Adjusting to Life on a Boat

Before moving on to a sailboat, we were aware there would be an adjustment period. In preparation for the transition, we took sailing courses, practiced on our 17ft boat on the Great Lakes, created a detailed budget and discussed responsibilities of who would be in charge of which tasks. We felt like we were set and ready to go!

Once we moved onto the boat we quickly realized that there are other elements to boat ownership that we didn’t really prepare for as well as he had on how to sail the boat... Something new to us was learning how to operate, troubleshoot and repair all the systems on a boat. Our boat has it’s own plumbing system with pressure water in both the bathroom and kitchen, a head (manual toilet), various holding tanks for fuel, freshwater and waste, GPS, Chart-potter, radar, depth sounder, SSB (kind of like sail mail on the water), modem, vhf radios, a bbq, a 28hp inboard diesel engine, a dingy and 18hp outboard engine, a 4 person automatic life raft, windless and ground tackle (anchoring gear), solar panels, wind generator, AC and heating, a water maker from salt to fresh, gas generators, multiple house batteries, a starter battery, propane stove, refrigeration/freezer, bilge pumps and an entire electrical system that is more complex then a house! Not to mention all the sailing equipment and navigational charts. Yikes! Even through a modern house has several of these things if you include the cars in your driveway, the difference is that there is no mechanic nearby to take your car in for an oil change, no electrican to diagnose a wiring problem and no plumber to to call to find a leak. There are the manuals that are left to read and figure out how to become the jack of all trades!

You quickly learn how much power it takes to actually operate a fridge or turn on a light, something which we took for granted at our house. As a result, you end up coming up with ways to efficiently live on the boat with just renewable resources such as solar and wind. 

With no dishwasher or washer/dryer on board, you discover how to make a meal and create the least amount of dishes and wear only one set of clothes until they are dirty. You hang everything to dry so it doesn’t get musty including towels and washcloths as this cuts down on the amount of hand washing of laundry. You also carefully monitor how much garbage you create as you have to carry it all with you so you learn how to properly provision to reduce waste and what grocery items work well and others that don’t. As you are in such a small space, everything has a spot on the boat so as a result you stay organized. The boat is very easy to clean and it takes about 10min per day to keep everything tidy. 

On the finances side, other then some higher initial costs.. it’s actually fairly cheap to live on a boat! What will make or break your budget is if you go to shore and the big cities and get sucked into the wonderful smelling food and expensive drinks.. instead we often go back to the boat and take turns preparing a home cooked meals and grab a few cold beers and sit out in the hammock and watch life go by! 

I have to admit, the transition at first was overwhelming as you would often flip a switch thinking “let’s see what this does” however after a while you learn what it does and why and if something goes wrong with it you have a place to start. With each new task accomplished, you grow confidence in your abilities. As much as this has proved to be a an ongoing challenge, it’s also a learning curve which will inevitably arm us with the valuable knowledge and skills to be more self sufficient in life even after the boat!

Also, let’s be honest.. this is all worth it to have the ability and freedom to go anywhere in the world on the power of the wind and wake up in paradise everyday!