Holy Sh*t. We Live on a Boat!
Can you live on a boat? Sure, as long a hurricane doesn’t get there first.
I awoke yesterday with an extreme case of cognitive dissonance. It wasn’t one of those moments when you wake up in a hotel on vacation and you don’t remember where you are. I knew full well where I was, it was just someone else’s life.
Racing Hurricane Matthew to Jacksonville
We left Dallas on the afternoon of Friday, October 7, and drove until sundown. That put us in Bossier City, LA for the night. Greg spent that whole day checking in on Hurricane Matthew. He was so worried that our boat would be damaged beyond repair before we could even set foot on her.
Saturday was a longer drive to Pensacola, and because we left a bit late and ran into a highway closure, and stopped for dinner, we didn’t make it to our next hotel before sundown. By then, we knew Hurricane Matthew had taken its pound of flesh out of Haiti and was generally sparing the east coast of Florida. Matthew had already been downgraded to a Category 3 by the time it hit northern Florida and quickly dipped to a Cat 2 when it arrived in Jacksonville. The flooding in Jacksonville Beach was severe, but the city of Jacksonville saw precious little damage, and for that, I am extremely grateful.
Sunny Skies for Our Arrival
By the time we arrived in Jacksonville on Sunday afternoon, the skies had cleared, and a beautiful, warm, downright cheerful day greeted us for our first day as liveaboards. Holy crap! We officially live on a boat!
The only damage our boat saw was a banged-up rub rail on the starboard side. For hours, our boat crashed against the pylon she’s tied to. The fender stationed there didn’t fully protect the boat, and now we have our first exterior boat project to do. However, the rub rail did its job, (side-eye to the fender) and there is no damage to the hull.
Luckily for us, yesterday a brand new fender washed downstream into our slip. So, now we’ve got a second fender to protect the starboard beam!
What Is Going On Around Here?
This whole week has been surreal. Do we really live on a boat? Did I really sell all of my stuff? Did I quit my job? You mean, we’re not going back to our old life? This is not a vacation? Did we just race a hurricane? Did we just get a magic fender delivery?
It just goes to show, the Universe provides. Life is weird, man and for us, it just got weirder. We live on a boat.
