It’s been 10 weeks since we left Seamore Pacific and returned to work.
Maintaining a healthy balance is stressful and it requires a lot of effort. An attempt at 45 minutes of Mindfulness meditation and prayer, 45 minutes of running, extra time for wholesome food preparation, 30 minutes twice a day for sitting on the patio with Francis, Ruby, and Capt. Chameleon, early to bed and early to rise, consume 8 glasses of water, go to work and give 110% effort, and it’s no wonder there isn’t enough time to complete my core strengthening exercises. That alone is discouraging because my understanding is that core strength helps with resilience and physical balance. What will happen if my core strength fades away? And so I begin to fret on how to fit more harmonious activity into the day. Can’t I just take a pill for this? Like a multi-vitamin is to disease prevention, isn’t there a pretty multi-balance capsule that erases the oxidative damage of rat-race living and fools us into thinking we are balanced? 6 months ago I didn’t fret over such things. Without hyper fixating on how to create it, it simply evolved. My theory is that less is more and balanced living isn’t necessarily equal parts work and recreation.
The live-aboard cruising lifestyle when it is off the grid, small on space, and slim (emaciated) on spending, seamlessly forms mind, body, and spiritual balance. Want water? It’s easy. Just pull off the settee cushions and wood covering to access the water maker, go topside to hoist a 40 pound gasoline Geri-jug over to the Honda Generator, holding on tight so as not to drop it overboard, then lifting it gently, pour it slow and easy through a 2 inch hole, pausing frequently to peer down the hole and gauge how much more fuel before it overflows. Crank up the generator and water maker, and then pull out a good book to pass time. For the next 3 hours the rumble of the generator, the hum of the water maker, and the disheveled interior sole is salt water becoming 99.9% pure water; 60 gallons for drinking, bathing, cooking, and laundry. Depending on how extravagant or conservative I am with this precious resource, we will repeat the process in 2 or 3 days.
As inconvenient as it may sound, managing and producing water aboard Seamore Pacific gave us a sense of accomplishment, tremendous gratitude, and respect for natural resources. And without a second thought, the physical work strengthened our body, the reading enriched our thoughts and minds, and the omnipotent power of the ocean made us silly with happiness. We sometimes needed to reach up and slap ourselves. How did we ever get here, living our nautical dream 6 months out of the year? Was it from looking into the eyes of Captain Morgen plastered on the label of his name sake rum, trying hard to imagine the days of rum running via an old wooden schooner? Was it from listening so closely to the melodic ballad about Caroline Street that I honestly could smell the shrimp, the bars, and the air? Or, did I believe that every boat in a marina stood for adventure, balance, and mystery? More or less, I think it was all of these.
Maintaining balance: Captain Chameleon and I spent the weekend at Corona Del Mar (Puerto Penasco, Mexico) enjoying the wind, sun, and sea.
Francis a.k.a. Neighborhood Watch Cat
Seamore Nautical Spirits 
Ahhh….and more beauties for your card collection!
We think a like. It’s amazing how many beautiful and pretty things are in bird’s eye view, huh? The secret is remembering the camera 🙂
Your water making adventures makes me ponder comparing it to our own drought in California. We complain when being asked to reduce our water usage by 20%, which still would leave us using each day about five times what you stretch to cover two to three days on the boat. Maybe if we had to prep, generate, haul, and store every gallon we used we’d be happy to reduce the burden by 20%. And maybe if we had to carry it on our head from miles away with parade of women bringing it back to our village we’d use even less. Maybe we’d appreciate it more, and complain a little less, savoring the replenishing elixir each time we raised it to our lips.
You have a point. And, might I add that unintended benefit follows. For instance, on the boat, I seldom washed my face with soap and I reduced shampoos to twice a week. Hair and skin benefited from the change.
Love it….your writing and photos are the best!!
Thank You Sue. I take that as a real compliment. A good day is when I see that you have posted your blog and instantly I’m back in the Sea of Cortez. Hope to see you both soon.