So we’re still here, looking at St. Thomas, which isn’t saying that much because we weren’t planning on going very far away the first day anyway. It was mostly getting on the boat, getting everything stowed, unpacking and finding all the things we had been wondering where we’d packed them but couldn’t get to over the two days prior. It was about getting to the point where we could all take a deep breath because there wasn’t anything that really had to be done, save feed ourselves and plan the next stop on our voyage.
Or at least that’s how I imagined it. That’s a little simplified, but we do plan on having a less structured schedule with much less to do soon. Yesterday there were some things at checkout that needed. Let me talk about a few things about being on a boat that I find interesting. Mind you, if you’ve spent time on a boat before you will probably find this information mundane and obvious. I’m a neophyte when it comes to boats, so it’s all novel to me.
The toilets have an “in” and “out” buttons. Some toilets have the little flush and big flush buttons, these are different. The toilet has some water in it as a starting state. You go. You then hold the “out" or “flush" button to cause the water to go down the pipes to the collection tank. Now you have an open path from the bottom of your toilet to where everything you put in the toilet is being held…which does not smell good. We found this out when my child flushed, but did not refill. So you refill immediately after flushing. You repeat this cycle a second time and everything that’s in the tube from the toilet to the holding tank is not completely in the tank. Once I explained it to the children they got it easily.
The next thing that I found interesting is the boat’s size. It’s variable. It seemed huge when I first stepped on it. It seemed massive when Richard was pulling it away from the dock and into the channel. When we got into open water and I was standing up top, the boat shrunk. It was tiny with the water all around it. Five minutes later we were in a tight channel and another boat was coming towards us. Our boat swelled up to a size I hadn’t experienced before, until it was apparent the other boat would pass by us with a clear margin. Those are the types of shenanigans my brain played with my on the size of the boat. Surroundings make a huge difference in perception.
It was getting late so we went to a nice spot off shore at St. Thomas and dropped anchor. Richard at this point said there was something wrong with the engine, which sounded alarming to me although Richard said, “it was something to work on” and wasn’t overly bothered.
He got into the water to investigate in the fading light of day and discovered one of the props had fallen off. The told us this isn’t something we could have done or caused. Richard also said the prop had been on until just recently as the boat was maneuvering fine up to that point. They sent an email about it last night.
Interestingly enough, even though this sounds like a super important part of the boat to me, it actually isn’t crucial. The boat can move on engine power just fine without the missing prop. It won’t move as quickly and will be a bit less maneuverable, but since we’ll be sailing most of the time or in the dinghy, we’re fine if they can’t get it replaced.
This last one is a secret, so don’t tell my family members…no one is feeling sick yet. We were on the ocean, swaying around gently all night and everyone followed the same routine as usual, including waking up this morning and being happy and hungry.
The Big Boy Update: My son is right at home on the sailboat. He was all over the place yesterday, very happy to be on board. He and his sister are required to wear their life vests at all times when they’re on deck. He told his sister, “we haven’t had our ‘Man Overboard’ lesson yet” when she asked why we had to wear them.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: This isn’t something I’m happy to report. My daughter’s bladder infection is back. She agreed with me when she wet her pants in the middle of the night. It has a certain smell which confirms without a doubt in my mind that her infection is back. So we started her on the antibiotic in the middle of the night for the duration of the trip until we can get back to
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