Life aboard Malachi

Well, people wonder what life is like aboard a sail boat so I'll give you all a little taste of daily life while here in Mazatlan.

Jay and I are usually up between 7 & 8am, Jay usually a before me, and while he takes Diesel ashore to use the doggie facilities, I start the coffee (no electric pot here!). Monday to Friday, the girls are awakened at 8am and expected to start school by 8:30. The kids always do their schoolwork in their PJ's - pretty nice! Sometimes, at 7:15 Jay listens to Don Anderson on the Amigo Net through the Ham radio and most days we listen to the daily cruisers net at 8am on VHF channel 22. The net is a check in for all of the boats in the area, and it's here where you can get the daily weather (thanks Tom), updates on current local events, find out who's arrived and who's departed and trade anything imaginable for coconuts! (there is no buying and selling allowed on the VHF in Mexico, only trade).

Our morning usually continue with chores while the kids do their schoolwork until noon. We do things like laundry, which takes 2 hours per load (about 1/2 the quantity of a home washer), email, blog updates, finances, and since I've got my new mop, I now mop the deck in the mornings taking advantage of the fresh water dew!

There are always jobs for Jay to do on the boat, whether it's fixing the toilet (again) or unclogging the shower pump or tending to any number of odd jobs that are still on THE LIST.

Grocery shopping, or any other errand for that matter, always takes three hours. This involves gathering a bunch of fabric bags and walking to the bus stop (we're very fortunate, not only to have grocery stores, but also a bus to take us there!) and taking a 20-30 minute ride to the store. Gigante has been my regular choice, however, I sometimes go to WalMart. It's nicest to shop with a friend and I usually go with Linda, it is particularly helpful to have another set of eyes to help translate labels and figure out what a product might be. Then it's back on the bus, provided I've shopped within my carrying capabilities, but if it's a medium sized load, we take the Pulmonia, which is a fancy golf cart that seats four plus your groceries in the back - this usually costs around $6 while the bus costs 50 cents each. If we've gone a little mad and bought out the store, we would take the Red Truck which is a pick-up with two bench seats on either side of the truck bed and a shade awning on top - usually costs around $7. Then when we get back to the marina, we need a porter to load up the dolly to bring our groceries down the dock to the boat and it takes another hour or so to put the groceries away as all the veggies and fruits must be disinfected before use. By this time, it's time for Happy Hour!

Usually we have friends aboard or go over to another boat for Happy Hour which is such a nice way to transition from chores into dinner/family time.

Once done their schoolwork and chores, the girls spend their days either playing on their computers, watching movies or swimming at the pool (although it's been kind of cool lately).

We're usually done with dinner and dishes sometime between 7-8 and then, if we remember, we read together and then either watch a movie or play a game. Sometimes we chat with friends or family on Skype.

Most night's we're in bed before 10 and often by 9 - we keep blaming all the fresh air!

Now that I've bored you all with the daily monotony of boat life, I'll give you a little taste of what it's like while we're sailing. Thanks to Steve from Warren Peace, you can enjoy the following video clip taken of us at the start of our crossing from the Baja to Mazatlan on the mainland, a trip that took us just over 30 hours. Enjoy!