MY WATERY WORLD is now MY LIFE.

The challenges of the water are not only about staying afloat. We've had training for that.

Now that we've lived aboard for two weeks we've been learning to deal with: washing, bathing, cooking, washing dishes over and over again, hygiene, hydration, cleaning, (with water tanks of a capacity of several hundred ltrs, exact amount unknown), leaking seacocks, leaking toilet connections, total toilet failure requiring total replacement, sailing a dinghy and then loosing the gear overboard as speed boats zoom past, keeping our living quarters dry and lowering humidity, water ingress (unexpected leaking cabin roof in directional rain), and just having gear fall "in the drink" requiring a quick update on knotting techniques.

I've developed a few tricks: I use lots of paper towels to wipe food off utensils after meals prior to washing up. I often use a tallish rectangular container instead of the sink which makes a deeper washing bowl using less water. I've been given a rotating hand cracking washing devise that works on little h2o. The rinse water is used for toilet flushing, or general deck cleaning.
When away from marinas we have a "bird bath" in a big flexible plastic tub and scoop warm water over ourselves, then flush that into the bilge for pumpout. When the kettle boils I always put excess hot water into thermos flasks. These keep it almost boiling for almost 12 hours, and can then be used for bathing etc. We try to stay away from marinas that often charge $ for very little in return. However, laundry facilities are enticing. We've managed fairly well despite the unseasonal damp! Only one day of good sunshine, and another with good drying winds.

Ventilation is important for moisture controll and we try to have every window open when possible. I flip the double mattress more or less daily, because condensation build up will lead to mold and mildew (allergies, asthma). We have painted floorboards and use throw down mats because marine carpet holds moisture and stinks really quickly.

Oh and vinegar is a great clean-all, it inhibits mold growth, and I apply it in a spray bottle. A drop of detergent helps too.

Anyway that's it for now: we're off to PALMBEACH, having successfully anchored off the beach overnight for the first time. We'll be using the dinghy (rowing, because the outboard has given up the ghost)to transport our groceries. Our dinghy"MAD MAN" is now our life line to civilization, and needless to say we've had breakages with the simplest of oar locks several times. I'm now titled "Jen will Fix it".

As someone said: Cruising is about sailing from one exotic destination to another to attend to expensive repairs.

Anyway happy new year 2010
Love to all
Jen

ps: as yet no surf for Glenn and the three borads.