BS2 02 – Time Hop

Wow. I wasn’t expecting to take such a long break from writing, but here I am. It is now July and we are steaming along through summer in our hurricane hole home slip for the season, where we are continuing our refit efforts and also incorporating a few additional upgrades we decided were necessary during our winter travels.

 

We’ve captured so much of our travels on video, of which I’m not certain when any of it will be edited or aired (and there’s just so much that I cannot even begin to guess what will be used and what will be left on the cutting room floor), but I believe William has been making stabs at a new video recently so there is hope for another YouTube posting soon.

 

As new vloggers, learning to film constantly while you ae actively communicating or experiencing, or doing just about anything in real-time is tough. Trying to edit those videos into presentable content is even tougher, and especially so when the tasks of creating a video are divided between two people; one who does the filming and one who edits the videos, with no clear direction stated nor even intended for the video compilation.

 

Basically what I’m trying to say here is, please be aware that our first season content is going to skip around quite a bit and there may not always seem to be much of a navigable storyline. We learn as we go along, and this year we have been in the midst of our first full season learning to live aboard, and travel, in our new home. You’ve got to start somewhere, right? Most importantly though, we are just trying to share our journey and in doing so we hope you will enjoy traveling virtually with us.

 

As we returned North and readjusted to life in the Carolinas my filming slowed and at this point there has been nothing saved for several weeks. Typical feast and famine roller-coaster of video content ala Jodi! Honestly though, since we have been back we have been focusing so much on our boat work that neither of us has even thought about filming what we’ve been up to lately … until now! Thanks for the reminder! I’ll get straight on that I promise! In the meantime though, maybe we should catch up?

 

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Time Hop: in my last post I tackled some often asked questions, and I made an attempt to give you a glimpse of our experiences in relation to the basic needs for living (and traveling), aboard our tiny floating home. I attempted to explain the differences between being on anchor, on a mooring, or at dock, and how expenses can differ drastically depending on location. I wrote a bit about some of the ways we have chosen to generate our own fresh water and electricity while utilizing renewable energy sources, and how we manage our own sanitation safely and effectively, eliminating waste, shrinking our environmental footprint, and enabling ourselves to live off grid.

 

In that same spirit, I thought I might share a couple more of the popular questions we are often asked when meeting people.

 

Q: A very popular question is; Where are you from? AKA – Where is home? (This is also the usual bartender chit-chat question in most touristy towns/beaches where they expect you are a visitor and will answer with a different city or state.)

 

A: This is always difficult for us to answer. William likes to gently laugh and mumble “home is wherever the anchor drops” while I usually just smile and ask “where are we currently?” Technically we could be considered locals anywhere we go, and in some locations where we have spent a few weeks, we have even received the “local discount” on occasion due to familiarity.

 

The truth is, it depends on what your reference point is. The boat is registered with the USCG (United States Coast Guard) with a hailing port of Wilmington, NC so that is our official address on record, however our physical address is fluid. We like to live in the “here and now” meaning that wherever we roam, we are home.

 

Q: In that same vein of questioning, people are often curious how as full-time cruisers we are able to receive mail and packages while we travel.

 

A: We have an official mailing address in North Carolina, however we can receive deliveries of mail & packages most anywhere we stop along the way, and we can easily have items forwarded to a pick up location with little issue if needed. Any major items requiring urgent attention are usually sent with tracking or email notification and can usually be attended to remotely with no problems.

 

Q: Most people also ask what we do about transportation (besides the obvious boat we live aboard). Currently we still maintain upkeep and ownership of two vehicles which we can utilize while homed in our hurricane hole during our seasonal downtime, but which are stored while we travel.

 

A: Living on the water our dinghy is our main vehicle, especially if we are at anchor or on a mooring, because it allows us to access land or docks without moving our entire home. On land we have usually been able to walk to most any place we needed or wanted to go, but we have our own foldable bikes we can ride, and in most places buses, taxi’s, Ubers, and Lyft’s are generally also available.

 

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A final note:

 

This month William and I are celebrating an absolutely remarkable year of achievements.

 

First and foremost, we recently passed our one year anniversary of our own personal Independence Day, the day we officially moved aboard, on July 4th 2022. That move alone was an achievement that was beyond huge, but it was only the beginning and there would be many, many more to follow!

 

Within this first year living aboard we have experienced, learned, tried, viewed, visited, eaten and drank so many new “firsts” for us, that I couldn’t even begin to list them all out. In addition, we have faced fears, endured tough storms, ridden out rough seas, and we still remain determined and undeterred from our goals. Yet another achievement.

 

And lastly, even we were skeptical that living aboard and continuing to redesign and refit this catamaran could be done at the same time, but here we are! Not only can it be done, but it is and has been, almost continually in process in some way since the day we moved aboard, even while traveling!

 

Until next time, fair winds and following seas!