This is a little overdue since we had been living aboard since September 8, 2015. We still can't believe how fast that time has gone! So here is a rather scattered rendition of our impressions from living and traveling on a sailboat for a year.
Everything cruisers say about "Low Low's and High High's" are absolutely true. When things are bad they feel SO bad and when things are good - they are friggin' fantastic. It's like all your emotions and experiences are so raw and heightened.
When people ask how will you ever go back to "reality"? The answer is I have no idea. But what's to say this isn't reality instead of the very artificial life many of us lead "back home"? Out here it's just you, your wits, your ingenuity, the kindness of strangers and nature. What's more real than that?
While moments this past year have been incredibly hard and disheartening and we both had moments of real fear and also real desperation, I don't think either of us would trade it for anything. We have met some awful people and some incredible people and it's all part of our experience. We have learned a lot about fixing things but also about ourselves and each other. We have pushed ourselves, and each other, well past our comfort zones. We made plenty of mistakes, but we learned from them.
If you have seriously thought about doing this, or any dream, go for it. Of course there will be times that really make you call into doubt what the fu$k you were thinking. There are moments that are far inferior to what you had hoped the experience would be. But none of those moments outshine the good stuff.
Ok enough of the cheesy life reflections. Here is a David Letterman Style list to end off our first cruising year!
Top 10 Reasons You Know You're a Seasoned Cruiser:
10) You know EVERY noise your boat can possibly make and what/if something needs to be done to fix it.
9) You can anchor your boat, even hand lowering the anchor, in less than 2 minutes.
8) You wonder what the hell you used to have so much space for?!?
7) You know every trick known to man to combat mold.
6) A year of hand-pump flushing your toilet has given you some impressive triceps (it might also be the lifting, carrying, the sail trimming etc).
5) A carry-on bag seems like way too much luggage. You are accustomed to living with a bathing suit, a pair of shorts, a pair of sandals, a t-shirt and a bar of soap.
4) You no longer blink when arriving to an anchorage and are greeted by a mass of expat penises (it's not just us who "accidentally" turned into nudists).
3) It seems normal to have a stranger swim over to your boat in their underwear to see if you know how to fix something on their boat.
2) You can sniff out a fresh water shower miles away and if one can't be found, you can shower, hair and body, with 400 mls of water.
1) You know when it's going to rain - not by the sky or change in temperature - but by how many nude bodies appear on deck with a bar of soap.
Finally, some of our favourite photos from our year living aboard Nomads and sailing the East Coast of the States and the Caribbean.
