This month's Raft Up is about relationships and how we manage to live so close together.

Andy and I have been together 10 years in May and have spent 6 of those years living on Norna. We liken it to living in a baked bean tin, but with less space! We spend almost every waking moment together so we have to get on. Once we left work and started our cruising life it took a while to get used to being around each other all the time, however, after 5 years of practice we think we've got there! If we feel that we need time away from each other we call it our 'fifteen metres' - we can't get any further than that away from each other when we're on board!

We meet lots of other cruisers who generally fall into two camps - they either appear to get on incredibly well (we like to think that's where we fit) or they seem to completely dislike each other, never having a nice word to say about each other. The latter group are very tiring to be around and can have an effect on our own relationship if we spend too long with them. Hence, we try to avoid those people if we can.

Relationships with other cruisers are formed very quickly. Often we won't have had outside company for a while so the prospect of a drink and chat with others is usually very appealing. The similarities in lifestyle and outlook mean that 'best friends' are quickly made. However, these relationships are often quite short-lived as we all sail off on our own routes. Often though we meet up with people we've met before and it is great to be able to catch up again.

We keep in touch with other cruisers via e-mail/blogs/facebook and the list of friends grows almost daily. The contact and relationships are mutually beneficial as we are able to swap stories and tips about places to visit and local legislation etc.

Maintaining the relationships we have in the UK requires time and effort. We use skype to call our families and that helps to remove the distance, especially if we're able to have a video chat. Luckily, here in Greece, we have good internet access on board which helps us to keep our relationships floating.

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