The fun of living on a boat...

Part of the fun of living on a boat is living very close to the weather. All of the forecasts suggest that we will be riding to this anchor for a few days while waiting for the Atlantic Ocean to settle down a bit. So what's a boat owner to do when there is nothing else to do? Well, fix something of course.

That wasn't really the plan for the day. We have been working on, and paying other people to work on, various systems on the boat for the better part of a month. So a couple of days spent riding to the anchor, watching the boat antics of the weekenders using the anchorage to pretend to know what they are doing, playing some music and just loafing was the plan. But, around 0630 yesterday morning, we discovered a necessary support system for being at anchor wasn't working. We thought about heading to dock to wait out the weather while having access to whatever parts we might need. But none of the marinas around here were open that early so we started poking around the uncooperative system to see what we could see. At about 2230 we finished putting the boat back in order and cleaning up. It was an unrelenting 16 hour work day, no food, no breaks, just keep hacking away. But in the end the uncooperative necessary support system was, once again, fully cooperative. Looking back at a day like that is also part of the fun of living on a boat.

So it looks like we can ride out the inbound weather on the hook after all. Good thing, since a four-day stay at a marina around here would cost about $800. I know that compared to most of the people who live on this planet we are among the well-to-do, the elite. After all, we own and live on a “yacht”. So a $800 bill for sitting at someone's dock shouldn't raise an eyebrow. That's not even a full boat buck.

But we are not that well-to-do because, well, we live on a “yacht”. It is an absolute fact that a boat is a hole in the water into which one throws money. Throwing in as little as possible is part of the fun. At least it is for us.

When uncooperative systems show up on a boat it is a also a real money saver if there are two people aboard who work well together, can find their way around a maintenance issue, who share ideas freely, and who work pretty hard at being disappointed in the boat without taking it out on the person they are working with. (Deb is much better at that than I am.) It also helps to have all kinds of tools stashed away, with oddball things like fiberglass workings, water proof fairing compound, assorted hardware, and oddball seals and gaskets. All it takes then is a willingness to dive in and give it a go.

I am finishing up writing about that day at 0100 the next day. (Not sure when it will hit the blog.) Though I am feeling the day that has yet to end, the inbound weather has arrived. First Light is riding to a short rode in a small anchorage with the winds gusting up to 20 knots. It is a pretty well-protected anchorage with little fetch in any direction. But 20 knots of wind, while barely noticed by land dwellers getting ready for bed, will keep a boat dweller's attention no matter what else has happened in the preceding hours. I'll head to the berth, but a full night's sleep is likely not in the offering. That is also part of the fun of living on a boat.