Sunday, February 27, 2011

A typical day in the life....

People often ask us how we all live in our small boat or what we do all day long.  Truly everyday is different, unique and full of adventure, seeing new places and making life about the journey we travel. Schooling takes up a good portion of the day and add cruising/traveling and normal everyday activities and the days fill up quickly. Here's a peak into the Negotiator and what an average day looks like for the Parrent family.

We all seem to eat cereal for breakfast when we anchor out.  We don't have an inverter on-board so all electricity comes from the generator. We usually only turn it on in the evening.
Jaxon and Morgan are usually awake at 7:00 am. 
 It was a warm night and by morning it was over 70 degrees.
 This particular day we started the engines up first thing to head to town to provision. Craig at the helm starting up the engines, turning on the electronics and leaving in a matter of minutes.
 Taped to the door is the Great Loop route map as a constant reminder of where we are and where we're headed.
 Once underway I head down to make beds, get kids started with school work, pick out clothes for everyone, etc.  This one closet in the master stateroom holds all of our clothes. We each get a shelf and it seems to work out well.
 The master stateroom has plenty of room, a large bed, TV, books that we read on the headboard most nights and a make-shift office in the vanity area with stool. 
 The galley is perfect for cooking. Our drinking water is filtered in the container under the counter, trash goes in the round circular hole on the countertop and water bottles behind the sink for safe keeping.
 "Kids....brush hair and teeth" is usually what I say each morning.  This is their own personal vanity (w/ a head too) to make a mess of. 

 Mommy's turn to take a shower and get ready for the day. I think it's the perfect size, no complaints and love that it has a bathtub for the kiddies.  I usually don't blow dry and curl my hair anymore (due to lack of power), but that's ok.
 Kids join Craig up top to work on school text books like English and Math.
 Jaxon down for a break and time with Mommy working on school work and reading books. 
 We decided to take the boat to a wall in Fort Lauderdale as there's a Publix grocery store only 3 blocks away!  Docking the boat consists of tying a mid ship line to the nearest cleat and depending on where we're at, we put out fenders and tie and a bow and stern line on for support.
 The Negotiator in front of the Briny Irish Restaurant downtown.
 Publix is always a family event. This one has a 'people mover' on the left that comes from the parking garage.
 Checking out...
 Filling backpacks with groceries.
 Backpack and stroller filled of good fresh food and ready for the walk back to the boat.
 This particular walk wasn't in the best part of town and a few hills to contend with. No complaints as this is the norm.
 On the walk back next to the boat was a fountain in the park.
 Reading the Dolphin Diaries book.
 Fresh fruits and vegetables is always fun to have and never taken for granted.  I make ice tea now by warming the water in the outside sun. Craig grilled extra chicken the night before and I made a really good chicken salad with craisons and walnuts...yumm!
 NOT KIDDING, Craig sneezed 22 times in 20 minutes.  It was unbelievable! He's not sick, but must be allergic to something...I don't know?? 
 Lunch on the aft deck with a nice breeze and good scenery with passing boats and people.  Kids ate turkey sandwiches with pretzels.
 Princess Michelle is the name of this boat...reminds me of my sister Michelle!
 Took a walk down the boardwalk and stopped for a train that had almost 100 train cars on it.
 "Mom, take my picture next to this big anchor".....I hear this often and have the camera ready for most moments.
 Came upon a very unique sculpture with balls that fell into sync.
 Mom, take my picture...
 Large vessels everywhere..
 You hear about these crazy new styled boats, but never actually see any.
 The Good Year blimp flying around watching the space shuttle go off.
 Getting into our anchorage in Pompano Beach at Santa Barbara Lake Craig turns on the generator to charge up everything and allows me to make some dinner.
 While I'm cooking, kids are playing with everything! Crafts and toys everywhere after the boat ride.
 Craig with charts and guides to plan out our next week.  We usually don't plan too far in advance, but my parents are coming for a visit and then Craig's mom after that. 
 Dinner tonight is Enchiladas.  It's a cozy table that fits our family perfect. 
After dinner we usually play a family game, get into a project or have quiet time going our own ways.  We're a very happy family living a very unconventional life.  We live on a boat and don't have jobs, but for the most part we're pretty normal!

I don't write a lot of stories on my blog, but enjoy reading other blogs with stories.....I'll try to do more. 
Thank you all for your support! It's fun to see new 'Followers' too.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Hollywood Beach

An airplane turned into a boat...only in Fort Lauderdale do you see something like that!

 One last day in the pool.

 Look the same, act the same, sound the same...
 Leaving our canal in Yacht Haven where we were situated next to two 55 foot Azimuts.  You couldn't go very far without seeing a 100-300 foot long boat in the back water canals of Fort Lauderdale.
 These towing vessels pull the large yachts through hairpin turns of the canals out to the ocean - one on the bow and one on the stern.
 These are all repossessed boats.
 Through the narrow areas it was common to pass huge vessels often. Craig never flinched and LOVED the challenge...I on the other hand took deep breaths and was thankful not to be at the helm.  Craig said through a really hairy part that he had to use the head...I replied with "let me get a bucket instead."
 Of course we got to pass the Jungle Queen as I mentioned before.
 This is a yacht transporter that's lowered into the water and boats float on top of it into position and they float the big freighter up.
 On this container ship each one of the 'boxes' you see are the size of a semi trailer.
 Hollywood Beach has a great fountain and park area with a live band and the beach on the Atlantic Ocean.  We played, swam a ton, ate ice cream, walked a few miles and kids were exhausted at the end of the day! 
 We actually went here on the RV trip two years ago.
 Ryann on top and Morgan hanging.
  Sand castles and swimming to end the perfect day!
 Morgan painted the headboard to her bed.
A funny thing happened today.  We are anchored out in the ICW near Hollywood Beach next to A1A, the main street. We get a phone call in the am from our friends, Mike and Melinda Herrema that were in their car driving past our boat and thought it was us!  What are the chances that they'd see our boat?  They were at the Miami Boat Show and heading to Fort Lauderdale to catch a plane.