it takes time, I have gone to many functions with Land Lubbers wearing the wrong pants color wise and style, along with the wrong color socks, I am not even getting into shoes. All I was thinking at the time was Great I won't see the dust and dirt! Not True,, it is muh like a Stink Bug. . .you know it's there!

Cooking. . . I have no skill in that area at all, Ava says I make the worst Mac N Cheese ever. At least now I can blame it on the propane stove. Once we don't have a  need for the heating units  I can use a slow cooker and a George Foreman grill. . Yeah! For  4 days I did not have hot water, nor sure why. . when I told Papa about this he went to check it. . .there was Hot Water. . I gained a new name. As I stated in the beginning a man must have designed this boat(it was), the pantry is right next to the Head(toilet). You can Melax(as Ava calls it) and pick your next meal at the same time. . .a new way of multitasking.

I will now talk about the Nav Station. . . .an over looked area on a sailboat duing the off sailing season. It is the largest flat space on the boat, by Summer it will be a desk for charts and sailing instruments, by Winter it holds a huge microwave, a basket of movies, pictures, snackes, and cook books and a 5x6 pic of Adventuress to keep us grounded to as what we are living on. Behind all of this is the Instrument panel, to use it something has to be moved constantly, naturally it is like a kitchen table it collects everything, soon to be finding a new home.

The cockpit is what I thought would be my Sweet Haven, a place to get away from life below. It is enclosed which is a must for this Life. It is great on a sunny day in the Winter, yesterday it got to 86 with the sun we had. I missed it. I have  a thermometer that reads temp below and on the cock pit which we refer to as our reliable weather man. During the Winter it has become our auxilliary fridge, toy box for Ava and shoe store.

Long Story Short, I have never liked clutter ! I now over look it. Constant movement, I now know what Sea Legs mean, Vertigo, Live with it, Baseball cap, much needed accessory, some sort of Alcohol is not a ticket to AA but a must any time.  I was even desperate once for a drink all I had was Peppar Absolute and Grapefruit, will not be that desperate again.

We are coming upon the Season that will make many look back and say, that was not a bad  Winter. For Me it will be "Did I really do this "? It is not for every one ( me included) I made it but will not do it again unless we are South.

We will be renting an Apt. in June as a back up for rainy weekends during the Summer, a place to live this Winter while the boat is pulled for Hull cleaning and painting. It will also be a place for family to stay while visitng. We did give our furniture away so I will be decorating in Good Will finds and anything that is offered.  Most of what is on Adventuress will be in the apt.  to give more space for passengers and comfortable sailing.

The Apt is in Newark, De. 23 miles from the boat a straight shot and easy drive. A nice drive to the beaches down Rt. 1 during the Summer, a college town by Winter ( University of Delaware is our neighbor) . Ava's school is in our back yard, so no more 50 min. ride one way.

The adventure lives on no matter where we put our head at night. I would not give this portion of my life up for anything! Fair Winds now has a new meaning for me also!

Made It!

   I am trying to think of a nauticle way to celebrate making it through a most unusual Winter weather wise. maybe just a dance on the bow. Many of the boat owners who said Good Bye to us in Oct. and said they would be down during the Winter to see how we were suriving (not once did we resort to Cannabalism) never showed up. Our next door boat owner dropped off some beer last weekend for us( I thought it was a tradition of Rum orat least Captain Morgan?) we found it in the cockpit with a note of Thanks for watching his boat and a couple who own a boat across from us who had it pulled for the Winter stopped by. Other than for them no sight of any one else, we were soon forgotten about as they sat in there warm homes. We did just fine!

I doubt anyone reading this is planning on living on a sail boat in Maryland in the Winter, we didn't either really. I for one knew I loved sail boats, enjoyed others boats and boat shows. I had no clue what it took to live on one, sunny days are undescribeable, rainy, blustery and snow filled days are just unbelievable. I can say most days I forgot there was water surrounding us, safety was our main issue. I also learned that cleaning is a day to day chore no matter where you live, more so on a boat. They are not air tight so dust,dirt and moisture blow in through crevices every moment, I can sweep twice a day and still have a dust pan full of sand and dirt. We wear no shoes below deck just slippers, I was under the impression this would save some work. . . not at all.

What I did learn was how much I did not know about a sail boat or living on one. . it's not just about Lifestyle but Survival ! I learned about tides and how much they affect us, I also learned I will never remember that high tide and low tide are an hour later each day. . .that's not a problem remembering when low or high tide were the day before is the problem.  I am now sitting under the dock because it is low tide praying that it will come up before I have to get Ava from school. Prepareing a meal is quite a chore, having a kitty pan on board is a disaster, electric in the Winter is a blessed luxury.  I could go on. . . but I did learn  that a nice bottle of wine is greatly appreciated at the end of the day.

I am looking forward to an uneventful Spring! In 6 weeks we will be flying to Ft. Lauderdale to begin a 400 hr. on hands sailing course for Blue Water(Ocean) Sailing. We will leave the 16th of April from Florida and head to the Grand Bahamas via the Berry Islands, this will enable us to sail to the Carribean in the future. We will return the afternoon of the 22nd of April with another experience under our life vests.

I dreamed of living on a boat but never dreamed of learning how to live on a boat!