Day 34 - The other side of the live aboard lifestyle
Not everyday in the life of a sailor is all sunshine and relaxation. Today was so mundane that I won’t bore with too many details. Needless to say, we got a lot of chores done and the weather was very hot and later full on rain from 4pm through the night. Captain observed me running around doing all the chores and could see that the burden of it all was a lot, especially since we had two able body crewmen who slept more and had spent the entire day tucked away from helping in the comfort of the air-conditioned boater’s lounge. While most boat chores don’t take very long, if you are the only one doing them it can really add up. While I emptied over flowing trash cans and tidied up my kids like they were toddlers Captain decided it was time to retrain our crew. 1st mate Debbie isn’t actually your personal butler on your Royal Caribbean cruise. He made a list of all the chores, daily, weekly or as needed and the kid will now be dividing up chores from a hat that will be their responsibility for the next four weeks. They may trade, but they all must carry equal number of chores. We intend on setting the example that if they do their jobs without prompting Captain and I will volunteer to insert ourselves in and help “crew” therefore setting the example that they can also help and also be relieved by being good crew to each other. This will be good. Captain does spend large amounts of time being very alert while at the wheel and keeping the crew safe. I spend countless hours in the off season and while aboard keeping all the other things flowing smoothly. It will be nice to not feel like the entire burden is on me.
With our chores done we were able to get showers and secured down below in Ciara before the rain started. I collapsed into a hot bed as the humidity was now compounded by the fact that all of Ciara’s hatches were closed and our fresh air circulation/breeze was now at absolute zero. I had been going non-stop since 7am and we were going to be up very late. I took the nap I could get with my portable fan. The kids helped make an early dinner of spaghetti with my homemade red sauce. The sauce continues to be one of our favorite freeze-dried items. The second you add hot water it smells like a fresh pot of sauce being made at home and tastes just the same.
At 8pm we got the notification to be in Green Bay by 11pm for sure so Captain and I decided to just get going down there. We had a 3 hour round trip to make in the rain so we gave extra time so we could enjoy some Wild Buffalo Wings and have really good internet to finalize the next week plan. Let me tell, you those wings were good! It was nice to have a little date with Captain as tomorrow starts a new chapter of the summer. We had a great conversation about how we are going to do our up wind sail tomorrow and I’m excited to learn some new things tomorrow.
The BW3 was right by Lambeau Field and as I paid the tab at the bar I noticed the stark difference of a big corporate restaurant. It has been a while since the onslaught of TV’s in every direction, of neon lights and wide spaces. It is the little things about sailing that you notice when you come back to land. We do spend a lot of time seeking little gunkholes to drop our hook but when we find ourselves in towns, they are small communities. Each with their own charm and character. A burger might not really taste all that different from one place to another, but they sure feel different when each burger seems to have much more story then the main stream. When those serving you are just as interested in your story as you are theirs.
We picked up a happy Dani at 11pm, the rain held out to just a drizzle to have a quick good-bye to dad and we listened to their new K-Pop obsession band all the way back to Cedar River. It had a good beat.
I have been learning and growing this blog this summer. For surprising reasons, it is becoming part of something bigger for me and I am enjoying it very much. There are obvious speed bump errors of no editing, but the practice is good and I have the winter to play editor in chief. I very much want to let those concerned at home where we are and what we are up to as live as possible so I will be at least posting the log even if I can’t get pictures up with them (like today). I will get those up whenever possible and perhaps pop more up on social media which is much more obtainable than this platform in the moment. I want to spend my time with my family and focusing on what I brings me joy then screaming for things to upload!
And with that, we are off to Fayette tomorrow. Will need to get up early and rally the crew to get going as it is at least 6 hours there and we have friends waiting. Dani can’t wait to spend the night in a ghost town!
