By Grant
A few friends have asked before what it is like everyday living on a yacht? Well just like life everyday is very different but I guess on a boat it is even more so. So I decided to write a short piece to try share a typical day if it is possible to call anyway such.
Today I am writing this in unusual circumstances. I decided not to join the family on an excursion to some volcanic tunnels and local farms on the Galapagos islands. Instead I needed to get a few jobs done on the boat and then decided to go to a local bar/cafe and enjoy a draft beer and write this little posts. Why is this unusual is that it is very rare to get time alone when living on a boat. Something which is wonderful and also very different from normal life off a boat.
A typical day would include being with your wife and kids 24/7. Not something many of you reading could ever imagine. Not to mention that a boat is a very small island. Now, after after almost 2 years on our boat I can say that I wouldn’t change it for the world. Ive learnt more about my kids than I should probably know. I am pretty sure they wouldn’t agree because without a doubt they would love to escape the overbearing and controlling father they probably think I am. But for me I realise how special and lucky I have been. So let me share some insights into how it all works daily.
Most days begin with my quiet time between 5:30 and 7:30 when very few on my boat are awake. This gives me a chance to gain some me-time typically on the flybridge. The flybridge is the highest area on the boat and is a large relaxing area when we would actually sail the boat from. It has a wonderful 360degree view of the world and you can always find an area in the shade or sun depending on the weather. Up here I can relax and view my surroundings. Often depending on the weather I might go for a swim or else I start to think about jobs I might have on the boat. And there are always jobs. I keep a list and frankly it very very very rarely ever gets completed. Unlike a home where jobs may be put off, on a boat something that needs fixing needs to get fixed and frankly this is my number one job.
But before we delve into what kind of things these may include let’s discuss what the rest of the crew are up to. At around 6:30-7am you will have little Alex and possibly Azania waking up. They are both early risers and will just quietly start their days. Alex typically grabs her book and starts reading and Azania jumps at the lego. I wish we didn’t have lego on a boat because the stuff goes everywhere and for the most part you are barefoot on a boat and there is nothing worse that stomping down on a piece of lego or even worse lego going down a drain hole and blocking something. But alas the lego is her joy (as well as Alex to be honest) and definitely is a million times better than seeing them on a device.
Delphine and Arabella will arise when Chinese class begins. This is normally around 7 or 7:30am. And the usual crazy arguments happen about who is first. For all of the time we have been on the boat we are blessed to have Flora laoshi, a lovely Chinese tutor who has continued to teach our kids online. Alex and Arabella do 30min each every morning and Azania does 15min. From an education point of view we believe that English and Mandarin are paramount and neither Delphine or I feel ready to teach Mandarin. In fairness I couldn’t teach the language because I cannot read and write but it is neither Delphine’s first or second language so best to leave this one to the expert. The teacher is amazing and just hearing her online with the kids every morning is so comforting and normal. She is almost part of the family and if she wasn’t online it would feel weird. She has selflessly accommodated us in numerous time zones and at the moment she’s teaching at 9:30pm Hong Kong time and our 7:30am Galapagos time.
After Chinese the kids do Maths and English. Our kids are not enrolled in any formal curriculum and we believe they will be learning more without forcing the learning of other topics. Frankly we feel that Maths and English are the only two subjects (other than Mandarin) which require their attention. And we hope our kids will be above average in these which will give them a strong start when they re-join normal school. Right now I am confident that their Maths is way ahead of most kids their age and Alex in particular is catching her sister who is technically 3 grades ahead. For the most part they do their studies on their own. We purchased a curriculum online and they follow the South African version. The books are great and really help them self-teach. If they are struggling with something they will ask either Delphine or I but for the most part this is very seldom. They seem to breeze through the books and when the time comes for examinations we test them and they are always passing with flying colours. I can only remember one test where Alex failed and Arabella has never. So I think they are doing fine and honestly we do very very little to help.
Re English, my Mum has been helpful for the past 5-6 months. She sets them writing assignments which she will then grade for them. It is perfect but they both read a lot and Arabella’s spelling and grammar is excellent and Alex has got such a gift of storytelling that they both seem to be fine. Only time will really tell but I think they are doing great. Delphine spends a lot of time with Azania during these hours teaching her maths and how to read and write English. She is 4 now and has already started reading so I think she will be ok. All the kids are smart like their Mum. Thank goodness.
Apple is up around 7:30am and immediately in the galley helping with putting away dishes or with breakfast before she heads off on her daily chores helping keep the boat clean and tidy. It goes without saying that very few cruisers like ourselves have paid crew onboard but yes we are different and lucky. Apple has been with us for over 7 years since the day we bought SV Arabella and she knows they boat as well as any. Apple was hired all those years ago as our stewardess and is famous for making the best frozen margaritas in the world. Over the years she has been close to all our kids growing up so they all have a very close relationship. Today Apple is both Nanny, Maid, Chef and occasionally even a deckhand helping to watches on the helm when we are doing long passages. She has learnt so much whilst working with us, from swimming, to how to start the generator, run the water maker and inspect bilges for water. She is very integral to our boat and we thank our lucky stars everyday for having her. Long live Apple.
So what have I been up to? Well… as I said before everyday is completely different and I can’t tell you how much I like this. If you were to put me in prison it would be a daily meeting at the same time everyday in the same place. I don’t like routine. And on our boat there is none. Today my list included making water, cleaning the engine bay bilge and servicing the engines. Not a full service but just an oil and filter change. Fairly straightforward we do every 200hours we use our engines and because I am about to cross the pacific I best do it now. After this I was to go ashore and collect a sail which I had got repaired, collect the gas and buy some oil. The lady fixing my sail was not a sail maker but just a local seamstress so I needed to bring material and we needed to use Google Translate to help overcome the language barriers but honestly there is always a way and she did a wonderful job fixing it. But my days could involve anything from fixing cabinets, electronic or going up the mast. But sure as the sun comes up I have lots to do everyday. And I love it. Sometimes my kids will come and help me like Alex did today. She finished her Maths early and came to find out what I was up to. She asked me about all the parts of the engine (some I couldn’t even answer her) and genuinely helped me do the oil change. It seemed she really liked it?
Now there is one more crew/guest but hard to call him a guest because he has been onboard for so long. His name is Alex but more commonly know as Mannie, Manuel, Chewbakker or the Admiral. Alex crossed the Atlantic with us, then went back to South Africa, came back to join us and now is about to cross the pacific. He is one of my oldest friends and lives in Cape Town. In the early mornings you will find him having a few ciggies in his self proclaimed office (the stern of the boat on either port or starboard depending on the wind). He quietly starts his day staying out of the way. When nobody is watching he is cleaning the boat, putting things away and often helping Apple in the Galley. He is a treasure on our boat and life without him would be awfully dull.
It is terribly uncommon for a boat our size to not have a proper support crew just like we did for all the years before this journey. Most boats sailing around the world as a family are much smaller. And for good reason. Keeping up the maintenance is only one reason but just sailing her, controlling her in a marina is all a challenge. She is not built for short handed (the ability to sail and operate a boat with very few people) sailing and therefore we have needed to make many changes over the past year to make it easier to manage. It is fair to say that we are now quite comfortable with her.
But with any organisation, team or functioning group there is something unseen and untold which holds it altogether. A person who quietly controls the puppet. On our boat it is none other than my lovely wife. When she left Hong Kong almost 2 years ago now I don’t think she would ever had imagined the situation she finds herself in today but over time she has got more and more comfortable on the boat and how the boat works and has started to put her very unique fingerprints all over it. Whether it be the way things are meticulously stored away, or the scheduling of shifts or the provisioning of the boat, she has quietly taken full control of the boat and effectively the blood that keeps it running. It truly is safe to say that things are more and more like clockwork everyday and certainly the best meals I ever have anywhere in the world are on our boat. I will probably need to elaborate more on this later. SV Arabella is a big beautiful yacht and she is even more beautiful and amazing everyday that goes by with Delphine moulding her. I maybe the Captain of this ship but there is definitely no doubt who is the boss.
So somehow that’s the morning. Done and dusted and time for fun and games.
We are typically at anchor in some bay and the first step is dropping our tender (dinghy), Little Alex from her garage. She will transport us to the shore, either a pier somewhere or often just straight to a beach where we beach her.