Our tips for liveaboard newbies:

Being at a marina means we see a lot of peeps come and go! Some are seasoned sailors and some are liveaboard newbies, just like we used to be....though some days, I still feel like a newbie!

When we moved onto our first boat there were two ladies here that welcomed me and taught me everything they knew about living aboard a boat....and trust me, there is so much to learn and know. It goes way beyond just learning to live in a small space! They are out cruising now, but I have tried really hard to pass on what they taught me and things I've figured out that works or doesn't work.

In no particular order....

Remove all most cardboard | I've heard several reasons for this one, like bugs are attracted to the glue that hold the box together and/or bugs like to live in between the folds of the box. In any event, I'm not cool with bugs taking up residence in my tiny home, so I remove almost all cardboard from the boat. And what does remain, gets checked often for any unwanted visitors

While we're on the bug topic: peppermint oil is great for keeping spiders away | I'm not really scared of spiders, but I also don't want to live with them. And because we are living full time at a dock, there are always spiders around. So I use peppermint oil to keep them at bay! I have a couple battery candles in the cockpit and I pour the oil on the tops of the fake candle trays, but you could also use a cotton ball or a small lid to hold the oil. 

Detergent as a head/tank cleaner | when we go to the pump out we like to rinse out the tank with liquid detergent (and water) after pumping out the stuff that needs pumping out. So after you've pumped out your tank, pour a healthy amount of liquid detergent in the tank and then fill with water. Now pump out the soapy water mixture and you're all done! We also pour a little detergent into the head after pumping out to help clean the bowl and keep smells to a minimum. 

Vinegar | this stuff is basically liquid gold when you live in a boat! Ok not really, but it is super versatile and used almost daily! 

Bleach is a big no-no | boats have lots of rubber hoses and bleach will eat away at the hoses and overtime you'll have a much bigger problem than a dirty boat. So when you think of bleach, think only for laundry! As long as you're doing laundry at the marina or laundromat and not in your sink!

Get to know your area | we will be here for a couple more years, at the least, working and saving money towards our cruising departure. So it is important to know the area you're in and where to get the best deals. I cook most every night on the boat, but when we do go out, we like to catch a good deal! Different area restaurants usually have weeknight specials and we know where to go for the $2 tacos or the $6 ribeye steaks!!  So learn your area and figure out where you can eat out on the cheap! 

Free table | the liveaboards at out marina (and several others) usually have a  designated area or table where you can get rid of anything you're not using anymore and in turn, pick up something you may want from the table. Just be sure to find out where said area is, I've heard a few peeps say they didn't know that was a free table, left what they were working on to go grab something from the boat and came back to find their stuff gone. :/ Yeah, not good! 

Cook with pork sausage instead of hamburger meat | on our last boat {baby Irie, if you will} we had the teeniest, tiniest freezer. This is where I made the switch and I began cooking solely with pork sausage. I quickly found out that I was throwing out more hamburger meat than I was using....and that stuffs not cheap. The benefits of using pork sausage are the many different flavors, the cheaper price, the fact that it doesn't have to be frozen & lastly, 9 times out of 10, there's no grease to drain off after cooking it, so less work!! 

Thinking outside the box | living on a boat means you have to get pretty crafty when you need a trash can in the bathroom. Especially when the only flat piece of real estate on the head floor to hold this is approximately, three inches by ten inches. Yeah, inches!!! The good news is, those plastic cereal containers with a lid that includes the flap lid part {where a normal person would pour the cereal from} are usually the perfect size to make into a trash can for a tight spot! Just make sure to always use a small trash bag as a liner and never try to reuse it for food, ever!! 

I know there are so many more, but this is a good start for now! 

So tell me, what are your tips & tricks??

Weekend raft-ups and more!!

My apologies for the super long gap in blog posts, lately! With me going back to work, life has become a bit more hectic than I was used to. Gone are the days where I wasted the day away, lounging by the pool, soaking up the sun and where the only work that was being done was, me, working on my tan!! Truth is, I was ready to go back to work. Not only do I enjoy contributing to the income, I also want a bigger boat and that my friends, is what I work for, everyday...well, three days a week, anyways! What a novel idea?? "If you want something, you work for it!" Someone should clue in the millenials with that fine wisdom!! 

Labor Day weekend was a lot of fun and an extra long weekend for us. I had five days off work & Joe wound up using a vacation day so he could get four consecutive days off and it was like a mini vacation!

That Friday, we slept in, then got the boat ready to go anchor out and met up with new friends. We rafted up with two other boats (we're in the middle)  as you can see we have our "project" dinghy upside down on the bow. We were basically given the inflatable, but it needs a lot of work. But you can't complain when it's free (another piece of advice for those millenials). It's exactly the type of dinghy we have been looking for and we're not afraid of a lil' work so that is why I have affectionately dubbed it as, 'Project'! In fact, that may very well become its name! 

This was our wonderful view for a couple of days!!! We had never really rafted up for more than a few hours before, but this was great!! Being able to just step aboard your friend's boat and hang out was pretty cool!! 

And, I broke my own rule about only swimming in clear water, where I can see what's beneath me. Ahh well, it was worth it and I only felt something brush past me once or twice...it was probably better that I couldn't see what it was. 

We had planned to stay there for two nights but the winds had picked up and I doubt it would have been a comfortable night on the hook, not to mention that we don't have a generator on board, so it would've meant another night with no air conditioning. So, we opted to go sailing and head back to the marina. It was a good sail and we even saw a couple of dolphins! I don't know what it is about those magical creatures, but I never tire of seeing them!! 

On Monday, we headed back out with a different dock neighbor and went and anchored out in a nearby cove. The water there is a lot cleaner and less salty...still can't really see what's lurking beneath, but we did a little swimming there as well! 

All in all, it was a good time and we can't wait to do it again!! 

Last but not least, here's hubs showing off his mad docking skills....yes, he's driving the boat backwards, literally! One of these days I'm going to video how we dock the boat, seriously impressive how good of a job he does with "parking" our thirty-six footer!!!