We're Listening

How does it feel? What do you miss? What does the day-to-day entail? These are some of the questions we have been receiving lately and I couldn’t be more grateful. I’m grateful because it gives us an opportunity to dig a little deeper and share a little more.

I feel curious. When I wake up in the morning, one of my first thoughts is what will I see today and who will I meet? Blake gets up first to make tea for me and coffee for him and I check the weather forecast for the next three days, with a focus on wind speed and direction. Our conversation usually starts with what chores we will get done today, which could consist of filling jerry cans with drinking water, doing laundry, getting fuel, grocery shopping, hunting for WIFI to post the blog, or any boat project/task that needs to get done.

Blake makes breakfast and then we get to it. If you are wondering if we shower daily, we don’t. When we shower, it’s usually late in the afternoon, after our outdoor shower bag has heated up in the sun. We hang up a couple of towels for privacy and pray the current or wind doesn’t shift the boat exposing us all to our neighbors or those ashore. If we were snorkeling or swimming, we put everything that was in the saltwater underneath us so it can get a freshwater rinse too.

There are days when we wish some things were easier where we didn’t have to carry our groceries on our back or take the dinghy to shore in opposing winds and waves, resulting in being completely drenched by the time you make it to shore. We also know there is a trade off for everything and we are learning that comfort and happiness are not always synonymous. I would say we are uncomfortable and uncertain most of the time. We are finding peace and lots of humor in our discomfort and uncertainty. For example, I felt like wanted to wear a dress into town because sometimes you just don’t want to wear pants. Anyway, from that I learned when the tide is low, which results in about six feet of ladder to climb to get on shore, that a dress is a bad choice.

Though there are some days, where we wake up before the sun, and notice we are not swaying and the dinghy that’s tied at our stern, does not have water splashing against it, which sounds like really loud mouth noises. It’s completely calm which means before conversation or coffee, we start our morning taking turns on the paddleboard. The water is so clear that it’s like being at an aquarium as you stare down in the sea life that’s been there all along; a whole world below the surface of the water. There is a feeling of one-ness in those moments.

There are also moments of fear, which I think we have shared in previous posts. I recently stated that I need one day a week where I am not doing something that scares me; to give my nervous system a break. I did not realize before that, what I was calling anxiety, is really fear that I carry around with me, everywhere. This fear is not new. I felt it at work, driving on highways, in grocery stores, in large social gatherings, and the list goes on. What causes a person to be afraid so often? Is it fear of death or looking like a fool? Probably both and then some…but the awareness reinforces my resolution around being a woman who is not afraid of being afraid.

I think the same goes for Blake but with uncertainty. As a mechanic, he has been a master of his trade for many years. He is now in new places with new things to navigate and he doesn’t always know the answer or the fix and this is a man who loves to fix things. Amongst the mystery sounds and smells of Josephine in addition to the surprises Mother Nature bestows, there is a humbling that takes place in the uncertainty of it all. It is important to see everything as an opportunity to learn versus seeing not knowing as a failure.

The questions about how we get things done and what activities of daily living look like for us has inspired us to explore creating a video series called, “Gettin’ Shit Done with Captain Blake.” Because reading about grocery shopping or laundry would be deathly boring, so we’re going to try and spice it up with some videos. Something to look forward to!

There are some things that we probably won’t capture on video, like the fact that we cook three meals a day, every day. As mentioned earlier, Blake cooks breakfast and I cook lunch and dinner. I’m grateful that I loved cooking before and I love it even more now. I think I’ve done some of the best cooking of my life on this journey and Blake has mastered his breakfast potatoes. Rarely do I have days where cooking feels like a chore. After each meal, we handwash our dishes with soap and saltwater then do a freshwater rinse. I’ve even cooked with saltwater…and look at that, we are still alive! I use the The Care and Feeding of Sailing Crew by Lin Pardey as a guide for cooking with saltwater.

Overall, we feel grateful for this opportunity and love sharing it with our friends and family. What else are you curious about? Please keep the questions coming!