My family expects crazy ideas from me. I've always been a dreamer; I talked about sailing around the world with my childhood friend Wolf (what an awesome name!) when I was in first grade. I'm the one who comes up with the great ideas and begins work on them until becoming distracted by another great idea and start working on that for a while. Please allow me to point to the demos I've recorded, the novels and short stories in various states of composition, and assorted electronic components strewn around the house as exhibits of these endeavors. If I was to start off discussing our decision being as advanced as it is at this point (firmly committed to getting our behinds aboard as quickly as possible), they would chalk it up as being par for the course. In other words, I'm not to be taken seriously.
Kelly is the opposite. When she sets her attention on something, her tenacity takes over. She becomes focused on the goal until it's achieved. In a lot of ways, she is the perfect complement to my dreaming. I come up with the idea (usually), we investigate what's required, she sets up the steps to follow, and we begin working. Her pragmatic way of looking at ideas helps keep me grounded in reality... mostly... and her experience working in a library helps us research more efficiently.
We have discussed with most of our closest family and friends the idea of living on a houseboat. Some know exactly how committed we are to it; others are more in the dark. We're doing this primarily because many people don't understand what this lifestyle entails and would attempt to argue us out of this "mistake". I believe these people are well-meaning and I want to ensure these people remain friends. This is common when people step outside what is considered normal and the unknown can be scary, especially for loved ones. We realize that the naysayers mostly are looking out for us and are making sure we don't do anything foolish. That being said, I have had family members (passed on) who have been negative on anything that was out of their sphere of experience and would put down others out of schadenfreude. I've also had experience with troublemaking friends that never grew out of the high-school drama and attempted to instigate arguments between Kelly and myself in order to (presumably) make themselves feel better about their shortcomings in their own lives and relationships. If you're considering a life aboard as well, take this into account when discussing the idea with others. Fear can heighten emotions and cause unintended (or intended) conflicts.
Many people have concerns about this scenario of us living aboard a boat, and that's perfectly fine - as long as our answers can truly alleviate their concerns. The most popular questions I get usually fall into one of these types:
1) You don't have any experience. What are you doing?!?!?!?! - I have had some experience piloting a bass boat on a lake as a kid, thanks to a former stepfather who would usually drink beer while fishing. Personally, I think it was better to have a sober kid drive than a drunk man. I also had a little sailing experience at Catalina Island Marine Institute when I was in high school, so I'm not a complete ignoramus. Either way, we're going to make sure that we take an approved course in boating safety and sailing lessons if we end up going the sailboat route. We'll be suggesting these items as family gifts for holidays and such, too. Plus, we do have liveaboard friends who are willing to give us informal lessons until we can take a formal certified course. It reduces the cost of insurance on the boat, so there's a double incentive.
2) You complain about how small your apartment is, yet you're going to live on a smaller boat. You're f(*&^#& crazy! - Well, yes we're crazy. We're also going to complain and move into something smaller. Kelly and I lived in a one-bedroom. Literally a one-bedroom in a boarder-style house. It was similar to living on a boat in that it was crowded, we had no choice about our furniture, and it was kind of dangerous (it was a rough neighborhood). When we were checking out Marsha and Dennis' boat, Dennis described living aboard as similar to a mobile home. Kelly likened it more to the RV lifestyle in that we can take our home on the ocean with us easier than a mobile home would be truly mobile. It really gives us the opportunity to unclutter our lives (and our closets, living room, kitchen, the list goes on) and load up into a storage unit the things we know we're not going to give up (most of our books, my guitars, paintings/posters, furniture, ad infinitum). Even with a storage unit, living aboard the boat would be less expensive than our current residence.
I know, I know. I haven't addressed the cramped quarters, the lack of personal space. One of the requirements of our future residence is two separate cabins, one for Kiddo and one for us. The salon (main living room for land-dwellers) would be for all of us, and we could always retreat to our own room for privacy. For the most part, we'll be docked in San Pedro or somewhere close to the South Bay for parks and other exercise amenities for Christopher and Kelly, plus the added benefit of going out and swimming in other parts of the ocean. Books and games will always be at the ready for distractions as necessary.
3) Does this mean you're going to go all over the place? How reckless of you! - Well, we do plan on cruising a bit... eventually. We have priorities, and have a plan to allow us a lot more freedom. When we move on board, we won't be doing anything until we're knowledgeable (see #1 above) and only locally until we're able to do something on a more extended basis.
Ultimately, we want to give Christopher the experiences that can only happen out there in the real world. He already has a love of the ocean, and this would allow us the opportunity to foster and nurture that love. Any trips we take will be documented, and we will create a specific website for friends and family to keep in contact with us when we're off following whales... maybe even set up a GoPro to record videos for everyone to live vicariously!
We will be responsible about this. We're researching, performing our due diligence to ensure we're not blindly storming into waters too far over our heads. The only way we can prove it, though, is by doing... one step at a time.
Kelly is the opposite. When she sets her attention on something, her tenacity takes over. She becomes focused on the goal until it's achieved. In a lot of ways, she is the perfect complement to my dreaming. I come up with the idea (usually), we investigate what's required, she sets up the steps to follow, and we begin working. Her pragmatic way of looking at ideas helps keep me grounded in reality... mostly... and her experience working in a library helps us research more efficiently.
We have discussed with most of our closest family and friends the idea of living on a houseboat. Some know exactly how committed we are to it; others are more in the dark. We're doing this primarily because many people don't understand what this lifestyle entails and would attempt to argue us out of this "mistake". I believe these people are well-meaning and I want to ensure these people remain friends. This is common when people step outside what is considered normal and the unknown can be scary, especially for loved ones. We realize that the naysayers mostly are looking out for us and are making sure we don't do anything foolish. That being said, I have had family members (passed on) who have been negative on anything that was out of their sphere of experience and would put down others out of schadenfreude. I've also had experience with troublemaking friends that never grew out of the high-school drama and attempted to instigate arguments between Kelly and myself in order to (presumably) make themselves feel better about their shortcomings in their own lives and relationships. If you're considering a life aboard as well, take this into account when discussing the idea with others. Fear can heighten emotions and cause unintended (or intended) conflicts.
Many people have concerns about this scenario of us living aboard a boat, and that's perfectly fine - as long as our answers can truly alleviate their concerns. The most popular questions I get usually fall into one of these types:
1) You don't have any experience. What are you doing?!?!?!?! - I have had some experience piloting a bass boat on a lake as a kid, thanks to a former stepfather who would usually drink beer while fishing. Personally, I think it was better to have a sober kid drive than a drunk man. I also had a little sailing experience at Catalina Island Marine Institute when I was in high school, so I'm not a complete ignoramus. Either way, we're going to make sure that we take an approved course in boating safety and sailing lessons if we end up going the sailboat route. We'll be suggesting these items as family gifts for holidays and such, too. Plus, we do have liveaboard friends who are willing to give us informal lessons until we can take a formal certified course. It reduces the cost of insurance on the boat, so there's a double incentive.
2) You complain about how small your apartment is, yet you're going to live on a smaller boat. You're f(*&^#& crazy! - Well, yes we're crazy. We're also going to complain and move into something smaller. Kelly and I lived in a one-bedroom. Literally a one-bedroom in a boarder-style house. It was similar to living on a boat in that it was crowded, we had no choice about our furniture, and it was kind of dangerous (it was a rough neighborhood). When we were checking out Marsha and Dennis' boat, Dennis described living aboard as similar to a mobile home. Kelly likened it more to the RV lifestyle in that we can take our home on the ocean with us easier than a mobile home would be truly mobile. It really gives us the opportunity to unclutter our lives (and our closets, living room, kitchen, the list goes on) and load up into a storage unit the things we know we're not going to give up (most of our books, my guitars, paintings/posters, furniture, ad infinitum). Even with a storage unit, living aboard the boat would be less expensive than our current residence.
I know, I know. I haven't addressed the cramped quarters, the lack of personal space. One of the requirements of our future residence is two separate cabins, one for Kiddo and one for us. The salon (main living room for land-dwellers) would be for all of us, and we could always retreat to our own room for privacy. For the most part, we'll be docked in San Pedro or somewhere close to the South Bay for parks and other exercise amenities for Christopher and Kelly, plus the added benefit of going out and swimming in other parts of the ocean. Books and games will always be at the ready for distractions as necessary.
3) Does this mean you're going to go all over the place? How reckless of you! - Well, we do plan on cruising a bit... eventually. We have priorities, and have a plan to allow us a lot more freedom. When we move on board, we won't be doing anything until we're knowledgeable (see #1 above) and only locally until we're able to do something on a more extended basis.
Ultimately, we want to give Christopher the experiences that can only happen out there in the real world. He already has a love of the ocean, and this would allow us the opportunity to foster and nurture that love. Any trips we take will be documented, and we will create a specific website for friends and family to keep in contact with us when we're off following whales... maybe even set up a GoPro to record videos for everyone to live vicariously!
We will be responsible about this. We're researching, performing our due diligence to ensure we're not blindly storming into waters too far over our heads. The only way we can prove it, though, is by doing... one step at a time.
