Winter Edition

When I first imagined the cruising lifestyle, I pictured bare feet, sunsets, long walks on the beach, lounging in the shade of a palm tree with a book in hand, beach bonfires with friends, and exploring hobbies. Without spending 8+ hours at work every day there must just be tons of extra time right?

Nope. At least, not in this stage of boat life. I still have hopes for down the road once we get past the part where absolutely everything breaks all the time. (Please tell me that’s a stage and not a constant state of boat life?) In reality, many of our days on the boat feel more busy than when we were on land, not including the few months leading up to the transition which were just insane.

Here’s a breakdown of a typical winter day at our mooring field in St. Augustine, FL to give you an idea of what life looks like for us at the moment. (I use the word “typical” loosely here as we’ve been experiencing temperatures 20 degrees below average for most of the time we’ve been in Florida.)

Morning

We all wake up around 7, but without heat on the boat most of us choose to remain under the covers for a couple hours rather than brave the 40 degree temps upstairs. Torren spends this time reading, Ian likes to sleep in, and Rowan comes to snuggle with Neal and I. Neal and I typically spend this time looking at weather forecasts and planning, either for what needs to happen that day or longer term passage and destination planning.

Once everyone is up we make breakfast decisions based primarily on our battery levels and whether we expect the day to be sunny. The toaster is reserved for good solar days, the gas stove gets used when it’s cold, and cereal or yogurt with granola depend on the willingness of the hungry person to dig through the fridge.

Mid morning to mid afternoon

This time is almost completely taken up with school for the boys and I, and boat projects for Neal. It has been a bit of a learning curve trying to figure out how to teach 3 kids at once, so school goes much slower than in previous years.

Mid to late afternoon

Depending on the weather and when we finish school, we either move straight into dinner preparation, go visit with friends, or head to a park. St. Augustine has so much to see and there’s a great park less than a mile away. Sometimes there is time for a bigger project like grocery shopping or laundry, but these take so long we usually have to wait until the weekend.

Early evening

Dinner takes significantly longer to prep, cook, and clean up afterwards than on land. Probably in part due to our small kitchen space! We enjoy watching the sun go down and the city lights turn on, and then Rowan enjoys waving at all the tour boats as they pass through our mooring field on evening light viewing cruises.

Evening

After this we usually bundle up under blankets in our “living room” and watch a movie until we go to bed around 8:30. (Because it’s too cold to not be under the covers any later than that.) We’ve watched 8 out of 9 Star Wars movies so far. Any ideas for what we should start on next?

Even though many parts about the past two months have not been what I expected, I wouldn’t give this time up for the world. I’m so glad for the opportunity to soak in the “mom can I snuggle?” moments during the few short years they’re available. So what do you think, anyone want to brave the cold and the unknown and come join us?