It's Independence Day and our fourth day living on the boat. Being Canadian we celebrated Canada Day on July 1st but since we are down in USA for a while we can enjoy the festivities of the Fourth.
We woke up the the rocking of the wake caused by almost every boat in the marina heading out for a sail on this sunny holiday. Once we got breakfast and Momma had her tea, we set about some boat chores and then the kids and I headed up to the parking lot to watch the parade. The parade started in the lot, so we sat along the sidewalk and watched them all as they started out. Being the only people at the very beginning, everyone else was downtown, the kids made out like bandits with all the candy that was chucked at us.
After the parade we all bundled up into the dinghy and boated downtown and docked at the city beach dock and went to the carnival and had some lunch then headed back. Unfortunately the clouds rolled in and rain started up so our plans to sail out for the fireworks tonight has been cancelled but over all we had a fun Fourth of July.
Our nightly game of mouse trap. Mac nervous as we watches to see if he traps Finns mouse to win the game...
The face of a winner! ...
Finny, the face of a loser, but he is hoping for a comeback tonight.
Collecting parade booty.
An up close visit with the Blue Fox, our drive-in movie mascot.
The three lone parade spectators.
Mac and the pirate float.
As for our first few days living aboard, they have gone remarkably well. I had no expectations because I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment and I haven't been disappointed yet. It hasn't all been easy, it's going to be an adjustment for all of us, but thankfully it seems the kids have adjusted instantly. We waved goodbye to the log house and the kids switched to boat life as of it were no big deal. They sleep like logs at night in their bunks, they have claimed their places around the table and pretty much do everything they used to do. They colour and watch movies, they play with their toys, go to the playground, fight and squabble, pretty much status quo with some dinghy rides thrown in.
Some difficulties we have been dealing with is learning to maneuver around each other in the small space, we made do pretty well, but when I am cooking I need them to be stationary so we have a rule they are either in their cabins or seated around the table while am cooking. Privacy is a consideration on the boat as well, with only curtains as doors, it's not like we can lock them so we have been trying to teach them that if a curtain is closed you need to ask permission to open it.
Were discovering it is a bit of an adjustment using our composting toilet, the toilet had a compartment for number 2 and a separate jug for number 1 and the twain should never meet (if you want the composting process to work properly.) I've never had to think so much while going to the bathroom, what hatch to open and when. Also, the head works better in a household of two people, but with five using it constantly it needs to be emptied quite often, unfortunately we discovered this the hard way, pretty much the number 1 jug has been almost overflowing and we of course have lost the cap that goes over it so it has been a difficult and messy clean up. West alarms on our iPads to remind us to empty it every week, but just two days after our last empty we had another too-full situation, I guess it is going to become part of the daily routine. Also during one of these chaotic, smelly and messy clean ups, Mark managed to drop the toilet churning handle overboard and was unable to retrieve it, a pair of vice grips is our new handle until a new one can be ordered.
Penelope our dog has been the biggest problem since we moved on board, she can't climb up or down the ladder to get in or out of the boat so someone is constantly hauling her up or tossing her down and she has refused to use her indelibly expensive porch potty we bought for her. We assumed she didn't like the fake grass, so we went out and bought a piece of sod to put on top of it but still she refused. We scented it with grass picked from the dog park where the other dogs go to get the scent on it but she wasn't having any of it. Finally we decided it was time for tough love and she wasn't going to be taken anywhere else to do her business but on her patch. We sat with her four hours asking, begging, threatening her to go pee but she would just give us sad eyes and lie down. We went 48 hours where Penelope held it in and Mark was livid and I was worried she would do some bodily damage by holding it for so long. What eventually worked was praise, isn't that always the way? I started giving her a piece of ham every time she went onto the patch, she didn't even have to do anything, but just be on the patch and she would be rewarded. After a few times of this she was asking to go onto the patch and this morning she just hopped up and did her business and we were finally on the right track.
Aside from these and other hiccups like not having hot water and having to pay for showers we have all been enjoying the boat life. We are forced to spend more time together in close proximity so we are doing more together and being more patient with each other. I love my galley and our little v berth and as we keep working on the boat, adding lifelines, trampolines, canvas awning... It'll only get better.
No comments:
Post a Comment