How Do You Shower? and Other FAQ About Cruising

We told the first people in our innermost circle that we were quitting our jobs, selling our house, and moving on to our Alberg 30 in June 2019. We had made the decision a few months before and wanted to test the waters and we started with the people we thought would be the most receptive and who we would need to explain the least to. Turns out people have a lot of questions when you tell them you are uprooting your whole life to do something crazy like live on a 30 foot sailboat. We didn’t have a lot of answers so we waited another two months before telling anyone else.

We have been keeping track of the most asked questions we’ve gotten in the last year and our standard answers because well, when you’re asked “how do you shower?” for the 15th time it’s basically a canned response. These are roughly in the order of most asked to least.

How Do You Shower?

Some day I plan to make this a book title. No one steal it before I’m ready! This is hands down the question we have gotten the most. Men, women, children they all want to know. The answer? Not very often, with a solar shower, when on land when you can, and maybe eventually we’ll get a water heater. Birdy baths, are also a great option aka sponge baths. Andy is a twice a day kind of showerer, so he has been spending a year training his body to only need one every couple of days. Gwen’s been training for this her whole life!

Are You Bringing the Dog?

Yes. We are bringing Aiden. He is fit as a fiddle, loves being on the boat, and I’m sure he can’t wait to spend every waking hour with us.

Where Does Aiden Go to the Bathroom?

Dinghy rides are his favorite, so a quick trip to the shore is the usual method. But we have also trained Aiden since he was a puppy to go on command in hopes that we will be able to train him to go on the boat as well. So far we’ve had no luck. Anyone have a boat dog they want to let us borrow to show him the ropes?

Where Do You Go to the Bathroom?

In a toilet. Our boat has a head, which empties into a holding tank which you have pumped out every few days. It’s similar to how an RV toilet works, which, for whatever reason, people seem to be more familiar with.

How Are You Going to Work?

Andy will be switching to consulting, picking up work when and where he can. I switched to working on the blog and youtube full time starting in August and I couldn’t be more excited!!

So Does This Mean No Kids?

This one is the worst. I would highly recommend you refrain from asking me, or any other woman this question. Asking me may result in a some not so polite answers. First, someone’s decision to have or not to have kids is a very personal one. If they want to share their story with you they will. Second, there are a ton of people who have kids on boats. Third, what makes you think we were having kids if we stayed on land?? I think I will probably write a longer post on this subject in the future but please please please don’t ask me this question.

Where Are You Going to Go?

My honest response to this is “where ever 70 degrees takes us!” We don’t really have firm plans and we are loving it. COVID has also made it difficult to plan. We will likely spend our first winter in Florida and/or the Bahamas, and our first summer in Maine and Canada. After that? We have no clue and will be going literally where the wind (and our whims) takes us.

What About Health Insurance?

This has been our parent’s biggest concern. Our original plan was to go without. We are both healthy without any need for prescription medication, and we have spent the last year visiting all the doctors to make sure we are good to go. However, current world events (darn you 2020!) has us thinking we will carry some sort of policy for the foreseeable future.

What About All Your Stuff?

We have been feeling pretty suffocated by our stuff for a while now. Our house was too big for two people, and it was filled with stuff. The garage was the worst. We have or will have sold almost everything by the time this post goes live. The house, our cars, clothes, and furniture. I’m going to write a post just on how we got rid of everything but for now, we are keeping the Van, and our CJ5, a couple of boxes of sentimental stuff, and a few pieces of inherited furniture. That is it.

What Do You Do About Pirates? Will You Have a Gun?

Andy loves to answer this one with “we are just going to avoid them.” He usually doesn’t even elaborate because it’s a ridiculous question. It’s like asking “what do you do about muggers?”. It’s no different. You stay vigilant, avoid areas known for having them, and have a plan if it happens.

How Do You Do Laundry?

Laundromats. Hand washing if, who am I kidding, when we get desperate.

How Do You Cook?

With an alcohol stove, and a grill, and an Instapot. We also have a new fancy stove top oven thingy, but I haven’t had a chance to try it yet since it’s been about 392849 degrees for the last four months.

Electricity?

600W of Solar Panels. Stay tuned for that project! We’ve had 200W installed for about a month now and it’s covering all of our needs, but we have a few “high energy” projects in the pipeline that the other 400 will be needed for.

Why?

Cruising full time is something we have been talking about doing since we first started dating back in 2009. It just took us 10 years to finally give ourselves a deadline. We both love the ocean, traveling, and sailing. What better way to spend our lives?

Why Now?

So many people wait until they “retire” to cruise. We have the dream now, we have the money to do it now, we aren’t going to put it off. We know this may mean we have to go back to work at some point or have to work later in life but it’s a risk we are willing to take.

But Your Boat is So Small?

Yes. There is a saying, “go with the boat you have or you’ll never go.” We love Ecola! She is seaworthy, Andy knows her inside and out, we are both comfortable sailing her, and we can both single-hand her. We’ve lived on her before, and she wasn’t even ours at the time so we were contending with other people’s stuff in addition to ours. Best of all she is paid for. People seem to be shocked about us going on a 30 footer, but so many people have circumnavigated in boats our size or smaller. I would be more comfortable in blue water on our Alberg 30 than many other bigger sailboats I’ve been on.

How Long Are You Going For?

The Short Answer? Until the money runs out, or we don’t love it anymore, which ever happens first.

What Are You Going to Do With All Your Free Time?

I’ve been working 30-40 hours a week on the blog for the last 2 years, in addition my “normal” 9-5. The first thing I’m going to do is write more, film more, and stretch my creative wings in whatever direction I choose. After that I’m going to work toward my goal of reading 100 books in 2020 (as of this writing I’m at 60), take naps every day, and soak up all the new places we will be visiting.

Andy, I’m sure, will find plenty of projects to keep himself busy. Fixing stuff has always been his hobby and now he won’t have any pesky distractions like work. He also will hopefully be writing more technical articles for the blog. I personally am hoping he takes up fishing.

Have a question we didn’t answer? Comment below!