The Pirates of Swan Creek

We rafted up with three other boats last weekend in Swan Creek. But this wasn't just any old Rock Hall weekend. It was Pirates & Wenches Weekend - an annual event that brings hoards of people in costume to Rock Hall seeking fun.

In the past, we've always docked at Rock Hall Landing or did a quick lunch cruise to Waterman's. Why had we never ventured into Swan Creek? I don't have a good answer for that. However, this being our first trip and having heard stories of Pirates & Wenches Weekend, we didn't know what to expect.

The first "obstacle" we had to overcome was a swarm of pirate kayakers blocking our path into the creek:

Next came the pirate dinghies with their vuvuzelas:

I guess we looked harmless enough because they let us pass. We finally made it safely into the creek and rafted up.

After that things were pretty calm. We saw boats full of people in costume heading into town for the festivities. And there were many boats in the creek proudly displaying their flags. There was certainly plenty of space for boaters that wanted to anchor out and tender in to town.

The creek was so pretty that we can't wait to go back. Perhaps we'll even go into town for the next P&W weekend in the search of booty. This year it was fun being on the outskirts of the festivities enjoying the quiet scenery and the warm water - that is saltier than most of the places we frequent in the Bay.

More Boating, Less Fighting

"I could never live in such tight quarters with my husband."
"Do you ever get time alone?"
"Gee, you must REALLY love your husband."
"You guys are crazy. I would have killed my wife by now."

Those are the types of things I hear all the time from people that still live in houses. Yet, my husband had an neat epiphany recently -- Since moving on board two years ago, we have fought less with each other. In fact, I would say that our relationship is stronger than ever.

Now, don't let your mind go too far. We didn't argue a lot before moving on board. But we did have fights. I may have even stomped away from an argument. They were typical, low-key disagreements.

During the past two years we haven't had more than a minor tiff. I guess we could attribute this to a few things:

• With limited space communication is a must!
• If you are unhappy, you can go down to the stateroom or walk the docks but you can't stew for hours in another wing of a McMansion.
• We've now been married 14 years and have finally figured it out.
• We have less physical stuff so there isn't as much to argue about.
• A life that seems less complex.
• Life on boat is less stressful.
• And my personal favorite -- WE ARE JUST SO HAPPY IN LIVEABOARD LIFE.

I'm not saying that living on a boat is the secret to all marriage woes. If one of you doesn't like boats it may even push you further apart. But, for those of you called by the sea. Those that need to be rocked to sleep by the waves. Those that believe that flip flops, bathing suits, and maybe a pair of shorts and a t-shirt are a perfectly acceptable weekend wardrobe. Buy a boat! Move on board!

Note: I did get Doug's approval before publishing this post. We don't want the blog to start causing fights. :)

Preventing Abuse of Tasty Adult Beverages

Nobody wants to drink wine from a red solo cup. Glass or crystal seems like the preferred way to go but both are easily breakable on a boat (remember my post about new "unbreakable" dinnerware?). Many stores sell acrylic wine glasses for patio parties and picnics. Acrylic is great - it's durable and easy to store. There's one small problem:

White wine gets warm very quickly in an acrylic wine glass. Martinis are disgustingly warm within seconds (ok, maybe minutes).

When we moved aboard two years ago, the old owners left their acrylic wine and martini glasses. We used them, begrudgingly, for about eight months. All the while we were on the lookout for the perfect boat wine glass.

We finally found the solution about a year-and-a-half ago: STAINLESS STEEL!

New glasses in the front. Old acrylic glasses in the back.

They are made by Cuisinox and work like a charm. We requested a set of four of each for Christmas that year and have been using them ever since. Frankly, I can't find anything wrong with them:

• White wine and martinis stay as cold as they would in glass vessels (perhaps even longer).
• Red wine keeps a good temperature, too.
• They look classy.
• We get lots of comments on them while walking the docks. (Some people refer to them as our "pimp glasses.")
• I would recommend these to people even if they aren't living on a boat.

We've kept a couple of the acrylic glasses around in case we want a drink while floating in the water during a raft-up. I don't want to send one of the stainless steel glasses into the deep for the fish to enjoy.

What tricks have you found to make liveaboard life more elegant?

May Neighbors

We had one new neighbor in May. However, Memorial Day is the unofficial start of boating season so we expect to see many more neighbors in the next few months.


Wing and Wing
 

April Neighbors

Sorry for the slight delay in posting. We had only one new neighbor in April 2015:

"Skookum" - Carver 39 Motoryacht

They are fellow liveaboards!

The season is ramping up. There are currently five open slips on our dock. Who is coming to visit?

Two Year Anniversary!

We've done it! We've been onboard for two years now.

When we first made the decision we promised each other that we would give this lifestyle at least three years. We weren't allowed to give up after the first winter no matter how bad it got.

And now? Two winters (and two glorious springs, summers, and autumns) later? We can't imagine going back to a non-floating residence.

Check out all that we have accomplished in 730 days:

Interior Renovations/Redecorating

• A home office so I can comfortably and effectively work at home.
• A full length mirror in the Master Stateroom.
• A new hot water heater.
• The purchase of new dinnerware.
• Lots of organization tricks.
• The replacement of two faucets.
• The addition of a printer nook.
• Prep work for winter condensation.
• The purchase of electric heaters for winter.
• A new mattress for the Master Stateroom.
• Fixing the washer/dryer.
• New LED lights.
• Two new HVAC units (this vessel has four).

Exterior Maintenance, Safeguards, and Fun

• The purchase of an ice-eater to protect us during an extremely cold Baltimore winter.
• Winter water prep and protection of outdoor pipes.
• A Lehr propane motor for the dinghy.
• Four short hauls.
• A few days "on the hard."
• A new name.
• Figuring out how to change the oil, fuel filters, impellers on the engines and generator.
• Four new house batteries.
• A couple fresh coats of wax.
• New LED lights (with the option of blue or white).
• Replacement helm stereo, speakers, and a new TV.
• New valves for the VacuFlush system.
• Repair of one holding tank sensor and replacement of the other (aren't you glad there aren't pictures of that?).
• Using Starbrite Waterproofing to seal the canvas against leaks.

Marina Celebrations, Activities, and Community

• A holiday party and the Baltimore Parade of Lights (perhaps 2015 is the year we finally enter our boat?).
• Movies on the dock.
• New Year's Eve.
• The Star-Spangled Spectacular.
• Trawler Fest.
• An Open Boat party.
• A total of 68 different neighbors on our 14 slip dock.

Trips

• We ventured to Annapolis, Fairlee Creek, Kent Narrows, Rock Hall, Saint Michaels, Seneca Creek, Sparrows Point, Stevensville, Sue Creek, and Tolchester for a total of 125 engine and 457 generator hours.

Curious what other projects boaters are tackling? Take a look at this list from Chicago liveaboards after their first year: http://waterwethinking.blogspot.com/2015/05/what-have-you-done-we-made-it-one-year.html?showComment=1432224545986

Making Space for a Home Office

As many of you know, I work from home as a Freelance Writer and Library Consultant (check out my webpage: http://www.juliedietzelglair.com/ - shameless self promotion done). For the past two years, this has been my office.

I'm ashamed to say that it almost always looked like that (however, they say that a messy desk is a sign of genius). It simply isn't conducive to organizational possibilities. It also became our dumping ground. So, for the past two years we have tossed around a multitude of home office ideas. The biggest ones being:

• Renovate the dinette into a cubicle-type office.
• Remove the loveseat and install a desk.

Renovating the dinette always seemed like the better option. We hardly use the dinette in the warmer months, opting instead to eat at the helm station table or on the pier (why be inside?).

The loveseat provides extra seating in the salon and also pulls out into a single sleeper giving us more space for guests. In all honesty, we've only had six people sleep on board twice since we bought the boat. Does it really make sense to keep a sleeper sofa for a once-a-year need?

Yet, the idea of a full blown reno scared us both a bit. There is already limited space onboard and a reno would take up space. We also have fear of making drastic changes no matter how much we love our floating home. So, we just continued with the status quo. I would clear off space as I needed it or just sit on the sofa and work.

Everything changed on a serendipitous trip to Office Depot. I found a desk that would fit and was extremely reasonably priced. If we could get the loveseat out and store it there would be no fear of drastic change.

Doug got to work taking the loveseat apart. Our biggest challenge was fitting the frame out the salon door. That is the frame sitting outside the salon door: it barely, and I mean barely, fit.

But once everything was out and the floor vacuumed we were ready to move ahead with Project Home Office. Just look at all this beautiful empty floor space!

We now have a useable desk:

I'm still working on figuring out the right seating for it. I don't want a large overbearing desk chair and the bar stool isn't the right height.

We also still have lots of salon seating on the starboard side:

Plus, the dinette is useable again (just in time for it to be ignored all summer).

In this age of technology, even if you don't work from home there are certain computer related needs on board. How do you manage your onboard "office?"