Life on Board

Life on board continues with the daily routines, the biggest now being homeschooling for about 2-3 hours each morning. Over the years we have sorted out our respective “jobs” on board and now Charlotte is also starting to have her role - turning the engines on and off, turning the lights breakers on and off in the evening and morning, helping Jimmy with anchoring (using the remote to get anchor up and down), laying the table to name a few.

I’m sure a lot of you think we have been sitting here drinking Pina coladas under a palm tree …. (not quite…) I figured that the less exciting parts wouldn’t make for good reading but some people say we should let you know “the bits we don’t write about” – blocked toilets, sleepless nights in bad weather, dragging anchors in the middle of the night, wet dingy rides, …. Living aboard continues to have its fantastic sides and also, in comparison, it’s more difficult sides.

Fantastic sides – sunsets, great anchorages, beautiful places, ability to move around, meeting great people, magic sails (when the wind is in your favouor). The prevailing winds are from the east (trade winds). With the island chain running north to south, it makes the Eastern Caribbean a sailing paradise.

More difficult sides: time to do everyday chores – shopping, with no car takes on a different meaning! (only buy what you can carry!!) Our dingy is our car – dingy to shore! Next, to actually find out where to go for shopping (laundry, boat parts, mechanics, clearing in, restaurants bars etc). When things go wrong on a boat and it’s not as easy as calling out the local fix it man, you definitely need to be self sufficient. Managing your power and water needs – unlike a house, when turning on the water faucet or electric switches, we also have to be responsible for how we get it in the first place – filling up water tanks and keeping batteries well charged (running the generator, ensuring the solar panels are not shaded by the boom …). We also have a water maker and collect rain water. Whilst it’s nice to live with nature, it’s not always as convenient!! (and makes us appreciate little things a lot more when we move back into the apartment). And of course there is the ever present home schooling that takes up about 2-3 hours each morning.