A day in the life on Rumaway

A Day in the Life on Rumaway

I often get asked, “What do you do all day when you’re sailing for three months?” So I thought I would write a little “day in the life” blog to give you a sense of what a typical day looks like out here.

Our day usually starts around 6:30 a.m. Coffee for Sue and a Pepsi Zero Sugar for me kick things off. Water is a precious commodity on the boat, so I take a very quick shower in the morning. Sue often rolls out her yoga mat at the back of the boat and does her morning exercises while the sun comes up.

I usually spend some time reviewing the weather forecasts. When you live on a boat, weather drives all your daily decisions. Will it rain? Is there a large swell coming in? Do we need to move to a different anchorage because of strong winds? When is it safe to make a passage between islands? Understanding the conditions helps us decide not only what we’ll do that day, but sometimes where we’ll sleep that night. Once we have a sense of the day’s weather, we have a quick breakfast and we’re ready to get started.

Most days include a trip into town. We hop in our dinghy, tie up at a dock, lock it, and head off to run errands. Grocery shopping is always an adventure. There are no big supermarkets on the islands — instead, there are usually two or three smaller stores in each town, and each one carries a completely different selection of items. We make our rounds, and we’re lucky if we track down half of what’s on our list. It’s especially exciting when we stumble across a hard-to-find item — like our favorite flavor of ice cream.

We also visit the local fruit and produce markets. Many items are sold directly by farmers in town markets, or by “boat boys” who come right up to your boat to sell their goods. The benefit is incredibly fresh produce, but you only get what they have. Sometimes it takes patience. It took us four weeks to find sweet potatoes. In St. Lucia, there were tomatoes everywhere, but in Martinique, we have yet to see one.

Once a week or so, we tackle the less glamorous side of boat life — maintenance day. Life on the water is amazing, but the chores don’t disappear; they just look a little different. Laundry is one of those tasks. We’re lucky to have a washing machine onboard, but without a dryer, timing is everything. We wait for a good sunny day so we can hang everything along the lifelines and let the Caribbean sun do its work.

Then there’s boat cleaning. Saltwater has a way of getting everywhere. We rinse and scrub the decks to remove the salt and grime, wipe everything down inside, freshen up the kitchen and bathrooms, and sweep up the week’s collection of sand that somehow finds its way aboard no matter how careful we are.

And of course, there’s fuel. Getting diesel for the boat is rarely simple. In most places, it means hauling two heavy five-gallon jugs across town, back to the dinghy, and then onto the boat — sometimes making more than one trip. It’s a workout we didn’t exactly sign up for, but it comes with the territory.

After errands, we usually plan some kind of outing — maybe a taxi tour of the island, a forest hike, or an afternoon snorkel. We swim or snorkel almost every day and love being in the water. You do have to watch out for small jellyfish, and the occasional rash happens, but it’s worth it for the amazing underwater scenery. The late afternoon often has down time as we try to avoid being outside during peek sun / heat. Sue often uses this time to read or paint our latest scenery.

Five o’clock brings my favorite time of the day - happy hour. We mix a drink, sit back, and watch the boats — and the world — drift by while we start preparing dinner around 6 p.m. A couple of times a week, we head into town for dinner to enjoy the local food and support the restaurants and small businesses.

Evenings usually include catching up on a few TV shows. About an hour before bed, we start the generator to charge the batteries and run the water maker to replenish our fresh drinking water. We’re in bed by 10 p.m. most nights, fans on and hatches open, enjoying the fresh air. Of course, the occasional evening rainstorm leads to a midnight scramble to close everything up before we get soaked.

We love the exploring — the towns, the islands, the sea — and the unpredictability that comes with each day. No two days are exactly alike, and that’s part of the adventure..