Most of our friends know that J and I bought a catamaran in the Caribbean last fall. We had been working on it for a while since J thought that Florida was not far enough South for our escape from Michigan winters. We had a few false starts - maybe those stories will be a future blog. But we journeyed to St. Maarten in October 2019 for a sea test and a few weeks later, she was ours. She was stored on land there until we could return to sail her under her new name, Better Together.
There are a lot of stories about our adventures getting her launched, handling the many issues that came up as we got to know her. Our early sailing adventures could fill many future blogs, but this one is intended to start to answer the most common question many people have: What do you do all day on a boat?
Even before the current worldwide focus on staying put, life on a boat is about flexibility and living in the moment. You can make plans, but then you realize you are almost out of water, or the power is getting low or the anchor alarm goes off in the middle of the night, and you respond NOW - as a couple of our guests found out when the anchor slipped at 2 a.m. and we all got up to find another spot in the moonlit, crowded anchorage.
Most of the pressure in a crisis or "daily challenge", as I prefer to think of it, or falls on J since he understands all of these complicated electrical, plumbing, navigational and mechanical systems. He constantly amazes me by figuring things out and finding solutions, usually after lots of contemplating, sweating and crawling into small spaces. We are very grateful for all the parts the previous owners left us stocked with, stored literally in dozens of spaces. I have rummaged through all the lockers and tool boxes, not having any idea what these things are. But when J shows me a thingamabob, and says "I need one of these," I often remember just where to look. At least by the third or fourth try.
Daily Ritual
Let's start with a "normal" day, waking up with the sun, as we usually do, anywhere from 5:30 to 6:30 a.m. J's favorite daily ritual is making us both a cup of cappuccino on the propane stove. He brought a copper stove top coffee maker from home and we found wonderful boxed milk that you can buy by the case and only refrigerate after opening. It turns to wonderful foamy milk from the steam on the coffee maker. A very nice accompaniment as I read my newspaper online and eat my wheat-free breakfast cookies.
The cookies are a recent addition. I make them at home, but finding almond flour, unsweetened coconut flakes, etc. was a challenge on the island. The oven on Better Together (BT) has no thermometer, so we have not tried it yet. But when we returned to St. Croix and had access to our condo which was not rented yet, I made a batch and took it there. I used brown rice flour and extra raisins and nuts to replace the coconut flakes I could not find and made them in the microwave, not trusting the very old microwave/convection oven there. Since then, I found almond flour here, and ordered coconut from Walmart. My food allergies are happy.
During the early hours, J works on his memoir about his music career, writing 1000 words or more per day. I read the newspaper, do a yoga session if the boat is not moving too much, and sometimes eat cereal or eggs.
Power Management
One of the first things we do in the mornings, even before the coffee ritual, is check the batteries. The ship is outfitted with solar panels and a wind generator that handle most of our needs on an ongoing basis. That works great to run the large and small refrigerators, lights and plugs for charging phones, tablets and computers. As long as the sun shines and the wind blows. Calm nights are a challenge, so J often starts the engines last thing at night and first thing in the morning, just to be sure.
When we first arrived, he spent a lot of time understanding the battery connections of the two engine-starting batteries and the three "house" batteries that run everything else. He knows a lot about them all, having replaced the regulator on the wind system, so the power now goes to the batteries (before it was shorted out), and installing a new alternator on one engine so it charges when running. He keeps a close eye on everything, as this system is crucial to our ability to stay on the water on a mooring or anchorage.
Water Management
The other feature that allows us to be mostly independent is the large water tank system. About once every two weeks or so, we go to the fuel dock at the marina and add around 150 gallons of water to the two large tanks through a filter on our hose. Additional filters under the sink provide us with the abundant drinking water we need to stay hydrated in this warm climate. The galley sink, the sinks in the two heads and the hose on the aft steps where you rinse off salt water after swimming use this same water supply. Part of J's regular routine is checking the tank levels and maintaining the pumps. There is also a salt water system cooling the two engines that he reviews regularly. Good thing he has so much plumbing experience!
J's next big project will be installing the hot water tank he recently acquired from the marina. The boat used to have one, but it had been removed. He is happy jumping in the ocean for a bath, and I have accepted sponge baths and outside hair washing, but I miss hot showers and warm water for dish washing. I tried one of those camping shower bags you heat in the sun and then hang from a tree, but when you put 5 gallons of water in it, it weighs 40 pounds and I cannot manage it. We have halyards on the boat that could handle it, but not near the aft stairs where I need it.
Tank Management
Another regular task we work into our schedule is managing the waste from our heads. As we tell guests, nothing goes into the system that did not go through your body. But unlike Lake Erie, where we go to the dock to pump out the tanks, here you go out three miles into deep water to make fish food out of waste. Every week or ten days, if we are alone, or more often with guests, we have to find a weather window to sail out and back safely. Some days are more comfortable than others and we can turn it into a pleasure sail or handle this task while traveling to another location. Sometimes, if the wind and waves are very challenging, I am happy to get out and back quickly. J loves every chance to sail BT and we do learn more every time we sail.
You can probably tell already that our days are never the same and never dull. More next time about mundane jobs like provisioning, cooking and J's favorite, dinghy management!
