4 Aboard, the first month

[Captain Smollett]

Been living aboard a bit over a month now, and so I thought I'd give an update.

1. It's raining outside right now....and will probably  be for the next three days at least.  Ya can't see this as a fully negative thing, tho.

2.  Several people have asked either "HOW do you live 4 aboard on such a small boat" or just the general "ya doin okay?"

The concern is cool, and not unwelcome, but really...are we THAT weak?  C'mon, my children have a safe, warm place to sleep at night and even fellow boaters wonder if we are "OKAY."

Truthfully, it was in the 20's a few nights ago and we had to turn the heater DOWN because it was cooking us out.  Another advantage of a small boat, I suppose...Our electric bill for November was less than $50, which includes the $20 pedestal minimum.

Yet the impression seems to be that we are not keeping warm enough... ??


3. Marina drama.

Cops called twice last night..same couple/person.  I pray for those involved, but good grief, they DO have some drama going on.   I learned today of two folks now banned from the marina.  Wow, is all I can say. I'm not convinced the person truly responsible has been banned,but we shall see.

4. Life aboard

We are doing our thing...we work, play and make our way.  Life aboard does not stand in the way.  Sorry to sound all Jesse Jackson, here, but man, don't ya'll think we make too much of the space we call "ours?"

My wife and I have been riding neighborhoods looking at houses (though we plan at least one year aboard).  My conclusion can be summed up with the observation of the houses we've seen: "obscene display of wealth."

5. Cruising

We are now discussing more long term cruising options...time scales I thought my wife would NEVER entertain, much less suggest to ME as "yeah, we could do this."

[Marc]

Captain, I envy you!  How old are your children?  And do they attend school or are they home schooled?  Marc

[skylark]

Smollett, this is really interesting.  Can you discuss what things are difficult and how to get them done or make them easier?  I am guessing cooking and washing dishes is the biggest chore.

[AdriftAtSea]

Thanks for the update... :) I guess living aboard has changed your perspective on some things...

[Frank]

Grog to ya's.  Have fun ;D

[Oldrig]

Thanks for the update.

It sounds like you're having a great adventure even before you leave the dock.

Keep posting--I'm really jealous!

--Joe

[Joe Pyrat]

It is amazing how much difference it makes in heating requirements if you have a few more crew aboard. 

Sounds like you are having a great time, not to mention that these are the kinds of adventures kids love and are wonderful to look back on later in life.

Fair winds, Captain Smollett to you and your family.

[Captain Smollett]

Hi all, thanks again for the kind words and encouragement.  This is an adventure in itself.

Marc:  They are 3 and 6, and they are home schooled.  We made the decision/commitment to do that LONG before even entertaining the notion of living aboard.  We are in our third year of form:ally being a home school.

Paul: The cooking/dishes have not been TOO bad.  We have been eating a lot of canned soups (will make pressure cooker soup soon).  One thing to note: cooking for four is no more of a chore than cooking for one, and the clean-up is only marginally more.  So, it gets absorbed by more hands, and the children DO help with the clean-up.  They have taken to love drying the dishes.

I think the hardest part, for me at least, is the "dance" in the cabin when all four of us are here.  Where living in a house affords some measure of freedom of movement, here on the boat getting one's body from point A to point B requires some degree of coordination among four people. 

The weather can be a bit of a factor to deal with, too.  I find that right now, I really don't want to do some things that need to be done simply because it is pouring rain and opening the hatch is a hassle.  It's been raining two days (really hard today, with some wind, too...we had tornado warnings in town) and is not supposed to clear off until tomorrow night.  It gets a bit old, though this seems to bother the adults more than the children (as long as they have something to do...the pouring rain gets a bit in the way of our hiking and exploring the National Forest).

Water was a chore for a while, but we have a routine on it now.  I think that sums up a LOT of approach to the chores...having a routine that works.

My wife says it is kinda a bummer not having an oven.  There are ways to get around that, of course, but we have not addressed it yet.  We've only done stove top-able meals.  She has also commented on the absence of a bathtub.  No ice cream for the taking has been mentioned, too.  I think this just makes it that much more of a special treat when we GET it.  :)

[BoatTed]

My wife and I lived aboard our '49 thirty-foot sailboat for a few years and got along without an oven very well by using a pressure cooker.  We were able to bake bread, rolls, chicken and even small cakes quite successfully and never really missed a larger oven.  If interested, I'd be happy to pass along the technique.  It certainly opens up the options for something besides stove-topable and one pot meals.

My wife says it is kinda a bummer not having an oven.

[thistlecap]

Dear Ted, I think a lot of the rest of us would be interested in those techniques as well. Perhaps you could move to 'galley & rations' and start a new thread there.  Thanks, Jim

[BoatTed]

Will do...

[CharlieJ]

How about just moving it over to the pressure cooker techniques thread? ;D

Six pages long right now- here's the link to page 6-

http://sailfar.net/forum/index.php?topic=671.100

[Captain Smollett]

And don't forget my photos of the p-cooker bread I made...   ;)

(shameless self promotion...  ::) )

[Auspicious]

The cooking/dishes have not been TOO bad. 

<snip>

I think the hardest part, for me at least, is the "dance" in the cabin when all four of us are here. 

<snip>

The weather can be a bit of a factor to deal with, too. 

<snip>

Water was a chore for a while, but we have a routine on it now.

<snip>

My wife says it is kinda a bummer not having an oven. 

<snip>

She has also commented on the absence of a bathtub. 

I agree that cooking and dishes are not bad aboard. Some days I miss having a dishwasher, but in general it isn't so bad. I wash dishes before bed at night and stack everything in a wooden dish drain - everything is dry in the morning and I put everything away while the coffee perks.

The "dance" is a personality-based issue. In my observation, some people sit still (me) most of the time and others seem to always be moving around (most of the ladies I have dated <sigh>). Sitting still makes the limited space a lot less limiting. <grin>

Weather is a major pain. Rain is the most inconvenient thing for me. I'd rather see snow.

Water is something to pay attention to but usually can be managed without major issue. My winter quarters are require less than 75' of hose to a freeze-protected outlet. Last winter I was 500' away; that was a pain.

I have used a Dutch oven to bake in. In my opinion that is a better choice than a PC. I'm very happy to have an oven now, and look forward to getting the new unit (sitting in my trailer for a year) that has an oven thermostat and a broiler installed; just a few more esoteric adapters and I can do it.

I would love to have a bathtub.

I'm surprised Captain Smollett didn't mention laundry. Laundry is the single biggest pain of living aboard for me. I'm always paying attention to when I will be able to get the next load(s) of laundry done. I have a little fabric bag I collect quarters in specifically for laundry.

sail fast, dave
S/V Auspicious

[Captain Smollett]

I'm surprised Captain Smollett didn't mention laundry. Laundry is the single biggest pain of living aboard for me. I'm always paying attention to when I will be able to get the next load(s) of laundry done. I have a little fabric bag I collect quarters in specifically for laundry.

sail fast, dave
S/V Auspicious

Yep, laundry is also an issue, but not MUCH more of an issue than on land.  Well, we do cheat a bit...if we need to, we stick bags of laundry (clean or dirty) in the car.  This obviously would not work on an extended cruise, but then, we would not need as much stuff either.

Mentioning laundry brings to mind one of the psychological (rather than physical) hurdles...at least for me.  The relative lack of privacy.  In the house, doing laundry meant walking to the machines.  Taking a shower meant walking to the bathroom.  No one outside the family knew.

Here, everyone pretty much knows what you are up to.  I don't think I've had a shower yet that someone was not right outside in the club house watching tv or yacking.  Or worse...waiting to use the shower, so I feel rushed (I hate inconveniencing people), which is really, really hard when trying to get two children bathed as well.  Being a rather private, loner type person, I cringe inside when I walk by a group standing around outside the laundry room and someone says, "Doing some laundry, John?"  It makes me want to SCREAM "Why don't you go stand somewhere else?"

In that respect, it has been a little bit of a culture shock for me.  Everyone knows, or tries to know, everyone else's business.  That in itself is not a bad thing...just different from what I am used to.

All that said, it can give me a boost, too.  We've had the boat out twice in less than two months here (not as much as I'd like, but there you go).  That's twice more than almost every other boat in this marina, and once more than almost all the rest.  I think I've seen only three other sail boats leave the slip, and two power boats that go out regularly.  The other day, as we were coming back into the slip, one long-time live aboard dude said to another lady (who has lived here 4 years), "they are REAL sailors."

Overhearing that made me feel good.

[Joe Pyrat]

Being a rather private, loner type person, I cringe inside when I walk by a group standing around outside the laundry room and someone says, "Doing some laundry, John?"  It makes me want to SCREAM "Why don't you go stand somewhere else?"

That made me laugh.  I did laundry here at the Charleston Maritime Center the other day while they were having a chili cook off.  The laundry room is located in a corner of the building and glass on the two outward facing walls.  Talk about feeling like a fish in a fishbowl.  I just got a glass of wine and set in there watching the show, periodically venturing out to sample some chili or get a refill on the wine.   ;D

[skylark]

How difficult would life be on a mooring as compared to at the dock?

[newt]

John, it sounds like some small towns I have lived in. I could find out what was happening at work by asking my neighbor at home. Kinda weird, but you get used to it. And you can always anchor out for a day of two if they are driving you crazy....Kinda like camping, which we did alot of in that town...
BTW- keep the adventure coming! We are all enjoying this narrative.

[Captain Smollett]

How difficult would life be on a mooring as compared to at the dock?

Quite a bit more difficult, especially for us in our current situation.  Going to work everyday (and sometimes my wife is on-call at night) would mean a dinghy trip, rain or shine, hot or cold. 

Then, given the children and I go out quite a bit, that would mean either (a) two dinghies or (b) US shuttling her back and forth.

The $200 per month we pay for a slip is WELL worth eliminating that level of hassle.  Plus, the 'perks' of the shower, the land-based head, free pump-outs for the boat, free ice, free water, laundry facilities, etc...well, in a cost-benefit analysis, the slip was a no-brainer.

Cruising, though, no way would we stay in marinas.  That's a different mindset/psychology than based somewhere working while living aboard.  At least it seems so to me.

The longest stretch we as a family have stayed at anchor has been nine days...dinghying ashore.  We could do it longer, but in our experience, life at anchor does not fit well with the kind of schedule and other demands a job (off the boat) requires.

[AdriftAtSea]

Having day jobs, or in your wife's case, a night job, makes the slip a necessity.  Could you see staying on a mooring if you didn't have regular jobs to keep up with???