Water We Thinking

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...

Congratulations!  You made it through your first season with a boat but now the weather is changing and the high temperatures are in the 60s on a regular basis.  You've extended the season as long as you can but it's just getting too chilly to be out cruising around, and definitely too chilly for a swim.  It's time to put your boat into hibernation for the winter.  So, where do you start? We live aboard Cygnet all year so winterizing is very different for us.  But we had Two Wrights for years and took her out of the water every fall and put her back every spring.  Our winterizing routine wasn't much different than most.  What you'll read below is a general  winterizing program.  You may have a different requirement based on your boat and that should be found in the manufacturer's manual or online.  Don't take our word for it, find out from your boat builder what you should be doing.  It's a good idea to make a check list and use ...

Recently we've been dreaming again.  When we first started thinking about living on a boat it was an amazing thought and seemed like such an adventure and we were excited by the prospect of a different lifestyle.  Lately we've had a similar thought about traveling in a van conversion.  We've looked at videos on YouTube of Sprinter conversions and seen the blogs of these (mostly) young people in gorgeous locations with their bicycles, surfboards, climbing gear, etc. and that sounds like fun.  But when we turn off the TV or put away the phone or computer and sit in our floating home we realize we have all that already.  Sure we don't have many rock climbing opportunities in Chicago but if you see Kevin on the sheer face of El Capitan please call for help, he shouldn't be there.  We have careers we need to be in Chicago for, so wandering North America isn't an option for us right now.  Plus we love this city and want it to be our home base anyway. Kr...

We've written before about how many people ask us private things just because we live on a boat. Since our lifestyle is a bit different than most  people there seems to be an idea that we want everyone knowing about our financial lives and personal habits.  Here are some questions we get: How much does it cost? What do you do in the winter? How do you heat/cool the boat? Do you ever leave the marina? Why are you doing this? Do you miss your house? How do you shower? How do you poop? Those last two come up a lot more often than you'd think.  Let's face it, most of us are a bit crude. Kevin has spent a lot of time with "proper" people, businesspersons, met many CEOs of large global companies or other folks you might think are high class.  Most of them turn into 14 year olds after a few cocktails.  That's when the real questions come out.  A lot of people are just curious, and their curiosity can overwhelm their sense of society, privacy, and poli...

We are getting there.  We have a lot of projects going on as we mentioned in the last blog and now a couple are finally complete!  Yesterday we had S Squared Cabinetry & Remodeling aboard Cygnet finishing the multiple jobs we had for them.  Our dishwasher install, our lower helm removal, our new bar cabinet, and the shoe cabinet.  Let's take a look at what they did. We are now living in the 20th century!  Cygnet has two bathrooms with showers, a washer/dryer, a full size fridge, but no dishwasher.  The rationale we suppose was that you often use disposable plates and utensils when out for a day on the boat.  We do use disposables when we have a party (our inner tree huggers cry a little) but on a day to day basis we use real plates, silverware, and glasses.  For the last two years we've been washing by hand, something Kevin hates after slicing his right index finger open washing a glass eight years ago, and it seems like there is always a pi...

Two years ago today we brought Cygnet home to River City and began living aboard.  It was such an exciting time for us, being able to change your lifestyle while maintaining it at the same time, if that makes sense.  In the spring of 2014 we both had good jobs, we had a house, a couple nice cars and we were happy.  But one thing led to another and a few months later we were living on a boat in the Chicago river.  It's the best thing we've done.  We love coming home (like last night) and sitting outside on the aft deck and watching the world go by, talking for hours.  We love taking our home out on the water and entertaining friends and family in a unique way.  Think about the last time you had a party, your guests probably thanked you and left.  When you live on a boat your friends get super excited about parties, they talk about if for months before and after, they will do whatever they can to make it to the party.  Boat parties are the best...

We've been living aboard for just over a year now and there are still some questions we get fairly often.  It's starting to get old - answering the same questions over and over, but when you meet someone new and they find out you live on a boat in the middle of Chicago you have to put on the happy face and indulge them.  There are a lot of the same questions you have to answer but every once in a while you get something new.  If you, dear reader, are not a live aboard and are curious about what it's like to live day after day on the water this post might help you. Sunset We lead somewhat different lives than many of the other liveaboards that we know about.  Many of the liveaboards we know of are retired, lots of them in Florida or the Caribbean living out their golden (or at least silver) years in paradise.  We are not those people.  To anyone who meets us you would think that we have a completely "normal" life and live in a "normal" place like an...

I came across this similar blog called Luv'n the Regal Life  which originally was written about a couple's adventures on their weekender Regal 3760 boat.  The blog is now about their life aboard a Carver a bit larger and quite a bit newer than ours.  They have just crossed the two year mark of life aboard and as we are at the one year mark we thought it was interesting that this couple who we don't know is experiencing many of the same things we are at nearly the same times.  They got a one year jump on us, but many of the experiences, frustrations, projects, and joys are the same as we have.  I find these folks interesting because judging only by a couple photos on the blog they seem to be about the same age as us (Kevin just crested the hill and Colette is a ways behind him).  You can find thousands of live aboards with silver (or no) hair but trying to find ones under the age of 50 isn't as easy.  Sure we are around, but it's not like we always run ...