7 Things
I read this article this weekend and chuckled, while ruefully acknowledging just how accurate this list is. Don't get me wrong, I don't get to live aboard just yet and I count the minutes until I can, but still. This list applies and has me motivated to chime in on each of the applicable topics. Here you go. A gift, or a series of gifts, from me to you.
1) Sometimes, it's going to get gross. Wellllll ok. So on Saturday night, we went to bed in the aft cabin and flipped on the a/c. Within a few moments it started to smell really nasty. Like funk and bilge and must and I don't want to think about what else. But we were tired, so we threw some lemon oil into the bilge and fell asleep, vowing to look at it the next day. The next day was yesterday, and Rick did some exploring. And found that our blackwater tank had overflowed.
Let that sink in for a minute.
Our shit tank overflowed.
Yes, there is a warning light. It appears to not work. No, we haven't pumped out in a while, and when we did, we were counting on the macerating pumps. They may not be doing their jobs.
Oh, and the overflow? Right into the bilge. From which the air circulates into the cabin through the a/c system. Freaking fantastic.
(We cleaned it up. Mostly Rick cleaned it up. Because he's the greatest man on Earth.)
The fun part is that the pump out station at the marina is (still and probably not supposed to be) free and works great AND has a little clear window so you can watch the progress which I find very entertaining.
SOFA KING GROSS, Y'ALL.
2. You're Going to Eat A Lot Of Canned Food I'm pretty lucky that I have a good sized galley that includes a sizeable fridge and freezer. I also have a microwave and a three burner stove and a badass grill that is attached to the railing on the aft deck. That improves my eating choices. And I don't really live on board, so I can always go to a restaurant. And when we ARE on board, we usually spend our evenings at the dock, where we could actually get food delivered. Had a pizza delivered there once. It can be done.
But even so, we eat stuff on board that I don't expect to want to eat elsewhere. And we drink a ton of water.
3. Your Boat's Going to Kick Your Ass See number 1. Also, note that we STILL haven't managed to get the hatch lever to stay attached. Oh and the freshwater line leaks. Oh and so does the valve for the water heater. And the front windshield. And we have both fallen and scraped ourselves up (Rick more than me because I am a princess and he does most of the hard work). And it seems like there is a new broken thing every single day. And each thing costs not much, but a lot of not muches puts you in the poor house. My sister says that a boat will bankrupt you $300 at a time. She's totally right, it seems. All of this reminds me that I need to order a new small-child size life jacket, a set of allan wrenches, and a light bulb for one of the salon lights. And that stuff is nowhere near the $300 mark, so I imagine something new is going to break this afternoon, haha (omg).
4. You're Going to Receive A Lot of Unsolicited Advice OMG. It's not the advice as much as it is the innate competitiveness that I sense with other power boat operators. I swear that sailors are cooler than we are. I have this one friend that basically tried to convince me that his shorter, gas-powered sport fishing boat is a vast improvement over my diesel. That's just insane. Gas powered vessels blow up if you aren't careful. It happens. Don't ever try to convince me that your gas engines are any better than my Yanmars. And yes, you that have the incredibly beautiful go-fast boat, I get you... your boat is so so so much faster than mine. It's kind of a joke, really. But I have a back porch on my boat. And a front porch. And a rooftop deck. Our boats are completely different and are for completely different purposes. Why in the hell does everybody want to compare so much?? Ugh.
5. A Lot of Things Are Actually Going to Go Wrong K other than new stuff breaking all the time (and an overflowing shit tank), I have been extremely lucky so far. We have our first "long" trip scheduled for this Friday. I can't wait. And I'll let you know how it goes.
6. You're Going to Regret Your Decision To Live On A Boat No, I won't. I regret my decision to leave the boat to go to the house every single day. I never regret staying on board. Not even when the shit tank overflows. I may regret not having a bathtub at the ready as I try to shave behind my knees in a 2 by 2 shower stall. I may regret only having storage for three outfits and two towels, and no washing machine on board. I may regret leaving my oven on the two times per year that I decide to bake something or cook an actual meal. But I just can't imagine regretting the comfortable closeness that comes with sharing 80ish ft2 with your best friend.
7. Life After Boat Life is Going to Be Weird I'll let you know. That's part C. We haven't even gotten all the way to part B.
As I mentioned before, this coming week, we are going on our first long trip. "Long," as my brother and his family are currently sailing the Bahamas. We are going to Bay St. Louis. It's about a 45 minute drive away by car.
Still... this will be my first salt-water trip on a boat smaller than a ferry boat. And I can look to the right and feel like I won't even be able to see land. I won't have a car there; for the weekend, the boat will be our floating condo. I can't flipping wait, y'all. We are due for a vacation! And there are often dolphins in that area. And it is going to be amazing. And new things will probably break, but we will make it work.
1) Sometimes, it's going to get gross. Wellllll ok. So on Saturday night, we went to bed in the aft cabin and flipped on the a/c. Within a few moments it started to smell really nasty. Like funk and bilge and must and I don't want to think about what else. But we were tired, so we threw some lemon oil into the bilge and fell asleep, vowing to look at it the next day. The next day was yesterday, and Rick did some exploring. And found that our blackwater tank had overflowed.
Let that sink in for a minute.
Our shit tank overflowed.
Yes, there is a warning light. It appears to not work. No, we haven't pumped out in a while, and when we did, we were counting on the macerating pumps. They may not be doing their jobs.
Oh, and the overflow? Right into the bilge. From which the air circulates into the cabin through the a/c system. Freaking fantastic.
(We cleaned it up. Mostly Rick cleaned it up. Because he's the greatest man on Earth.)
The fun part is that the pump out station at the marina is (still and probably not supposed to be) free and works great AND has a little clear window so you can watch the progress which I find very entertaining.
SOFA KING GROSS, Y'ALL.
2. You're Going to Eat A Lot Of Canned Food I'm pretty lucky that I have a good sized galley that includes a sizeable fridge and freezer. I also have a microwave and a three burner stove and a badass grill that is attached to the railing on the aft deck. That improves my eating choices. And I don't really live on board, so I can always go to a restaurant. And when we ARE on board, we usually spend our evenings at the dock, where we could actually get food delivered. Had a pizza delivered there once. It can be done.
But even so, we eat stuff on board that I don't expect to want to eat elsewhere. And we drink a ton of water.
3. Your Boat's Going to Kick Your Ass See number 1. Also, note that we STILL haven't managed to get the hatch lever to stay attached. Oh and the freshwater line leaks. Oh and so does the valve for the water heater. And the front windshield. And we have both fallen and scraped ourselves up (Rick more than me because I am a princess and he does most of the hard work). And it seems like there is a new broken thing every single day. And each thing costs not much, but a lot of not muches puts you in the poor house. My sister says that a boat will bankrupt you $300 at a time. She's totally right, it seems. All of this reminds me that I need to order a new small-child size life jacket, a set of allan wrenches, and a light bulb for one of the salon lights. And that stuff is nowhere near the $300 mark, so I imagine something new is going to break this afternoon, haha (omg).
4. You're Going to Receive A Lot of Unsolicited Advice OMG. It's not the advice as much as it is the innate competitiveness that I sense with other power boat operators. I swear that sailors are cooler than we are. I have this one friend that basically tried to convince me that his shorter, gas-powered sport fishing boat is a vast improvement over my diesel. That's just insane. Gas powered vessels blow up if you aren't careful. It happens. Don't ever try to convince me that your gas engines are any better than my Yanmars. And yes, you that have the incredibly beautiful go-fast boat, I get you... your boat is so so so much faster than mine. It's kind of a joke, really. But I have a back porch on my boat. And a front porch. And a rooftop deck. Our boats are completely different and are for completely different purposes. Why in the hell does everybody want to compare so much?? Ugh.
5. A Lot of Things Are Actually Going to Go Wrong K other than new stuff breaking all the time (and an overflowing shit tank), I have been extremely lucky so far. We have our first "long" trip scheduled for this Friday. I can't wait. And I'll let you know how it goes.
6. You're Going to Regret Your Decision To Live On A Boat No, I won't. I regret my decision to leave the boat to go to the house every single day. I never regret staying on board. Not even when the shit tank overflows. I may regret not having a bathtub at the ready as I try to shave behind my knees in a 2 by 2 shower stall. I may regret only having storage for three outfits and two towels, and no washing machine on board. I may regret leaving my oven on the two times per year that I decide to bake something or cook an actual meal. But I just can't imagine regretting the comfortable closeness that comes with sharing 80ish ft2 with your best friend.
7. Life After Boat Life is Going to Be Weird I'll let you know. That's part C. We haven't even gotten all the way to part B.
As I mentioned before, this coming week, we are going on our first long trip. "Long," as my brother and his family are currently sailing the Bahamas. We are going to Bay St. Louis. It's about a 45 minute drive away by car.
Still... this will be my first salt-water trip on a boat smaller than a ferry boat. And I can look to the right and feel like I won't even be able to see land. I won't have a car there; for the weekend, the boat will be our floating condo. I can't flipping wait, y'all. We are due for a vacation! And there are often dolphins in that area. And it is going to be amazing. And new things will probably break, but we will make it work.
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