It’s Just an Update

This is day 3 of trying to be okay with not getting our outdoor projects done. We are trying to be gracious hosts, but Ana has overstayed her welcome.

Luckily, we had dinner with a couple on Saturday night who just got back from 7 months of cruising.  (Thanks, Mike and Nancy for introducing us.)  We spend the last two days reading their blog – www.brumblesafloat.com – giving us something fun to do.  We TOTALLY relate to their experiences with boat projects and are looking forward to seeing some of the same sights when we set sail in June.  Carol and Monty are talking about spending some time in the Chesapeake this summer before heading south again in the fall so, who knows? Our paths may cross again.

That’s another reason why this “who knows” journey is so cool.  Our itinerary is ever-evolving, always-changing, and we’re learning that if you’re patient, you’ll end up where you’re supposed to be.

When I first started blogging, Steve told me I needed to decide if I was going to write a sailboat blog or a zen blog and then target my audience accordingly. I wrestle with that because there are some readers who really like the sailboat stuff and others who seem to enjoy the zen stuff. I always get Steve to read my blogs before I post them. Sometimes, he helps me explain the sailboat stuff better but most of the time he just says, “That’s good, honey.” However, when he read “C’mon Ana”, our conversation went something like this:

S: That’s good, honey, but it’s not one of your best blogs. You’re just giving everybody an update.

M: Isn’t that what sailboat bloggers do every once in a while? Not a whole lot going on, so they just update everybody?

S: Yes, but all I’m saying is that this is not one of your best blogs. There’s no zen.

AHA! Remember, Steve saying that FNR is a name for all people? Well, Zen on a Boat is a blog for all people and has been re-named accordingly. It has ended up where it is supposed to be…for now.

Switching gears back to not getting our outdoor projects done, I decide to do laundry today. Normally, Wednesday is laundry day, but since Wednesday’s forecast is for clear skies and 80⁰, we want to spend the whole day on outdoor projects.

I imagine every cruiser has one thing that they would change if they could about living aboard. Mine is not about doing laundry but about the dimensions of the V-berth.

I’ve commented a couple of times about how comfy our mattress is. We replaced an old mattress with two 3” layers of foam glued together and topped with 3” of memory foam. That’s 9” of mattress in a space that is about 36” high, leaving us with roughly 25” of head clearance. I sit up in bed after a good night’s sleep to do a few yoga stretches and BANG. I knock the mess out of my head. I glare at Steve and tell him if there’s one thing that is going to make me swallow the anchor, it’s banging my head in the V-berth every morning.

Now, when I do laundry, I wash the sheets. When I wash the sheets, I have to put them back on our v-shaped mattress in a space with only about 25” of head clearance and zero wall clearance. NOT my favorite thing to do and Steve often disappears when I do it.

Children, beware.  Steve has always wanted a video of me in the bedroom.  Today, he gets it.  Luckily, I didn’t bang my head so maybe I won’t be swallowing that anchor, after all.