So you know what activities we get up to and where we might go, but what is it like on the boat? Well, here are a few principles we try to live by and an example of what a day might look onboard.
Slow pace
One of the great things about living on a boat is taking things slowly. That doesn’t mean doing nothing, but it means whenever possible not being in a rush. Planning ahead and doing our best to create a relaxing yet engaging pace to life onboard.
Meal Times
Sharing a meal together and chatting around the table is one of life’s joys. We treasure these moment and they are really important to us. It helps build that sense of community and family we are after. So as much as we can, we have breakfast lunch and dinner all together.
Collaborative
We like everyone to feel like they have a voice onboard and are part of the team. Therefore we endeavor to always listen to people’s opinions and suggestions of where we might go or do onshore. Sometimes we may not be able to accommodate or we may be in a situation that Gracie and I just have to make decisions based on the safety of the boat and crew, but as much as possible we try to listen to everyone.
Health
We like to live as healthy a life as we can whilst on the boat. Now that doesn’t mean we don’t occasionally have a treat, but we do our best to eat well and keep active. That means that sometimes we might head to the beach in the morning for a stretch or some exercise to start the day and we’ll generally try to make meals as well balanced and nutritious as possible.
Unplugged
Phones are a buzzword topic in the world at the moment. Whatever your stance on them we try o reduce our screen time as much as possible when out on the boat. Being on the water is such a great opportunity to disconnect and unplug from the wider world. It’s time for your mind to unwind and run free, but if all of the normal pings and buzzes follow you there, it makes it a lot harder. So, other than emergencies or prior commitments, we try to got phone and screen free as much as possible. Before every meal time and when winding down in the evenings we put our electronics away and out of reach so we have genuine downtown. It means we read more, talk more or even just look out at the horizon and world around us more.
So a day when at anchor could be something like:
Wake up between 0600 and 0800. Some people are early risers and some people aren’t as much so we’ll aim to have breakfast around 0800 depending on peoples preferences. If people fancy doing some exercise or going for a swim, we might get up and do that straight away then have a later breakfast or if we are planning on going ashore for the day we can have breakfast then head in.
So just after breakfast we’ll have a short meeting about the plans for the day then we’ll all carry out our daily task for half an hour to look after the boat. Then we’ll prep ourselves and get ready to head to shore in the tender.
Once on land we could do a whole variety of things depending on where we are and what people want to do. It could be a hike or setting up a little camp fire, playing some games on the beach or any other great suggestion that people have.
Once we are done with the days activities, we can head back to the boat and whoever is on dinner can start prepping whilst the others have some down time. Then we’ll all eat and can finish the day with a game before we get tucked in for the night.
A day when we are going for a sail could look like:
Wake up for breakfast at 0700 before preparing the boat for sea with our daily jobs and being ready to depart by 0830. Whoever is navigator for the day will have pulled together a plan for the passage and will lead the navigation to our next destination. The next thing will be to weigh anchor and start the sail. Whilst underway, we’ll all get the chance to helm and hoist/drop/change sails as and when we need to and learn different aspects of sailing as we go. If it’s a long one we may only arrive at night and head straight to sleep or if its short we may arrive, drop the anchor and head ashore that evening before briefly discussing a plan for the next day.