It would be nice to think that living aboard a boat somehow robbed you of domestic chores in favour of more exotic ones like finding ways to keep otters from having midnight seafood fests on your deck or finding the most comfortable spot for extended novel reading. Regardless of the glamorous notions about living on a boat, you still have to cook, clean, and do laundry.
Fuel and fresh water are always issues for finite floating real estate, as are storage and refrigeration so large shopping trips are a thing of the past. Having first cooked for all my friends and then raised a family, this was a culture shock for me. Leaving the grocery store with only 2 bags and having spent only $25 left me uncomfortable at first, and then I began to trust that the store was always there when I needed it and I would not die without four flavors of herbal tea on hand at all times.
To conserve water for food preparation, I rip up lettuce or peel and cut up vegetables before rinsing - no point in washing what will be thrown away. I use a bowl to catch the water from rinsing under the sieve and use it to dampen the dishcloth to give the counters and cupboards a wipe when I am done.
I start preparing dinner earlier too because you do not need to keep things like potatoes, rice, or pasta at a full boil to cook them. Bring them to a boil and set aside. Check them in 20 minutes and then bring back to the boil if necessary. This saves oodles in fuel costs. One pot recipes save time, fuel, and more fresh water for clean up so look for those the next time you're surfing the 'net.
It definitely takes less time to clean the inside of a boat than it does to clean the inside of your house. Wood floors can be swept, floor mats shaken outside, and a portable car vacuum plugged into the accessory socket from the battery does wonders for upholstery and hard to reach nooks and crannies. I love the smell of Murphy's Oil Soap on wood so it gets used often. Baking soda is my best friend for scrubbing the tough stuff and all cleaning materials that I use are environmentally friendly.
Laundry becomes a much lesser chore since you learned to part with a lot of your wardrobe before you moved on to your boat and became an expert at choosing, mixing and matching six different outfits out of four pieces of clothing for work in an office. I'm not even relegated to the Laundromat since I discovered my little Wonderwash portable washing machine. It uses no power, a small amount of water, and fits on my countertop - I never did such cheap laundry when I lived on land!
Three C's of day to day living - gotta deal with them, boat or no boat. But a little bit of planning and a relaxed Jimmy Buffett attitude can turn domestic chores into rituals of self indulgence when you choose the floating existence and call the ocean home.
Fuel and fresh water are always issues for finite floating real estate, as are storage and refrigeration so large shopping trips are a thing of the past. Having first cooked for all my friends and then raised a family, this was a culture shock for me. Leaving the grocery store with only 2 bags and having spent only $25 left me uncomfortable at first, and then I began to trust that the store was always there when I needed it and I would not die without four flavors of herbal tea on hand at all times.
To conserve water for food preparation, I rip up lettuce or peel and cut up vegetables before rinsing - no point in washing what will be thrown away. I use a bowl to catch the water from rinsing under the sieve and use it to dampen the dishcloth to give the counters and cupboards a wipe when I am done.
I start preparing dinner earlier too because you do not need to keep things like potatoes, rice, or pasta at a full boil to cook them. Bring them to a boil and set aside. Check them in 20 minutes and then bring back to the boil if necessary. This saves oodles in fuel costs. One pot recipes save time, fuel, and more fresh water for clean up so look for those the next time you're surfing the 'net.
It definitely takes less time to clean the inside of a boat than it does to clean the inside of your house. Wood floors can be swept, floor mats shaken outside, and a portable car vacuum plugged into the accessory socket from the battery does wonders for upholstery and hard to reach nooks and crannies. I love the smell of Murphy's Oil Soap on wood so it gets used often. Baking soda is my best friend for scrubbing the tough stuff and all cleaning materials that I use are environmentally friendly.
Laundry becomes a much lesser chore since you learned to part with a lot of your wardrobe before you moved on to your boat and became an expert at choosing, mixing and matching six different outfits out of four pieces of clothing for work in an office. I'm not even relegated to the Laundromat since I discovered my little Wonderwash portable washing machine. It uses no power, a small amount of water, and fits on my countertop - I never did such cheap laundry when I lived on land!
Three C's of day to day living - gotta deal with them, boat or no boat. But a little bit of planning and a relaxed Jimmy Buffett attitude can turn domestic chores into rituals of self indulgence when you choose the floating existence and call the ocean home.
Submitted by June Lazenby, sailor, gardener, almost obsessive nautical collectibles collector and webmaster at [http://www.nauticalheaven.com] Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=June_Lazenby |  |
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