Boat vs. House

There are some things that are part of the living aboard experience that those who live on dirt know little about. For instance, during a bit of a wind storm a couple of nights ago:

• Watching your drink and dinner plate sliding around the table and hoping that they don’t go too far too fast and end up on the floor.

• After putting up with the infernal slap of loose lines on your mast as long as you can – crawling out into the wind and rain to tighten them only to realize that all your neighbours both up and down the dock are slapping and banging as well.

• Homeowners on dirt pick up leaves and branches from their yard after a wind storm. Live aboards pick up canvas panels that have blown out, wind indicators that have come loose from the top of masts and floating fenders that have come away and floated into your slip.

• Watching the masts of all the sailboats around you bending and waving in unison as the next gust comes towards you.

• Not having to rock the boy to sleep as the boat is doing it for you – albeit somewhat violently and with little rhythm (unless you call the lines slapping on the mast – rhythm.)

• Picking up the pieces while watching the sheet lightening move off into the distance.

I worry that after living on a boat and being so close to the power of nature and God’s great creation, that living in a good solid house in a ‘burb somewhere would be, well… boring.

P.S. Oh ya, I forgot this one: feeling somewhat sickish after spending too much time inside the boat during a wind storm.