No, It's Not Always All Fun and Games

I know my siblings (especially my brother) think all we do is drink fruity cocktails and listen to Jimmy Buffett while watching the sun go down.
Not so.
Cruising is actually a lot of work.
We have to be entirely self-sufficient.
We have to make our own water.
Change our own oil.
Clean the slime and growth off of the bottom of the boat.
Fix anything and everything that breaks on the boat.
Do constant upkeep.
Do preventative maintenance.
Everything takes twice or three times as long on a boat.
The needed part is always buried under 47 other un-needed at the moment but still necessary parts.
We have to be inventive.
Creative.
Figure out ways to do things in tiny spaces or without the proper tools or spare parts.

For example:
Our washing machine drain got plugged with that crappy rubber backing from our small rugs.
The machine is in our main salon and we really didn't want 12 gallons of dirty water to spill out on the floor.
How to drain the water out of the machine?
So Jim thought about it overnight and came up with the perfect cruiser solution.
Use my big flat skillet to drain the water onto and then have the overflow from the skillet drain into a plastic box.Success!
We have always said that everything on a boat should have two uses.
So now after I use my skillet to make pancakes or cook bacon, I can drain my washer water.

Going to the grocery store is an all day project.
If at anchor, we first have to drop the dinghy, load ourselves and canvas bags into the dinghy.
Motor in to the beach, or if near a marina to the dinghy dock.
Walk through town.
Catch a bus.
Check our canvas bags at the front of the store.
Shop.
Un-check our canvas bags.
Neatly so as to not squish the bread or break the eggs pack our purchases in the canvas bags.
Either get back on the bus or find a taxi.
Back to the dinghy.
Load canvas bags, again neatly so as to not squish the now slightly squished bread and still not broken eggs, into the dinghy.
If at a beach, watch the waves and time it perfectly to take the packed dinghy past the surf, attempt to flop our bodies into the dinghy and not on top of the prized slightly squished bread and still not broken eggs.
Motor to the boat.
Hand all the heavy bags up onto the deck, into the cockpit, into the main salon and then put it all away.
All while sweating profusely.
Don't forget to wash all veggies and fruits in the anti-bacterial rinse and dry before putting away!
By this time it is 5 pm and it is time for that fruity cocktail and some Jimmy Buffett.

P.S. And for those of you cruising and now hate me because I have a washing machine...
When we cruised those three years on "Thistle", I did ALL of our laundry (except two loads) in a bucket with a plunger ~ sheets, towels, all of it.