Be A Great Guest On A Boat

Want to come visit us on board Sava? Or planning to visit friends on their boat? We are excited for your visit aboard Sava and to have you share our traveling home! We want everyone to relax and enjoy while they are sailing with us. To that end, here is some info you should know before you go so you can be a great guest on a boat, Sava or another one.

Living on a boat

Living on Sava is sort of like camping but more protected. Spaces are small and the supplies are limited. We have loads of fun and visit beautiful places so if you are willing to be flexible and make a few sacrifices, you will love it!

Here is our guest planning guide for Sava, or “things you should know before spending time on a boat.”

What to Bring to be a Great Guest on a boat

1. A collapsible suitcase, duffel or backpack. We have limited space and you may have to keep it in your room.
2. Bathing suits. 1 suit for every 2 days max – so you always have a dry one. We live in our swimsuits.
3. Tank tops/ tshirts and shorts. Outside of swimsuits, these are our everyday clothes. Comfort above all, and when you are clambering around the boat, into dinghies and onto docks, you will understand.
4. Rain jacket. Just in case!
5. Refillable water bottle. Really you should bring this on every trip. Plastic water bottles are the devil and you should never buy them!
6. A sports towel. These dry quickly and pack light. We don’t have laundry on the boat so appreciate you bringing your own towel and taking it home with you. Plus, “A towel is just about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can carry. Partly because it has great practical value.” (A Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy)
7. Waterproof shoes. Brian and I both love our Keens
8. Your medicine. And seasick remedies if you need them.
9. A hat and sunglasses.
10. Cell phone, charging cable and a charger. Try to have everything fully charged when you arrive, as we have limited charging capabilities and are all going to be sharing those. Also, try to have some kind of roaming plan. We get WIFI in each country we visit and some are better than others so may not be able to share data with you.
11. A drybag or phone box for when we go to land from the boat. You don’t want to get your phone wet!
12. A book, magazines or ipad. We like to spend down time reading.
13. Headphones in case you want a break to listen to a podcast or need to phone home.
14. Your favorite game. Unless it’s Scrabble, cards, Sushi Go, dominoes or Cards Against Humanity. We have all those and love to play. Maybe you can teach us your favorite game?
15. A bag with extra space: we are going to need you to bring supplies for us! We’ll let you know what in advance, and will try to arrange to have it shipped to you, at our expense of course!
16. If you want to bring a surprise for your boat dwelling friends, here are some great gift ideas!

What Not To Bring

1. A big suitcase that doesn’t collapse. You won’t want to share the bed with it. The bed is small! The whole boat is small!
2. Snorkel gear. We have extra. Unless you have a personal preference.
3. Sunscreen. We have extra.
4. Hair dryer, straighteners or anything similar that uses power. We don’t have the power for it and we all have boat hair and don’t care. You’ll get used to it!
5. Shoes with marking soles. We don’t wear shoes on the boat, and if we do they will be our Keens. Shoes bring dirt and sand on board. The idea is to avoid having to clean up too much, so no shoes down below, even if you think they’re clean. We keep “going ashore” shoes in a bucket until it’s time to use them.
6. Fancy clothes and shoes. We don’t wear them, even when we go ashore, especially if they aren’t waterproof! If you want to bring them, feel free, we are just saying you won’t need them.

It’s Different On A Boat

Get ready: we don’t live the same as “land people.”

1. Limited space: I am mentioning this again because it’s true. There’s only room for one person in the kitchen, the bathrooms (heads) are very small, and the only comfortable position in the bedrooms is vertical. That being said, we spend a lot of time outside and we can leave the boat to go to shore or swim pretty easily if we’re not sailing.
2. Limited resources: Long showers are not a thing because we have to move and then pay to refill our tanks. Rinse quickly!
3. Sleep and awake hours are very different since we moved on board Sava. A common phrase around here is “sailor’s midnight” which is much closer to sunset than midnight. We wake up pretty early too. Not sunrise but not long after, usually. Domino has an influence on that too. She wakes with the sun and she is hungry when she wakes!

Don’t be overwhelmed, it’s mostly fun and games! Until something breaks. Half kidding.

Since we moved on board, six groups of guests have visited Sava for seven different visits, and one couple returned for a second visit. Read here for one guest’s firsthand experience. Be ready for fun and adventure because it’s always interesting on board Sava!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.