The birth of a live aboard

Many years ago: GOSH DEAR, why don't we buy a boat, SURE DEAR…..A small sailboat something we could spend weekends on, maybe a couple of weeks in the summer, it would be like camping on the sea.
SEVERAL YEARS LATER GOSH DEAR If we bought a bigger boat we could sail all year round, go further and have more fun!! SURE DEAR. In fact dear wouldn't it be fun if we bought a liveaboard then we could be on the water all year….
Sure dear anything you ….. ARE you out of your mind… live on a boat with two cats, our nine year old daughter and the two of us, you must be crazy…………
SEVERAL YEARS LATERWith a bigger boat, one cat and a teenage daughter. "So how about it sweetie, what do you think about living aboard?" Not a chance until our daughter graduates and moves out.
THE DAY AFTER GRADUATIONGOSH DEAR so how about this liveaboard thing? Well let me think about it……..One week later, I've been thinking about this. where would I put all my stuff? Stuff dear what do you mean stuff? You know clothes, shoes important stuff. And furthermore how would I get ready for work my hairdryer won't work unless we're at the dock.(this is the part I love the best) WELL DEAR, I was thinking I would add a bigger battery bank with an inverter and just in case a small generator. Wow, won't that be noisy? Well, yes, but we would only need to run it if there isn't any sun. Sun? well with the new solar panels we're adding they should take care of charging the batteries. Oh I see. Well lets give it a try. Great dear, oh, one other thing… I called a realtor, I didn't think it made much sense to let the house sit empty, so I thought we should sell it…..…WHAT @%@%*&*^
SEVERAL WEEKS LATER Well dear what are you going to do with all those shoes, how many pairs do you think you need to live on a boat? Now I know going from 50 to 5 pairs is a big leap but just think how easy the choice will be with only five.
Now moving aboard in Washington state in November is just plain stupid, it's the worst weather grey, raining and cold. But move onboard we did. Our first problem was the cat, up until now he had used the huge yard as his litter box. Can you teach an old cat new tricks? Yep he knew right what to do, (why aren't baby's that easy).
Well we moved onboard my wife filled the main stateroom hanging locker and all the shelves with her stuff, I was relegated to the aft cabin. However since I had cleaned out my closet at home I didn't need much space. Embracing this new life style I had gotten rid of all my suits, dress shirts and most of my shoes. If it wasn't a tee shirt, shorts or fleece it went to the local thrift store. I'm fortunate I work for a fire department they supply all my uniforms and they're laundered at work and then live in my locker at the station.
My poor wife still has to wear office type clothes. Now, she used to be known as a fairly sharp dresser and got a lot of nice comments from her coworkers. Now she hears things like, wow, that's umm… interesting. Now me, I think old topsiders with hose and a skirt look good.
Her boss still hasn't noticed the three large boxes in her office which casually layed computer manuals on top of to hide the fact that she was using her office as a storage unit.
Well we have some of the basic routines down now, being in the marina for the winter has helped. But I hoping my wife remembers to consult the tide tables when she goes shopping. It seems she shows up with a couple of hundred dollars worth of groceries on a minus tide and I need repelling gear to haul the groceries to the boat.
Winter storms in the Pacific Northwest can be brutal but living aboard we have become one with nature , unless it's blowing over 60 we don't even wake up.
As I started to become a little older some things don't work quite as well, I use to think of having to get up in the middle of the night to pee as a real annoyance. Onland what once interrupted my sleep is now my ticket to star gazing. There are only two liveaboards in our small marina. The silence is wonderful only broken by the otters playing tag on the docks, George the resident heron squawking when he goes fishing and the young seal who chases fish in between our two hulls. (we live on a cat) Finally using the outside restroom naked in 35 degree weather is a positively shrinking experience.
Well, summer's here, were quitting our jobs and going cruising full time, the last six months have been very enlightening. So far it's been amazing to see all the things we could live without, I wonder if they will ever open those three boxes my wife left covered with manuals in her office… come to think of it I wonder what was in them ………