Stories from my Sailboat
Liveaboard vs Cruiser: I get questions all the time about where it is that I am sailing to. Truth is, I have only ever sailed in Hawaiian waters. My first sail was to Molokai, Lanai, and Maui on a 10 day trip with people I had never met before and as a first date with my current partner. Nuts, right? That's a huge story in and of itself.
Okay, so a liveaboard is someone who has a boat as their primary residence and it is typically moored at a harbor. Yes, we go sailing and can drop anchor other places, but typically we are connected to shore power which means we can run everything from an electric toilet to Apple TV. I do not have solar on my boat at the moment, and I am not sure I ever will. This is my first boat, and while I have lots of dreams, what I am learning right now is what I should have on my must have list and my wish list for my next boat home.
Now, cruisers. I look up to cruisers. People who sail across the ocean, do the research to get into another country, know how to provision and plan, and make it all work in the most remote of places. That is an aspiration of mine but I have lot to learn. To prepare to cruise is quite the feat.. How's your rigging? Do you have multiple of everything? How are your sails? Have you hauled out to check your rudder? What is your battery bank like? What is your solar capability? Do you understand mechanical and electrical? How much do you need to provision for? Are you ready to drop $600+ in diesel? What country are you going to? What are their laws? Where will you port? Do you need to see about animal quarantine rules? Do you have the right flags? What season should you be sailing?
These are just some of the questions... the one's I can think of off the top of my non-cruiser head. Can you imagine?
Okay, so a liveaboard is someone who has a boat as their primary residence and it is typically moored at a harbor. Yes, we go sailing and can drop anchor other places, but typically we are connected to shore power which means we can run everything from an electric toilet to Apple TV. I do not have solar on my boat at the moment, and I am not sure I ever will. This is my first boat, and while I have lots of dreams, what I am learning right now is what I should have on my must have list and my wish list for my next boat home.
Now, cruisers. I look up to cruisers. People who sail across the ocean, do the research to get into another country, know how to provision and plan, and make it all work in the most remote of places. That is an aspiration of mine but I have lot to learn. To prepare to cruise is quite the feat.. How's your rigging? Do you have multiple of everything? How are your sails? Have you hauled out to check your rudder? What is your battery bank like? What is your solar capability? Do you understand mechanical and electrical? How much do you need to provision for? Are you ready to drop $600+ in diesel? What country are you going to? What are their laws? Where will you port? Do you need to see about animal quarantine rules? Do you have the right flags? What season should you be sailing?
These are just some of the questions... the one's I can think of off the top of my non-cruiser head. Can you imagine?
REALITY: First thought people have when they hear we live on a boat: "WOW THAT IS SO COOL," and generally, they are correct, it is cool. But people don't see the ins and outs, the constant adaptability we must have, the weirdness of a mascerating toilet. Also, it can be a pain in the butt to ALWAYS have a boat project that needs to be done. For someone like me that is so distracted when things are a mess, it takes a lot of practice to shut out the waiting project and focus on the actual work I must do to fund said project.
I have all these dreams, what I want the boat to look like, what I want to upgrade. But it's really hard. Boat renovations are so expensive, and even more so in Hawaii where manual labor is hard to come by and hauling out the boat cost as much as the boat in some cases. It is a constant battle for me to want the space to look cute, but be functional, and often the functional outweighs the cuteness on my list of priorities. So, hold on new beadboard, I need to redo the aft railing. :(
It's also quite the feat to have three people AND A BIG dog living in such tight quarters. But honestly, none of us ever complain, and that says a lot in my book.
Anyhow, I can go on and on about boat life-- what it is like to parent as liveaboards, what it is like to have a big dog on a boat, what it is like to have no privacy whatsoever and talk about the functioning capacity of your toilet.. yea that one happened this morning and gee whiz, I don't think I have had a more uncomfortable conversation in my LIFE.
I have all these dreams, what I want the boat to look like, what I want to upgrade. But it's really hard. Boat renovations are so expensive, and even more so in Hawaii where manual labor is hard to come by and hauling out the boat cost as much as the boat in some cases. It is a constant battle for me to want the space to look cute, but be functional, and often the functional outweighs the cuteness on my list of priorities. So, hold on new beadboard, I need to redo the aft railing. :(
It's also quite the feat to have three people AND A BIG dog living in such tight quarters. But honestly, none of us ever complain, and that says a lot in my book.
Anyhow, I can go on and on about boat life-- what it is like to parent as liveaboards, what it is like to have a big dog on a boat, what it is like to have no privacy whatsoever and talk about the functioning capacity of your toilet.. yea that one happened this morning and gee whiz, I don't think I have had a more uncomfortable conversation in my LIFE.
