Does Living Aboard Ever Get Old?
04 April 2015 | Confessions of a Live Aboard Hobo
Capt Rich
The longer we live aboard the more frequently we get asked the question: “Doesn’t it get old living aboard the boat?” Even if it does sound a little like a smart-ass comment, the only real honest way to answer that question is with another question: “doesn’t it get old living in a house?” We have less room for junk, it’s not fun when it rains or the wind blows 40kts but at almost every other time it’s just much more interesting and fun than our old lives of living ashore. Ok…now that I think about it, maybe pumping out our waste holding tank at the pump out dock every 7-10 days isn’t fun but getting to the dock sure can be when the current is flowing 4kts and the 20kt wind is trying to blow us away from the dock!
What’s interesting is just how normal life seems on a day to day basis. The kids go off to school, then what seems like 14 different after school activities, all of which require me driving them all around town. Lori heads off to work when I take the kids in to school and I bounce between doing real work and boat projects all day long. Wash, Rinse, Repeat. Days become weeks, weeks become months and then before you know it we have been living here in Morro Bay for 2 years, half the time we spend cruising Mexico. Kayaking around the harbor, sure we have a kayak. Walking out along the sand spit, sure I have my trusty hiking crocs. I’m sure it’s even fun to hike some of the mountain range trails around Morro Bay. I mean I guess it would be fun, but how would I know without time to kayak, walk, or hike? Living aboard doesn’t magically give you more time out from the normal rat race, it just gives you a little more mental clarity to know that you ARE indeed in the rat race, which I think actually makes it worse. Like me seeing a taco cart in a dream, but running as fast as I can towards it unable to actually get any closer to it before I wake up.
I think of funny blog posts about the daily life aboard almost weekly, but it takes time to take those thoughts and smiles from mind to keyboard. I’ll work on improving that, but I also ordered two new kayaks to work on getting OFF the boat more, but as for hiking, if it can’t be done in Crocs is it worth doing anyway?