We had a great time onboard the Aqua Vida! Our trip took us from Fort Myers Beach to the Dry Tortugas (a long 30-hour voyage), and after a few days snorkeling and touring Fort Jefferson, we had a beautiful sail to the Marquesas and Key West. Though we saw patches of rain on the radar, we never had a drop over the entire five days! Jeff dreams of owning our own sailboat one day, so it was great to have this experience sailing with experts, Ken, Danielle, and first mate Kaylee.
I know now that living off the grid requires some adjusting – like no long showers, no ice maker on the front of the fridge, and no dishwasher. My contributions as part of this crew were to stay awake for a couple hours during the overnight sail (to keep Danielle company) and to wash dishes (not too shabby, huh?). Boy, do I need to work on my dishwashing skills! After our first dinner onboard, I took the dirty dishes and gave them a quick soak in a bucket of seawater. After the rinse, I stacked everything neatly so they could be taken into the cabin for a real wash with soap and water. Jeff was nice enough to dump out the bucket of water but when he did, I saw the twinkling of forks tumbling out into the Gulf of Mexico. We used plastic forks for the rest of the trip (frown face). Then, on Saturday night, we had a superb dinner at sunset with some of the 32-inch kingfish we caught on our sail to the Marquesas. From the stern platform I rinsed plates and utensils and took such great care to keep everything safe. I rinsed the Tupperware the fish was in and placed the tongs in the container. With everything stacked and ready to go down for a real wash, I gave the Tupperware a final shake to get rid of excess water and whoop – there went the cooking utensils – falling first onto the platform then right into the ocean. Sorry to say that Ken, Danielle, and Kaylee will be cooking and eating with their fingers for the next few months (again, frown face).
Just want to also add what a treat it was to spend this time with Kaylee. She is an extraordinary girl who is experiencing great new things every day. It was great to see this part of the world through her eyes (especially the underwater world). She floats around the boat with weightlessness grace even in bumpy seas, and she takes her crew responsibilities seriously. I think I stepped on her toes once when I turned on one of the panel switches – this is her job! We thumb wrestled, arm wrestled, played rock paper scissors, and told knock-knock jokes (I only know two though). We also played with the turtle Stacey gave her. She keeps a journal and documents the biggest highlight from each and every day. She is quite content and I can tell that there’s no place else she would rather be.
I know now that living off the grid requires some adjusting – like no long showers, no ice maker on the front of the fridge, and no dishwasher. My contributions as part of this crew were to stay awake for a couple hours during the overnight sail (to keep Danielle company) and to wash dishes (not too shabby, huh?). Boy, do I need to work on my dishwashing skills! After our first dinner onboard, I took the dirty dishes and gave them a quick soak in a bucket of seawater. After the rinse, I stacked everything neatly so they could be taken into the cabin for a real wash with soap and water. Jeff was nice enough to dump out the bucket of water but when he did, I saw the twinkling of forks tumbling out into the Gulf of Mexico. We used plastic forks for the rest of the trip (frown face). Then, on Saturday night, we had a superb dinner at sunset with some of the 32-inch kingfish we caught on our sail to the Marquesas. From the stern platform I rinsed plates and utensils and took such great care to keep everything safe. I rinsed the Tupperware the fish was in and placed the tongs in the container. With everything stacked and ready to go down for a real wash, I gave the Tupperware a final shake to get rid of excess water and whoop – there went the cooking utensils – falling first onto the platform then right into the ocean. Sorry to say that Ken, Danielle, and Kaylee will be cooking and eating with their fingers for the next few months (again, frown face).
Just want to also add what a treat it was to spend this time with Kaylee. She is an extraordinary girl who is experiencing great new things every day. It was great to see this part of the world through her eyes (especially the underwater world). She floats around the boat with weightlessness grace even in bumpy seas, and she takes her crew responsibilities seriously. I think I stepped on her toes once when I turned on one of the panel switches – this is her job! We thumb wrestled, arm wrestled, played rock paper scissors, and told knock-knock jokes (I only know two though). We also played with the turtle Stacey gave her. She keeps a journal and documents the biggest highlight from each and every day. She is quite content and I can tell that there’s no place else she would rather be.
