rudderless

Just a Day

Today was a big day here on the boat. This morning John solved our big computer issue. Our boat is steel, so any Wifi signal we receive from the marina, or surrounding businesses, basically stops at our companionway. If we were ever going to surf the web or talk to our family on the webcam from the cozy confines down below, we needed a way to get that signal down into the boat and into the computer. 5-Mile Wifi sent us an antenna and some nifty cables and voila, problem solved. I read a magazine article recently about homesteading and building off the grid. When a veteran housebuilder was asked what his first step would be, he said, a strong internet connection. It allows us to do the research we need to do, to get ideas, to secure the strange engine parts we might need. To read forums, blogs, to write, to stay connected. And no matter how romantic it might seem to be out of touch for a while, living on the boat is not something we do for vacation. It’s our everyday. And in that way, we need to be connected.

We spent the other half of the day tackling the overhead together- the styrofoam/plywood/vinyl sandwich that has to go on the underside of our steel. Teamwork made it bearable, but both of us will be so glad to move onto our more mentally stimulating tasks- the engine for John, the sailcovers and other canvas for me. It’s not hard work, it’s just annoying work.

The girls were wonderfully patient, moving through all of their onboard activites like champs. Coloring, letter-writing, tumbling, present-making, playdough, putting the stuffed animals to bed, napping, eating, DVDs, an inordinate amount of time in the head (seriously, I feel like we take them to pee all day long). Just another day to them. Which ended with a swim in the ocean. Their heaven.

Every time I watch them gleefully, confidently swim away from me, it’s proof positive that we’ve made the right choices. This is where we should be. Styrofoam showers and all.