Life on the Boat Q&A Part 2

 

You can read Part 1 here for the Q&A that we did with the Newly Salted blog. Here’s part 2 to answer the rest of your questions!

Is Paul not going to shave for the whole trip? How can I grow a beard like that?

Lindsey: He’s not going to shave. His trick to his wildman look is to do next to no maintenance on it. When he got his haircut, he let the guy cleanup the edges of the beard but wouldn’t let him trim it. If your own mother calls you “Sasquatch Face,” you know you’ve reached your goal.

How do you shower on the boat?

Lindsey: There are more options than you think! We have MSR water bladders that have an attachment that allows it to be used as a solar shower. We actually don’t use this much though because 1) I forget to lay it out in the sun and 2) it’s black but not insulated so it heats up  but doesn’t hold heat until after dark very well. Right now this is an outdoor activity but we do have a drain in our head (bathroom) floor that could be hooked up for indoor showering. Most often we use Walgreens Rinse Free Body Wash and Shampoo, which requires minimal water (less than a quart for 2 people). We’re pretty sure the shampoo is just a watered-down, more fragrant version of the body wash, so we’ll probably buy just the wash in the future. The other options include jumping into the sea to bathe or using the cockpit washdown pump – this uses sea water but the pressurized hose is great for hair washing.

What do you eat on the boat? Do you cook?

Lindsey: We have a 3 burner stove and oven, plus a fridge with a mini-fridge-sized freezer, so we eat pretty similarly to what we eat at home. When we first left Florida, we didn’t buy much meat cause we were hoping to fish a lot. It’s been better lately, but we weren’t very successful with fishing in the beginning and wished we’d brought more meat initially. When we grocery shop we try to do so for 3 weeks at a time – so we pack the freezer, buy vacuum sealed meats if we can, and buy long lasting veggies like onions, mini peppers, and cabbage. Certain grocery items can be expensive here, especially in the less populated areas (we’re talking $3 for the can of green beans that costs $0.89 at Walmart; $8 for Oreos; we haven’t even really seen deals on locally caught fish), so we’d recommend stocking up as much as you can in the US. It seems that some people stock up on weird, canned foods that they never normally eat, so I tried to avoid that – but I did buy one can of chicken kind of as a joke. We haven’t eaten it.

Did Lindsey take makeup on the boat?

Lindsey: I did. On the ICW, I’d put makeup on after showering at a marina. In the Bahamas I’ve worn mascara twice.

Paul: Does sunscreen count? Cause she uses a lot of it.

How can you stand to be near your spouse that much in a tiny space?

Lindsey: Soooo many people have asked me this, but for us this wasn’t really a change. When we met, Paul lived in an apartment so small he couldn’t have a couch. I shared a 3 bedroom house with 3-4 other people. When Paul moved to PA, we traveled for work together during the week and stayed in my parents’ house on weekends. Then for 5 years we rented an apartment that the previous tenant described as “maybe not big enough for 2 people.” Not that I don’t dream about living in a place where someone can get out of bed without having to climb over the other person, but we’re pretty used to constantly being in each other’s bubbles.

Paul: I think we both realize that a little bit of discomfort is part of the price we pay to have some really awesome adventures. If everything was easy and comfortable it wouldn’t be much of an adventure.

Why won’t you answer your phone?

Lindsey: We bought a sim card for BTC data but don’t pay for minutes or texts. We use WhatsApp, Google Voice, and occasionally Skype. Google Voice rings if I’m on the computer, but it doesn’t ring on my phone – I just see the missed call later, so that’s why I don’t answer.

When are you going to sail to Texas?

Lindsey: It was a real possibility when we were considering taking the boat into the Gulf of Mexico and up the Tenn-Tom canal to TN, but we now have reasons to keep the boat in FL this year – so we’ll see. 🙂

How many times a day do you sing “I’m On A Boat?”

Lindsey: At the beginning of the trip, at least 8, but now I’m probably down to 3.

Have you seen any cool birds?

Lindsey: Bird sightings on the ICW were awesome. In the Bahamas it’s been mostly sea gulls, cormorants, and mourning doves. There is a black bird with bright orange on his wings I’ve been seeing lately. And this little guy was pretty friendly:

Paul: We have yet to track down the elusive Bahamas Parrot.

How’s the sailing?

Lindsey: Pretty good! We cruise around under sail most of the time. We’ve been told the Abacos aren’t the easiest part of the Bahamas, navigation-wise, but I wouldn’t call it difficult (for the most part, we actively avoid passes near reefs or shallow spots requiring super accurate visual navigation). I’d say its much more enjoyable sailing conditions than the Chesapeake. A lot of days we sail all day on a single tack which is pretty relaxing.

What is it like in the Bahamas? Weather? Food? 

Lindsey: If you’re nervous about foreign travel, I would highly recommend the Bahamas as a start, because I don’t think there’s anything here that’s really going to give Americans culture shock. Vendors take Bahamanian or US dollars (1:1 street value). People are friendly, it’s easy to travel via water taxi, it’s freakin’ gorgeous here, and there’s so much to see under the water. There are so few people outside the two major cities (Nassau and Freeport) that everywhere we go has a nice small town community feel to it and it’s truly beautiful. A lot of the take-out food places and restaurants seem to have mostly fried food, and it isn’t cheap – fish and chips may cost you nearly $20, and if you do find bbq, or grilled, or steamed food, it’s not surprising to see stuff in the $20-40 range. Variety of restaurants is probably what we miss most from home. Our first few weeks here were nothing but sunny, but lately a lot more rain and scattered storms have been rolling through, and the Atlantic seas have been rough. Temps have been 70s-80s. Everyone says it’s been an unusual weather pattern this year (no surprise) and that summer is the best and calmest, outside of hurricanes. We really like it here. I can see the appeal of island hopping in the Caribbean where you are going to see more culture changes from island to island, but there’s so much more of the Bahamas we want to see.