We left Silver Bay 6 months ago today. Reflecting on our expectations, knowledge and abilities 6 months ago - wow, were we naïve! Both Bill and I read a lot of cruisers blogs before we left to try and gather as much info as we could. I can now say that for the most part (including my blog) there is a lot unsaid about the day-to-day reality of living aboard a boat - guess you have to experience it to understand.

Some examples of realities:

- Living hooked to a mooring ball we have to cart our water from the marina to the boat in water jugs with each one weighing about 40 pounds. Plus it never tastes great after being in the water tank for a while.
- Energy conservation. We go to bed at 8 or 9 each night (all the fresh air we're ready anyway). This conserves on the power needed for lights, computers, etc. Even boats with solar panels and wind generators run their Honda generators for several hours each day.
- Bed is wet. Everything is damp, worst is the bed sheets.
- The head. Not only do you need to be constantly monitoring the amount in the holding tank but so far no matter what we have tried it smells! We are definitely not the only ones since someone announced on the Boot Key Harbor Net that they found a product that not only eliminates the smell but also gets rid of the sludge buildup. There were about 50 boats that jumped on wanting some when someone volunteered to order some cases of the stuff.
- Boat maintenance. We spend more time than we thought we would on boat projects. We always knew that our knowledge of boat systems was really lacking. We have a 30 year old boat and it's starting to feel it's age.
- Waking up in the middle of the night - it's great when it's by dolphins next to your boat breathing and moving in the water, it's not so great when it is checking to see if your anchor is dragging.
- Literally every day is a weekend. We are constantly loosing track of what day of the week it is.

Off to the Marina to watch the Super Bowl.

Today is also my Mom's 86th birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!