Category: Boating Life

Living on a Sailboat in The Coronavirus Era

Coronavirus is the topic on everyone’s tongue, even here in the eastern Caribbean. This is what we’re thinking and experiencing living on a sailboat in the Coronavirus era.

We Feel Prepared

One of the good things about living on a sailboat is we are always prepared. We provision often so we have stores of food, drinks and medicine. Also, in the Caribbean people aren’t going crazy and buying all the toilet paper. Yet.

We Feel Safe

Brian and I are not in the at-risk category for the Coronavirus so we feel safe. I also heard it doesn’t survive long in heat so if that’s true, good for us in the Caribbean. Or it could be another rumor, which leads to another topic.

coronavirus and rumors

There are so many rumors about the Coronavirus and what countries are doing about it. We are used to bouncing from island (country) to island (country) with relative ease so if islands start to shut down their borders, that will affect us and where we go next.

Rumors living on a boat in the coronaviras era
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Cruiser Dos and Don’ts

Brian and I made our first crossing a year ago and have made mistakes, many mistakes. For those interested in exploring a life on board a boat, this post is for you. I don’t claim to be any sort of expert here, in fact, I started out as a complete novice. Maybe you can avoid our mistakes through my cruiser dos and don’ts to hopefully help you slide into this lifestyle with ease!

Boat Ownership Dos and Don’ts

Do Like To Fix Things

If Brian wasn’t so handy, and didn’t enjoy fixing things and working with his hands, we wouldn’t be here. If you already like to fix things, you are golden, but if you don’t, or don’t know how, take a class in mechanics or something before you buy the boat.

The sea finds out everything you did wrong.

Boats are more likely to break when and where no one else is around, so you will have to fix it or at least stop it from getting worse. I am not handy at all and even I am getting better at that stuff. In my opinion, people who can’t or don’t want to fix things won’t be happy in this life.

Do Lock Up Your Valuables

If it’s something you need, lock it up. Dinghies get stolen all the time, and we even had our gas tank stolen out of our dinghy in Martinique. It sucks, but people need money (or gas, when there was a strike in the French islands) and if you make it easy for them to steal, they just might.

Locked Dinghy Cruisers Dos and Don'ts
Lock Up!
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Cooking on A Boat

A few of you back home ask what we eat on the boat. Good question! It is not as easy to cook or eat as on land. Our equipment is not nearly as good, and resources vary, yet we still eat three meals a day and enjoy them. Here’s how I am handling cooking on a boat.

Challenges in Cooking on a boat

We have a Force 10 stove and a Magma BBQ, both which run on propane.

stove

Cooking on a boat on the Force 10
Force 10 stove

The Force 10 is a common boat unit and has two burners: one only works very hot and the other simply simmers. The oven takes finessing to light sometimes and I never know if the temperature is accurate. Despite that, I make edible bread, banana bread, and even made very tasty cookies once! A cruiser friend calls it her “easy bake oven” which isn’t a bad description of this miniature appliance.

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