Happy New Year – Six Months Living on a Sailboat!

Holy cow. Six months. That’s how long we have lived aboard.

We moved aboard our catamaran sailboat a little over six months ago, on June 20, 2016. And we are starting 2017, a brand new year, as “liveaboard cruisers”! The past six months have been good/ bad/ happy/ cranky/ hot/ wet/ fun/ tedious/ hilarious/ trying/ mundane/ vomit-y/ calm/ beautiful/ spontaneous/ adventurous/ boring/ frustrating/ expensive/ slow/ exhilarating/ spectacular… and rather inconvenient.

But for perspective… here’s a recap of what we’ve been up to since we left land life behind.

In the last six months, we have…

Stayed/docked at six marinas:

Island Moorings in Port Aransas, TX (June & July 2016)

Matagorda Marina in Matagorda, TX (one night – July 2016)

Moody Gardens Resort & Marina in Galveston, TX (one night – July 2016)

Seabrook Marina in Seabrook, TX (August & September 2016)

St. Petersburg Municipal Marina in St. Petersburg, FL (October 2016)

Sombrero Resort & Marina in Marathon, FL (December 2016)

Grabbed a mooring ball at three marinas (for those who have never heard of a mooring ball – it is basically a permanent anchor for you to attach your boat):

Marina Jacks in Sarasota, FL (November 2016) – FIRST MOORING BALL!

Garrison Bight Mooring Field in Key West, FL (November 2016)

Marathon City Marina in Boot Key Harbor, FL (January 2016)

Anchored in two anchorages:

Fleming Key in Key West, FL (one night – December 2016)

Boot Key Harbor in Marathon, FL (December 2016)

Hauled out twice:

Seabrook Marina & Boatyard in Seabrook, TX (August 2016) – stayed in a hotel

3D Boatyard on Stock Island in Key West, FL (November 2016) – stayed on the boat (FIRST TIME!)

Spent six nights at sea (all in Gulf of Mexico; including a five-night crossing from TX to FL and one overnight passage from Sarasota, FL to Key West, FL.) See photos and pictures from our Gulf Crossing HERE.

In total, we have traveled 1,640 nautical miles in our sailing home on the sea. (WOW!)

On land, we have ridden buses, rented cars, caught rides with friends, walked, Ubered, taxied, dinghied, trollied, kayaked, SUPed, golf carted, and biked (Matt) to: grocery stores, museums, aquariums, beaches, movies, West Marine (a zillion times), Home Depot (half a zillion times), restaurants (too many to count), educational programs, bars/pubs, ice cream shops, laundromats, libraries, airports, a fort, a national park, and a Christmas parade.

We have met more new friends, been to more happy hours, and drank more alcohol than Matt and I have done cumulatively in the past 14 years we have been together.

We have learned to conserve water, conserve data, conserve power, and covet both ice and air conditioning.

We have survived mosquito and noseeum bites, head bangs (Matt), cuts, and bruises.

We live with overhead leaks when it rains, and no TV. We endure humidity, salt, sand, sweat and heat on a daily basis.

We have fixed or replaced 8,754 items on our boat.* (*might be underestimating here)

We have seen dolphins and manatees and turtles and tarpons and sting rays. We’ve (Matt) caught tuna and sliced sashimi for lunch & dinner.

We have enjoyed more sunrises and sunsets than we could have ever enjoyed on land.

We have changed our plans umpteen times based on weather, mood, and/or the state of disrepair of our boat.

And we survived the #roadtripfromhell when we drove from the Keys to Texas (3200 miles round-trip) for Christmas. (short story: our rental car left us stranded on the side of a highway for three and a half hours on DAY ONE of our trip. YIPEE!)

In summary, we have lived. We have lived to tell the tales of our (sometimes mis)adventures. We have lived out of our comfort zones. We have enjoyed most of it, screamed at some of it, and found our zen in the rest of it. We have no idea what 2017 has in store for us, but we are excited to figure it out as we go.

What a ride.