Sheltering in Place - a Very Small Place

Whether you are already living aboard a boat full time, do the part time lifestyle, or dream of one day living aboard there are sacrifices to make.  Many liveaboard boaters have nothing but their boat as a place to escape the pandemic that is COVID-19.  We are such people, mostly.  Now, we are also very lucky in that we have a marina with a yard, a building with a bodega next door, and live in a neighborhood that is easily walkable with most essentials very nearby.  Many people living aboard don't have the amenities we have and they are stuck in a very small space indefinitely.  Certain parts of the country and world are coming out of shelter in place orders as of this writing in early May 2020.  Illinois is not one of those states, at least yet.

Ready to go out in the world

We have begun Phase 2 of shelter in place which means a bit more freedom but we are still a long way from getting back to "normal" or at least getting to whatever will be the new normal.  Fortunately for us we have more space than just Cygnet.  For anyone who has sailed the world or spent time in various places while at sea you know that your boat may be the only place you go for weeks.  We occasionally joke about not touching land, we've certainly spent entire days without ever stepping off Cygnet while she's parked in our slip, but those days are usually by choice.

For anyone who is thinking about the liveaboard lifestyle this is probably not generally a thought.  We never considered while looking for Cygnet that there may be days or weeks where we could never leave the boat.  We've been playing it somewhat safe but we haven't been shut-ins.  A friend of ours in New York City has only left his tiny, nearly lightless apartment in the middle of the night to get groceries in the last couple months.  We couldn't imagine that, but we aren't too far removed from it.  Colette has been working from home since the end of March and Kevin has been working on our home.  While Kevin was occasionally making trips to the suburbs to follow up on some work he was doing at the beginning of the year Colette has only been out of the neighborhood four times, twice to water the plants at her office (and do a few other work related things), and twice to help work on Kevin's Mom's house as it is close to being sold.  Dinghy rides don't count.

First warm day of 2020.

Cygnet has been the primary focus of Kevin's attention and all the small jobs that have been on the back burner are beginning to get done.  We'll write more about each individual one as they are completed, but know that Cygnet was sadly neglected while we had our computer store open from 2016-2019 and many of those things are being rectified now.

So here we are, all of us in this together, alone but united.  We sincerely hope all of you are safe, secure, and able to remain where you are without terrible fear of losing what you have.  Since we closed our store in 2019 we have learned one very valuable lesson, it is not money that matters.  As difficult as it has been for us, and maybe for some of you now, what matters is the love and friendship of those around us, whether they be in the next room, the next state, or the next country.  Stay heathy and you'll hear from us soon.