Reason: Environment/Resource Awareness
We are consumers. This indelible fact, above all others, has shaped our lives for thousands of years, guiding our evolution and defining our civilization. In all that time we have gotten very good at not only consuming, but also creating more things to consume.
Fear not! You can sigh in relief. In this post, when speaking about the environment or resources, I’m not referring to oil reserves or global warming. I’ll save that discussion for later, after I’ve been committed to an institution and have nothing better to do. Let’s just talk about boats.
Move onto a boat and it becomes your environment, and therein lie all the available resources and all the equipment needed to store and deliver those resources.
On a boat, every resource is finite. Even the water you drink requires your attention and attendance in a timely manner. You are your own municipality, responsible for finding clean water, adequate storage, installing pumps, plumbing, and controlling usage. (No, clean water doesn’t magically come out of the faucet). Without management, resources can and do run out.
Boaters know where their water comes from, how much they can store, and how long that will last. People who live on boats often become the best resource stewards.
We are consumers. This indelible fact, above all others, has shaped our lives for thousands of years, guiding our evolution and defining our civilization. In all that time we have gotten very good at not only consuming, but also creating more things to consume.
Fear not! You can sigh in relief. In this post, when speaking about the environment or resources, I’m not referring to oil reserves or global warming. I’ll save that discussion for later, after I’ve been committed to an institution and have nothing better to do. Let’s just talk about boats.
Move onto a boat and it becomes your environment, and therein lie all the available resources and all the equipment needed to store and deliver those resources.
On a boat, every resource is finite. Even the water you drink requires your attention and attendance in a timely manner. You are your own municipality, responsible for finding clean water, adequate storage, installing pumps, plumbing, and controlling usage. (No, clean water doesn’t magically come out of the faucet). Without management, resources can and do run out.
Boaters know where their water comes from, how much they can store, and how long that will last. People who live on boats often become the best resource stewards.
BYOB, and water, and everything else.
Ok. So how is this pertinent to the question of why we stay on the boat? Well, both Sarah and I find it rewarding to know about our resources and we take pride in figuring out ways to make them last. When we cruse, we put this knowledge to use, staying at anchor in a perfect little bay for longer then most boats are able to. It also shows us how wasteful you can be when you aren’t paying attention. We are as independent and self sufficient as two people can be, and we love it.
To go back, to loose the feeling of independence we have worked so hard for, would be unthinkable.
To go back, to loose the feeling of independence we have worked so hard for, would be unthinkable.
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