THE HOUSEBOAT LIFE
Life on a houseboat is most likely a little different than you would imagine. Once we're home, and the blinds are shut, it's not much different than apartment, trailer, or town house living. You adapt to your environment. Most days and nights, we have calm water, and zero movement. Busy lake weekends and windstorms, however, are a completely different animal. We'll ride swells for hours at a time. This video is on the extreme side of things, but you get the idea. Fortunately, none of us succumb to motion sickness very easily, unless Lisa is on a roller coaster.
The actual living arrangements are definitely different than our old house. The size is significantly smaller, as the house was about 2600 square feet. We did some major downsizing when we moved aboard. The boat boasts just under 1100 square feet of livable space, which is pretty impressive on a 65' x 18' footprint. About a third of that space comes from the master bedroom on the second floor. You can see pics and read a descriptive walkthrough in this post. I can't help but wonder what our next downsize is going to look like on a live-aboard sailing catamaran.
I'm currently working full-time plus for the City of Phoenix. So, I still go to work every weekday along with all the other working class folk. Going to work is not as simple as it used to be in the house. There, I'd get up, get ready, hop in the car in the garage, and drive about 30 minutes in traffic. Getting home was the same, just in the reverse order. Now, I get up (earlier), get ready, walk a little over 1/2 mile to the car in 'member parking', and drive about 45 minutes in traffic. Getting home is the same, just in the reverse order. Only it's much hotter in the summer on that 1/2 mile trek back down to the boat. Luckily, I'm easily distracted by the beauty that surrounds me. I never had views like these on the walk between the laundry room and the garage.
Actual life on board is pretty normal. The houseboat stays tied off in it's slip, and if we get the urge for water sports, we have the option of the Wellcraft boat, kayaks, or stand up paddleboard (SUP). We can swim off the aft deck, or slide down the slide if we're feeling really crazy. Much like having a giant pool in the backyard.
The day-to-day during the week consists of all the usual activities of your average homeschooling family. I head off for work about 6 a.m. Lisa and the girls spend the morning doing the girls homeschool, and Lisa also logs in to her classes she instructs for Capella University. The rest of their day may consist of chores, errands, or just a fun-day. Daily living may be a little different for us, but in the end, it's just living.
During the week, when I get home from work, we'll eat dinner together, clean the kitchen, then snuggle in on our couch for a movie, Netflix, or reading. It's a good think were all pretty small, or that couch would be really crowded. Of course, this isn't the every day routine, as we have commitments during the week, much like any other normal family.
We stay pretty low-key on the weekends. Our dock is quite a ways from the Pleasant Harbor Marina village, where it can be extremely busy and crowded Saturday and Sunday. Luckily, we don't get much foot traffic down our dock, so it stays nice and quiet. We'll head out to church on Saturday evening or Sunday morning, and sometimes grab lunch out, or at Dillon's in the village. Then, it's usually back to the boat. We really love it here, and enjoy every minute.
We've learned over the years, that life is what you make it, and it's fairly easy to adapt to new surroundings. What once seemed like a completely ridiculous idea, now seems pretty tame. I wonder if our next leap to new and smaller surroundings will come as easily as this one.
