 Check out the bookstore at IRBS.com |
|
|
|
|||||
|
||||||
From: Janet Hartman (no email)
Date: Fri Aug 27 1999 - 07:55:57 EDT
At 10:01 AM 8/26/99 -0400, Fred wrote:
>Consider a thunder squall at night. In a house you can just roll over in
your dry,
>warm bed and think, " Hmmm, seems to be stormy outside. ZZZZZ ". In a
>boat you are outside checking the anchor and considering moving to the lee
>of the point. Why is it always at 2AM?
I can't remember where I read it, but someone once put it this way: In a
house, you don't usually worry about it coming off its foundation and
floating down the street. Similarly, you don't worry about your neighbor's
house coming loose and running into yours.
Speaking as one who is not yet living aboard but has done a 2+ week cruise,
laundry is a hassle if you are moving around, especially the big items like
sheets. It may sound funny, but I remember being ecstatic to learn that
one marina where we stopped had a washer and dryer.
I enjoy having my dog on board, but I do not enjoy walking him in the rain
and cold. At home, I can just let him out in the back yard.
I have accepted that fact that, in order to get whatever I want out of a
locker, I have to move 4 other things first. At least I am organized
enough to know which locker to go to!
I know most of these cons are little things, but it's the little things
that are there on a regular basis that often become big things later.
One of the main pros for living aboard to me are just living on the water.
My parents bought a waterfront summer home when I was six, and I just sold
it last year. There is something about being near salt water that gives me
a sense of peace - like I am where I belong. And if I don't like my
neighbors, moving is whole lot easier than in a house.
I am looking forward to simplifying my life. I have a lot of possessions I
don't need. Some years back, half a basement wall in my other house caved
in during a winter thaw and pouring rain at 3:00 AM. (See Fred, houses can
do this to you, too.) The police and fire folks suggested we get out of
the house because it was in danger of collapsing. I gathered up the dog,
the bank books, and my Mom's silver, and we backed the cars out of the
garage so they would not be damaged. For several days, I wondered if we
would lose everything and be left with a mortgage on a non-existent house.
(HO insurance does not cover loss resulting from damage to foundation
walls.) I realized that the important thing was that we got out unhurt,
and I did not require all those things inside the house. As it turned out,
the house did not collapse, so all I had was an expensive home repair job,
but the lesson stayed with me.
Getting back to the simplicity, I like my "all purpose" plastic glasses on
the boat, for example. It's a lot simpler than having water goblets, wine
glasses, cordial glasses, pilsners, etc. It was after securing the boat in
port after some really rough weather on Casco Bay that I realized that warm
food and shelter were really all I needed to live. Another part of the
simplicity is getting more in tune with nature - going to sleep earlier and
waking up with the light. I naturally wake up much earlier on the boat
than at home.
I like getting to meet different people. When cruising, walking into town
or wherever to get provisions or parts forces me to get the exercise I
rarely make time for at home. When we first move aboard, we will downsize
to one car. After a few years, we hope to ditch that, too. After cruising
to a new place and settling in for a month or the season, going back for
the car is a nuisance. It would be nice to get rid of the expense of a
car, too.
I have gone on long enough. Time for breakfast.
Janet
"Tarka"
Shannon 43
___________________________________________________________________________
|| The Live-Aboard List : send a "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" request ||
|| in body of message to: ||
|