Corollary: It’s supposed to sound like that, right?
When we originally conceived of the idea of cruising the oceans, I envisioned myself as a sailor. I read Joshua Slocam and William F. Buckley, Jr. As we left our jobs, we announced our retirement, went to parties and collected congratulations. But after one year of living aboard and sailing Beagle Spirit, I’ve come to realize – we’re actually Full Time Travelers.
Being a traveler carries with it some sense of adventure – not everything is like home, because that’s the whole point. But being a Full Time Traveler is something different; it’s an avocation, a lifestyle, and an objective. We bring our home with us. In that regard, it demands an element of sustainability. The resources of the vessel must of course be sustainable, but so must the pilots, and in this way the vessel becomes the enabler of the travel.
To sustain both boat and occupants entails a number of “systems” – sails, motors, hydraulics, refrigerators, heat, pumps, plumbing, electronics, and so on. On Beagle Spirit, many of these systems are 20 years old, yet our experience with them is only 1 year. They’ve developed personalities, idiosyncrasies, and interactions which we’re only beginning to understand.
And so, as full time travelers, a good part of our experience is keeping the boat systems running and keeping us feeling like we’re home, even while that home is in constant motion. The first step is often figuring out if a given item is “broken” or “not broken”
Case in point – we’ve done laundry in our little Kenny front loader 3 times in the last 3 weeks. The first time, with towels it worked great and spun the load virtually dry. The second time, with normal clothes, it never quite hit the spin cycle and the clothes came out soaked. This morning, with mostly towels again, it worked great. Does it only work with towels? Was it just having a bad day on week 2? Our gut feel – We Fixed It! But only time will tell.
Several weeks ago, our diesel heater shut down after 10 minutes. We ordered a new burner and glow plug at some expense from the UK, and took a full day to install it. First test – it worked!! Next day, not so much. I tried a “hard reset” of the controller and now it’s working. Will it stay fixed? Did we really need the new burner? Hard to say. But we’ll tell anyone who asks – We Fixed It!
Since we bought the boat, the water maker has (sometimes) made a sound akin to a linebacker stepping on the tail of cat. We found a cracked filter housing was letting air into the system, and we replaced all the seawater filters and plumbing. It resolved the noise some of the time. But then, based on exhaustive internet research, we greased the heck out of it. “You Fixed It” rejoiced Kay! Yes, yes I did, was my response. I do hope it lasts.
There’s a certain zen approach to maintenance we’re only now beginning to comprehend. The systems mentioned above are not necessary to sustain life, and all of the truly essential systems on Beagle Spirit have backups of some nature. Nevertheless, if your washing machine at home breaks down, you’d likely call the repairman – out here, we are the repairpeople, so we put on our headlamps, our must have fashion accessories, and get busy.
We have embraced the profession of Full Time Traveler and all of the associated learning, celebration, cursing, and most importantly – beauty – that comes with it. When we’re alone in the anchorage enjoying a majestic sunny afternoon from the bow of the boat, watching the seals dip their heads nearby, and listening to the pealing call of eagles overhead, it all seems worth it and the sputtering of the diesel heater is but a distant memory.
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