Where are we?

After living on the boat for almost a month we’ve found quite a few differences from every day life at home.

• Hitting your head happens daily. I’m surprised one of us hasn’t split our head open, or got a concussion. Splinters, bruises and cuts also happen just about every day. Its a good thing I stocked our first aid kit before we left.

• Getting into bed requires skill. The bed is about 3 feet off the ground. We each have our own method, which we plan to post video of before the end of the trip.

• We only have 75 gallons of fresh water on board. It sounds like a lot… but it goes quick when you’re using it to wash dishes, wash your hands, brush your teeth, etc. This means we have to be extra careful with how much water we use… something you don’t really think about at home. Most marinas have water hook ups, so we can re-fill the tanks easily. If we’re not at a marina we have to haul water 5 gallons at a time.

• Marine toilets are not like conventional household toilets. Toilet issues and smells in a confined space are not fun to deal with… especially if your name is Braden. Enough said.

• Getting something – no matter what it is – is never a simple task. To get just about anything requires first moving something else and usually performing some acrobatics and probably hitting your head ( see 1st bullet item ). You want black sandals? To get them involves crawling under the bed, opening the cabinet, holding a flashlight, taking out 6 pairs of other shoes, reaching under an anchor and around some tools.

• Hot showers are awesome. We don’t have a shower on the boat, so we either stay at a marina with showers or use a bug sprayer with water heated up on the stove.

• Electricity on the boat is provided by 2 deep cycle batteries. We keep them charged with two solar panels. When you’re running fans and the fridge 24 hours a day, lights at night and sometimes the radio there is a possibility of draining the batteries. So far the solar panels have been doing their job and we haven’t had any power issues. When we’re at a marina we plug into the dock, so we don’t have to worry… and we can charge our cell phones and laptop.