There have been a few trade-offs between our former land-based lifestyle and what floats our boat today. It’s not the lifestyle for everyone, as I recently told a reporter from the suburban monthly newspaper. Her eyes opened wide as she took in our home, and her jaw dropped when I mentioned how little time I spend cleaning. “But my husband can easily put in 16 hours on the weekend washing and waxing the boat,” I cautioned. "It's his idea of fun."
Prior to moving out of
our Bradfordwoods townhouse, I spent about 20 hours a month housecleaning, between
daily "licks-and-promises" and the bi-weekly top-to-three-floors-bottom cleaning and Bill always had a home improvement project in the works. Then, while living
onboard at Fox Chapel Yacht Club in Pittsburgh, although cleaning was reduced to less
than an hour a week, my commute ratcheted up to 6 hours each week, and I sacrificed almost
an hour’s sleep a night to battle rush-hour traffic. Hats off to anyone who has to drive more than 30 minutes to work; I was really spoiled for 20 years with a 10-minute commute.
Now, a full year later,
with a commute no farther than a few steps from stateroom to home office in the pilot house, I’ve
gained back that hour’s sleep, and every day is "Bring Your Pet to Work Day" for me! Bill built that nifty worktable; the legs screw off so that it can be stowed away on the weekends and at Christmas shorter legs allow it to double as our tree stand. A printer/scanner/copier sits on the upper ledge and Alfie loves to watch it spit out paper. (Note: The Garmin radar is only there until the new radar arch is installed.)
Bill's commute is just a quick stroll down the dock to the marina office, where he confers with the marina manager and the dockmaster for the day's projects. In any given day he will be a landscaper, electrician, carpenter, cleaner, painter, plumber, groundskeeper and dockhand. He absolutely loves being outdoors and finds chores to do in the condominium on rainy days. The condo was built in 2008 with 8 units and none have sold; the contractor left a lot of work to be done to bring them up to "show" quality; that's high on the marina manager's to-do list for Bill.
Bill's commute is just a quick stroll down the dock to the marina office, where he confers with the marina manager and the dockmaster for the day's projects. In any given day he will be a landscaper, electrician, carpenter, cleaner, painter, plumber, groundskeeper and dockhand. He absolutely loves being outdoors and finds chores to do in the condominium on rainy days. The condo was built in 2008 with 8 units and none have sold; the contractor left a lot of work to be done to bring them up to "show" quality; that's high on the marina manager's to-do list for Bill.
Above, Warren (marina manager); Georgette (office manager & accountant); Bruce (dockmaster) at the June Luau.
Our dockage and weekly
pump out fees are nearly a trade-off with the annual townhome fees and real
estate taxes. But we pay to have barnacles scrapped off the running gear once
a month and the hull once a quarter. We’ve had to purchase a chart-plotter for
navigating the St. John’s River and the massive radar dome that came with it
requires a sturdier radar arch. Stay tuned for a future blog showing the
before-and-after photos of that installation.
So, while we're
celebrating the first anniversary of being a full-time river liv-er, we still
have five more months until we can celebrate our first full year in
Jacksonville. We’re looking forward to the marina party the first weekend in
November!
