Switching from Liveaboard Mode to Sailing Mode

[Justin R.]

Hello all,

I've been living aboard for the last two years, and this weekend I became aware of a curious trend in my lifestyle. It used to be that when the wind was nice I could just fire up the diesel, untie the dock lines, and be sailing in ten minutes. Now, when the wind is nice, before I get to the usual steps I first have to: unplug and stow the microwave, clear the table of the salt & pepper shakers, put the slats in the bookcase, move the empty propane tank out of the cockpit, and on and on. All of the day-to-day liveaboard stuff is slowing me down.

I want to get rid of that inertia. Some of this will be obvious - keep everything stowed when not in use, like I used to. I'm guessing that others have encountered this particular pathology as well though. What did you do?

Fair winds!

[wingNwing]

Yep, you've got it exactly right. We call it flat-surface syndrome; as every level surface gets covered with clutter that would never have landed there if you were underway or on a mooring. (Or if it landed there, it wouldn't have stayed there.)

No cure that we know of except self-discipline. But here's how to put it in perspective. Before you lived aboard you spent ___ hours driving from your house to the boat when you wanted to go sailing. Now that you live aboard, how does the amount of time you spend stowing stuff, compare to the amount of time you spent driving?

[GeoPowers]

We like to say that there is no better way to find out what needs to be secured for sea more than getting underway. And practice makes perfect! Springtime also helps shed those "dock legs", our boat gets more cluttered in the winter.

It shouldn't take someone more than 15-20 minutes to get underway, IMHO.

[h20man]

Originally Posted by Justin R.

Hello all,

I've been living aboard for the last two years, and this weekend I became aware of a curious trend in my lifestyle. It used to be that when the wind was nice I could just fire up the diesel, untie the dock lines, and be sailing in ten minutes. Now, when the wind is nice, before I get to the usual steps I first have to: unplug and stow the microwave, clear the table of the salt & pepper shakers, put the slats in the bookcase, move the empty propane tank out of the cockpit, and on and on. All of the day-to-day liveaboard stuff is slowing me down.

I want to get rid of that inertia. Some of this will be obvious - keep everything stowed when not in use, like I used to. I'm guessing that others have encountered this particular pathology as well though. What did you do?

Fair winds!

Welcome to C.F.

I try to be a minimalist, and keep everything possible to a minimum.

I hate paper, attempting to keep most documents scanned, and, if I need the paper originals I store them offsite.
The same with all my CD's, DVD's and as many books.

I think this is a problem with the human species... we accumulate possessions to mark our territory.. so the key is to minimize....

Sounds like you know what you have to do.. best and excellent frequent sailing.....

[Bash]

We have a 30-minute rule. It should never take us longer than 30 minutes to be underway, should we have the spontaneous urge to sail. That means we're fanatic about putting things away the moment we can, even if we don't think we'll be sailing the following day.

[GeoPowers]

In our experience most successful liveaboards have a twinge of OCD

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by Bash

We have a 30-minute rule. It should never take us longer than 30 minutes to be underway, should we have the spontaneous urge to sail. That means we're fanatic about putting things away the moment we can, even if we don't think we'll be sailing the following day.

I like to think of it as, "What would you do if the wind came up all of a sudden, you were dragging in a tight anchorage and you HAD TO GET UNDERWAY IMMEDIATELY to keep from being beached or some other nasty situation !"


That will keep down the clutter.

It happened to us in a couple of Mexican anchorages (middle of the night of course!) and I was glad I had been hardcore about keeping the boat ready to go.

[Hudson Force]

If we are leaving a "Liveaboard marina" I do need to disassemble a pair of bicycles and store them in the aft cabin and this is about a 30 minute task, but if we are just out for a sail and with plans to return to the same dock then I require 7 seconds to prep. I need to lay down one lamp and stuff a pillow beside the TV,- that's all!

[tager]

Everything has a place, everything in its place.