I am suppose to be cleaning the boat and homeschooling the little girls. I am going to call this silent reading time and they are reading while I am looking out over the bay of la paz and watching all the fish swim by under to boat.
A lot of times I write about what we are doing and the places we are going but what I haven't disclosed is the actual day to day life of being on the boat. What I can say is this isn't really what I expected. I have packed all my face creams, my fancy soaps and provisioning gadgets thinking that I will need to have all these things. What I have come to realize is that a real shower would be a great christmas present and eggs that don't have mold growing on the shell. Everything we have is constantly wet or damp. It is always a mess in our boat with the colored pencils and art supplies all over the table and on the floor, charts and maps and books and radio equipment laying around. We have antibiotics bag out for Chris's ear infection... and in just getting to these supplies I had to rip apart my bed and now my room is a disaster and still has stuff that I haven't stored away since San Diego. You always think you will have all the time in the world to get these things accomplished. You don't! We get up at 6 and have a cup a coffee to start our day... then wake the kids up for their breakfast, which for the last two days has consisted of a bagel or left over dinner because we haven't had fresh fruit or veggies on the boat since Bahia Tortuga which has been at least 2 weeks. Oma would be proud of us we are eating all the rests (left overs) that we have and then some. The kids are starting to say that Dental Floss would be an amazing thing to have for christmas... I know I packed some but I can't find the dang stuff so we had to go buy it.
So after coffee we dive into school which is a bunch of kicking and groaning for then next 3 hours... and then by the end I am ready to jump in the water and have a time out in the dinghy. Don't get me wrong it is really nice on the 3 out of 5 days that the kids race through their work but its those two that are really hard to get through. So now we are at lunch time... and that of course is PB and J or left overs... or just cheese and crackers and some salami (if we get lunch at all) then it is beach time or dinghy to shore with laundry and trying to grab internet time. By the time we get back we are exhausted... which is funny because we really haven't accomplished anything, and then we hit the sack... maybe a movie if we are lucky.
The days really do fly by with just the little things. Think of yourself camping and how long it takes to prepare and clean up everything. I am NOT complaining, don't get me wrong but it really is an adjustment that we have to make to become use to this life style. I have to wipe the boat down often because of the mold that develops on the ceilings and walls, there is sand in every nook and cranny. I tried making the kids rinse off with fresh water every time they came into the boat...not just for the sand but also because of the salt that ends up crystalizing on everything. With so many of us I find myself saying to turn the water off and don't rinse because of our limited water supply. It is always a trade off in everything we do. What I have found is that the kids are definitely more conscious of resource they are using. From the Amps it takes to charge their devices, to turning the lights out, to not standing in front of the fridge with the door open trying to decide what to eat, and turning off the water when they wash dishes and brush teeth. Never mind washing your face every morning... which goes back to all my creams I packed. You just end up smearing sun screen on it all over again and jumping in the water.... it is just a waist of time and cream... Good thing is we do get in the water every day... wash our hair with the salt water... Etc... I believe that by the time we get back home we will all be half mermaids.
The over night trips sailing have been quite the adjustment. I do look forward to my shift. Chris, kla and I have been taking 3 hours shifts. It is not a set schedule but seems to go on who ever is more awake, or who ever can go to sleep the earliest starts the shift. There have only been 2 sailing trips and both we have seen some high winds... but everything was a great experience and made us all more comfortable with the boat. I believe you really have to go thru some of these times just to know that your boat was made to take the waves and wind and it knows what to do. The other times have been sailing or primarily just motoring with the moon high in the sky, dolphins by our side and watching movies or modern family during our watches.
I am going to try to upload some more pictures but will have to do just a few at a time to make sure to get some in. It really is incredibly beautiful in every bay or anchor stop we do. Chris and I can't believe the sunsets that we are seeing and look forward to our little time out cocktail hour on the back of the cat watching the sun go down. As of yet no green flash but we are still looking... that and submarine watches are our favorite time.
Hope all is well back home. Again don't think I am complaining... Im not just trying to paint an accurate picture... of course now I can image that you are all picturing some old smelly seahags and hogs on the bay... its not like that but I thought that I was a simpleton before I left... I have found out that I wasn't and now am now much simpler and becoming more every day...
Okay... I have found that it is extremely difficult to up load photos so far. It usually takes me about 3 hours to upload the photos for each blog. I am going to try again later... this is the only one that I could get uploaded. It is a funny fish tail. Our fishing experience has been hit and miss literally... this time we actually caught the fish by the tail.. how funny is that. Chris has had to go and restock our fishing levers because the fish have taken more of our tackle than we have brought fish on the boat... we will keep trying!
Have a great weekend everyone !!
Hi Heather,
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great as-it-is blog post. When we’re living on land, we soon forget how much work it is to run one’s own water purification plant, power-plant, communications network, transportation vehicle, and, in your case, elementary school. Worth it for the unique experiences you are enjoying as a family — but still a lot of work.
Carry on fighting the good fight against the salt and the mould!