Next step: Breaking Loose!

Here we are, 16 days after we thought we would be leaving for the Bahamas, still sitting on the same mooring ball we attached ourselves to New Year's Eve.  In my last post, I lamented about not being able to comfortably swim in the waters that surround our boat and about my desire to begin our sailing adventure.  And, ALAS, the day has finally come!

Pirates ARRRrrr Around!

Getting used to it... Well, working on getting used to it.

Some of you may wonder what it's like to live on a boat, the day-to-day part of actually living while on a boat.  In order to answer that, I thought I might run you through a few "typical" days we are having here in the harbor, then give you a few things that are essential for us to think about.  These - as you will see - are parts of life we definitely took for granted while on land and make me both love and hate living on a boat.

What's in a name?...

WELL, there are so many things in a name when you get to name your very own 35-year-old-but-still-unnamed boat that will take you on a dream come true!  As a build-up (I'd make a great fiction writer, huh?!), there is something here in the harbor called The Cruiser's Net (or just "The Net" around here) which happens at 9:00 every morning through our VHF radio.  We turn our radio on along with any number of the 200+ boaters in the area - not just people here in the harbor, but any boats within ~1 mile who want to listen in and be a part of the boating community.  We weren't even in the harbor yet when we started listening in, gaining access to helpful information, and acquiring random things for the boat - including the safety net for the cats and any small humans that come aboard (which we got for free)!

So, let me explain what happens: At 9:00 a.m. on the dot(!), one of seven people (one for each day of the week) comes over channel 68 stating that they are The Net Controller of the morning and explains that it is a "controlled net".  What this means is that every person has to state their boat name, be given permission to speak by the controller, then they can proceed with whatever they want to share with everyone.  During the next 15-30 minutes, local boaters: share the names of boats which have just gotten here or are on their way out; share announcements about both the boating community and the city that surrounds us; have a chance to ask other boaters for help (advice, phone numbers, physical help with a project, borrowing of tools, etc.); can buy/sell/trade random stuff on their boat; and participate in random trivia.  This is a wonderful way to keep the boating community fairly tight-knit because there is the opportunity to verbally communicate every day.