Most of Sunday was spent lounging around the boat and candidly, being pretty discouraged from the watermaker install issues.
For church service, we opted to stay aboard and watched a message from Lifechurch.tv. Appropriately and perfectly timed, the message was entitled “Don’t Lose Heart.”
The pastor spoke about how “no matter what your expectations are for an experience, person, or possession, there are times when it simply won’t live up to what you had hoped. But, that is no reason to lose heart – nor live defeatedly. Rather, in times of discouragement (and in all situations), we are to rely on God to satisfy our needs and expectations.
The encouraging service led us to a long and open conversation about the realities of cruising.
While life on the water is certainly abundant with beauty, adventure, freedom and excitement, it certainly isn’t void of the frustrations that challenge us to question our decision to choose this lifestyle for awhile. In other words, not everyday is spent sipping chilled rum drinks on a soft sandy beach while longingly gazing into each other’s eyes. (Although Matt does have some pretty dreamy blue eyes that match the color of the glorious water that we live on.)
We’ve learned that most tasks take at least three times the effort to accomplish than they would back in our landlife. Just a few examples (of many) are washing dishes, quick trips to the store, cleaning laundry and accessing the Internet.
The latest model of dishwasher aboard Kaleo is either a 5′, clumsy and impatient admiral (my words) or a 6 foot stud (Matt’s words), both of whom are quite accustomed to an automatic dishwasher. (We brought lots of paper goods.)
Just like we aren’t able to effortlessly run to the neighborhood Target or Whole Foods when we need something, we can’t simply walk down the hall to throw in a load of laundry.
Laundry days involve loading up the dinghy (hoping you don’t forget anything) and buzzing in to shore to find the island’s laundromat. Once inserting the $2.50 – $4.00 for each wash or dry (averaging about $20 each visit) and the machines are spinning, we typically go on the hunt for Internet access or play games (which is actually really fun) until we fold, repack, and load the dinghy back up for the trek home. At first, all this was part of the adventure, but now – more than four months in – every time we schlep the overstuffed laundry bag up a dock, we have visions of the GE logo (front loading!) in our heads.
Having an “always on and always fast” Internet connection was just the way of life back in the states. Out here, it’s quite the opposite. We knew access would be more limited and prepared by installing a WiFi booster that we hoped would extend our ability to pick up wireless signals from shore. While it does help in some occasions (I’d rather have it than not), more often the available signals aren’t open connections.
In those cases, we head ashore to find a connection where we’re typically frustrated at the inevitable s-l-o-w-m-o speeds. Often, as you log on (at $4 – $15 based on minutes or megabytes), the startup page reads something to the tune of “you’re in paradise so chill out mon while a page loads and enjoy the view.” Reluctantly, I get the point. But, in the moment, the view only entertains you for so long while you try to complete a bank transaction or send a single email to family and friends. And, while we like chronicling our journey on this blog, the updates are more tedious than we could have imagined. But, we’re trying.
Whew – and you thought life was one big Corona commercial out here.
We’ve come to realize that most tasks have to be prepared for, navigated to and scheduled around in order to get accomplished. Yet, when faced with these momentary burdens, we remind ourselves that we’re living a very blessed life to be experiencing such a beautiful world from our little floating home. (Thank you again, Lord.)
Back to Sunday … Joined by “MG”, the day wrapped up with a walk along the beach and down a little conch-lined path to a fresh water well. We then ventured down the road upon Old Thompson Bay Inn and met the owner, Triphena, who enticed us with the upcoming Bahamian menu for Monday night. On the way back, we picked tamarin seeds from their trees by the roadside, snacking on a few (they taste like tart ‘n tangy Mexican candy) as the peaceful evening sunset dipped below the horizon.
Lifting fresh water from the well
Returning fresh water to the well
Picking tamarin seed snacks
