Hard Days and Home

Sometimes, this all feels too hard, this lifestyle we've chosen. When we're all too tired but have to go out, and we run out of water or the diaper bag is deep inside the cabin, behind the laundry pile and a bin. Or when it's 95 degrees outside and it's low tide, and I have to walk 1/4 mile just to get to the car.

But then I remember what it was like when we lived in our huge 2 story apartment. And we had just as many frustrating days when we were both too tired but had to go out, and we had no hot water, or we couldn't get out of the apartment because of the snow. And there's always a laundry pile with all the things buried underneath it, let's be honest.

Frustrating, hard days happen.  No matter where you live.  And when you have 6 1/2 month old twins, everything is harder.  Everything.

Sometimes it feels like too many people are in the wings, just waiting for us to fail. Waiting to tell us, "I knew it wouldn't work" or "We knew you couldn't do it with the babies". And that sucks. And that makes the hard days even harder, because I know I can't tell anyone how frustrated I am at that moment. Because I told you so. Because you can't do this with babies. Because, because, because...

And it feels like we can't fail now because if we do, people will make us feel like failures. But the truth is, I think we would have been failures if we didn't even try.

Yesterday was a hard day.  It was raining and high tide wasn't until the late evening, so we stayed inside all day.  It was hard to remember those warm, salty days when it was just Brian, me and the wind.  It was hard to remember the sunsets and fireworks at anchor, and hard to imagine our boys scampering along the harbor islands, tan and sure of themselves on the water.  It was hard to imagine teaching them to appreciate the silence, the solitude.  The peace.

But today?  Today is glorious. 

Today is the kind of day that I thank God we live where we do.  And I know how lucky we are to live here, right in downtown Boston, literally right in the harbor.  As I type this post, our boat is gently rocking, the boys are napping and I remember why I love it here.  I remember that this is home.

Our "back yard" today.  Top picture: Sailboat races and the Coast Guard.  Bottom pictures: Our fair city.  Sadly the collage cropped out my favorite view of the skyline, the Zakim Bridge, which is to the far right on the bottom right picture.

The Nursery: Part 2

Brian's been working very hard these last couple of weeks (in between work and the holidays!) getting the nursery ready for Jack and Bobby.  It's definitely tedious work, mainly because nothing is square!  In fact, one of the walls is completely curved, making it especially difficult to get the measurements just right.  But he did it, and it looks amazing.

When we last left you, the cabin looked like this:

Brian had just finished insulating the storage area, and building the platform where the boys will actually sleep.  To the left, you can see the curved wall I spoke of earlier.

Take a look at all of the progress he's made over the last week:
 

Insulation was measured and cut for the curved wall, and the back and side walls were created.  In addition, you can see the template for the piece which will hold the gate in place, once the boys are older.  (The pink wedge on the left.)

 

All three walls in place!  Look at that curved wall!

 Early last year I bought a bunch of marine grade vinyl to line our bedroom walls.  However, I miscalculated when measuring, and didn't buy enough, so it just sat in our storage unit waiting for a purpose.  Enter the babies!  Brian expertly (seriously-he did such an amazing job-no bubbles, ripples, creases-nothing!) covered the walls with said vinyl to create a softer space, and to give their "room" some much needed color.  Take a look:

Amazing, right?

We're really excited about how it's coming out.  We purchased some vinyl decals for decoration, in addition to some very cute fabric which will eventually cover the custom mattress that'll sit upon that wooden platform.  It won't be a traditional nursery for sure, but it'll be theirs, and we hope they'll love it.

For those of you worried about how they'll sleep in a "V" shaped crib-don't worry.  Their Mommy and Daddy sleep in a "V" shaped bed and do just fine.  It'll be all they know, and to them, it'll be normal.  Brian did so much (so much) research about standard crib size, height, depth, mattress firmness, and so on, that we're not worried about their comfort or safety in the first couple of years.  Once they start growing, that's another story.  But isn't that true of all babies in all homes?  :)

Here's a preview of what's coming next-the mattress. And my favorite part-decorating!

Jungle themed sheets-to-be.

Thanks for reading!

The Nursery: Before & During, Part 1

This weekend Brian began the tedious (but satisfying) work of cleaning, insulating and building the nursery in the aft cabin.  This previously neglected space was essentially used as our attic.  We stored anything and everything in here, including, at one point, our refrigerator.  It also doubled as our closet/dresser, as we kept all of our clothing (in plastic bins) in this space.  We plan on continuing to store our clothes in this manner, behind a false wall that Brian is building.

Here are a few before and "during" pictures:

The empty storage area, all cleaned up and ready for insulation.

Ta daaa!  Fully insulated storage space to help retain the heat in the winter and to keep it out in the summer.  There will be a wall up here to hide the storage bins.

Testing out the wood in the space soon to be a custom crib for two.  You can just see the storage area from the picture above on the right hand side of this picture, behind the wood panel.

Brian building the framing for the wall.

Framing for the "crib".

A little more insulation (replaced the mirrored door with insulation (pink), a mock up of the shelf and the custom cut crib platform.  There will eventually be three walls around this, and a gate in the front when they are older.

It's sturdy!

There's plenty more to do!  Brian will be working hard over the next couple of weeks to get everything ready for the boys' anticipated arrival.  We'll post more pictures as we progress.

Our Home

Sometimes it's hard for people who have never visited us to understand how we live. They don't understand that we have all of the modern conveniences most Americans have, just on a smaller scale.  It requires us to think a lot about what we bring into our home, to shop for groceries more often, and to try to live a little more simply than we did when we had a huge two story apartment.

And we're OK with that.  In fact, we're more than OK with that-it's actually one of the philosophies behind why we want to continue living aboard and why we want to raise our twin sons on a boat.  We want them to appreciate the value of community, neighbors and friendship.  We want them to appreciate that you can, in fact, live with less, even though society tells us we need more, more more!  But also that if you really, really love something, that you should learn to make room for it in your life.  Because life is short, and you should be happy.

So, when people make comments about how they don't think we'll be able to raise our babies in such a small space, while floating in water, without all of the "normal" baby gear (or whatever negative comment they can think of to dissuade us from living an alternate lifestyle) we generally just smile and thank them.  Because they don't really know how wonderful our life really is.

To help you, dear reader, get a feel for our life before babies, here are a few pictures to help you visualize the awesomeness that we call home.  We'll be adding new pictures and posts as the baby build-outs (or built-ins!) progress.

Sailing our new boat from Salem to our current home in Boston, MA:
  

Lisa

Brian

Sailing vessel Just Married, anchored in Hull, MA on a warm, sunny weekend in July.  Just one of the perks of have a floating home in the harbor.

And docked back in Boston...

 

 

Beautiful sunset over the Zakim Bridge...also the view looking right from our summer slip.

 

Fall & Winter

The most frequently asked question we get is probably about how we survive in the winter.  It's hard to explain exactly how we shrinkwrap our boats, so here is a little breakdown of what happens in the late fall.

We build a frame over the boat: 

And then we cover it with special shrinkable plastic, and use a heat gun to shrink it over the frame.  Think holiday gift basket, on a much larger size.  This essentially creates a greenhouse on top of our boats, and keeps the rain and snow outside.  On sunny days, it can get well into the 80's inside!

And that keeps us warm and toasty inside, even when the outside looks like this:

"Pancake Ice"

Blizzard of 2013

We even decorate for Christmas!

 

And go caroling around the marina!

Spring and Summer

Naturally, it's easier to sell our lifestyle to people (not that we ever really "sell" it) during the summer.  And it's easy to see why:

Sunset from Hull during a weekend anchorage.

Our fair city, looking magnificent from Spectacle Island.

Our lovely niece Mariah catching crabs (and trying for lobster) off the back of our boat during a weekend visit.

4th of July on Boston Harbor:

Fire boat!

Swimming off the back of our boat is one of the funnest things ever.  As long as the harbor isn't too cold!

 

The Interior

Over the last two years we've made many improvements and adjustments to our living space.  Many of these are older pictures, but you'll get a good idea of where we live from them just the same.

Counters before we painted them  Bland and ugly!

After...we needed color!  And this gives you an idea of the size of our kitchen.

Under this hatch is where I keep all of my cooking tools.  Pots, pans, crockpot, bowls...you name it, it's in there!  This counter is just above waist height and is extremely large and deep.

Our over is just about full-sized, and I can cook just like I did while on land.  In fact, I do!  Here's a large batch of baked ziti I made for the shrinkwrap crew last year.

Homemade curtains, a few plants and rope lights make our space really homey and warm.

This is a view from the cockpit (outside) looking down into the boat.  To the left is the kitchen, forward is the dining table (which is usually taking out so we have a U shaped "couch" and to the right is where Brian and I dine when alone.  It's also where I put my makeup on in the morning, where we work on the laptop and where we play Scrabble.

This is a (messy) picture of what the space looks like without the table insert.  And this is the "normal" way we have the boat setup.

Me cooking for a dinner party.  It's actually quite easy to entertain.  We just have to really pick and choose who we have over at any given time. :)

In such a small space, we have to be creative with how we store things.  Our guitars hang from this wall when we aren't sailing.  When we are sailing, we simply take it down and rest it on our bed.  (Which is straight ahead-no pictures included yet.)

It's not pretty, but we even have an air conditioner in the summer.  It makes those really hot, humid days, bearable, when even the cool harbor breeze can't.

Brian, learning a new song.

In addition to the spaces shown in pictures, we also have two cabins.  The Vberth, where Brian and I sleep, and be aft cabin, where the babies will sleep.  These spaces are currently under construction (or being heavily used for storage because I'm very pregnant and can't crawl around) so we don't have any pictures to share yet.  We will update this post once those pictures are available.  But as I said before, these pictures give you a little bit of an idea of the space we live in and love.

Oh, and yes.  We also have a bathroom.  With a real working toilet, sink and shower.  With hot water.

Updates on building a custom nursery on a boat:
Part 1 
Part 2