LIFE ON LAND TO LIFE ON THE WATER - THE TRANSITION

THE TRANSITION                                                                                             MARCH 20, 2014

LIFE IS GOOD HERE IN GRENADA

A common topic of conversation among live aboard cruisers is the process of leaving the comforts of life on land to living life on the water away from the US.  The transition from land to water takes everyone a different amount of time but many speak of it taking more than a year to be comfortable with the lifestyle change of leaving the dock.  For some leaving the availability of automobiles, shopping, air conditioning, electronics, space, family and friends is almost their undoing.  Others becoming comfortable with their abilities to run the boat is the hard part.  I believe moving aboard and expecting a quick  smooth transition is unrealistic. 

We have been aboard for 2 1/2 years.  We have worked towards the dream of living aboard for many years and have lived most of our lives with little fear of doing new things.  The first six months we were so busy at the dock working on the boat there was no time to contemplate the scope of our decision to move aboard.  When we left the dock in Houston our learning curve kept our minds busy.  It took about a year off the dock including 5 months away from the US, before we could say we were really comfortable with leaving life on land behind.

Now don't get me wrong this does not mean we did not enjoy our new life, we did.  The whole experience was just much different than we had in mind, much bigger.  Reading and studying about living aboard gives you a unrealistic view of this life.  It does not prepare you for becoming completely responsible for everything big and small that makes up life aboard.  Learning about our boat and it's systems was huge even though Rod installed most all the systems.  Learning about ourselves was just as big. 

Every time a system failed, storms blasted us, the water was so shallow we could barely navigate or we spent a sleepless night on anchor watch we learned something.  Many of those lessons were difficult and scary especially in the dark.  When the sun came up things always looked brighter, it was a new day, a new experience.  Many times we wondered if we wanted to move even farther from the security of the US, turning back was not something we could live with.

The decision to leave an anchorage we had settled into was sometimes hard.  Our first months off the dock we moved with the weather in mind.  Leaving in April we felt we needed to be far north before hurricane season began.  We felt pushed to move to the next anchorage.  This by itself added to the stress of the many difficult trials of life aboard.

IT'S PERFECT AT ANCHOR
BLACK POINT SETTLEMENT

After being gone about a year we had made our way through some of the Bahamas to come to the anchorage at Black Point Settlement.  This was a tiny barren island made up of mostly rock and scrub brush and one small town with very few people.  The bay was large, the water crystal clear and aqua blue.  We anchored on the edge of the existing boats and settled in.  We stayed for more than 2 weeks and it is here we took the time to really catch our breath.  We often sat in the cockpit discussing all the things we had done, the places we have been and the trials we had encountered.  It was here the uneasy feeling began to disappear.

We left Black Point Settlement more comfortable in our chosen way of life and our abilities to deal with all the intricacies of living aboard.  For people planning on leaving the dock for the bigger experience of sailing to new places our only advice is give this life a chance.  Take the time to work through the many stages of leaving land behind, you will not be disappointed. Since leaving the US behind we have met some astounding and fascinating people.   Most are average people from around the world who wanted to see new countries from the deck of their boats.   All had stories of trials and difficulties.  Not one has said they regret their decision and wished they had returned to their life on land.