What Do We Do All Day?
What is it like to live on a sailboat with kids? What do they do all day? These were some of our biggest questions before buying our boat.
We have had the boat for almost a year now and we moved aboard full time about four months ago.
We decided to do an interview with the kids so they can share their opinions of life on the boat so far…
Who are you? What can you tell us about yourself?
D: “My name is Deirdre Lynn Protzman but I like to be called Super Kitten or Mew Mews. I’m 8 years old and I like playing with dollies and doing crafts. And my favorite color is Yellow.”
O: “Baby Super Kitten. Red. My favorite color is red, because it goes with me. I am 2 years old.”
How do you like living on the boat?
D: “I love it and I love motoring but I’m scared of sailing.”
Why are you scared of sailing?
D: “Because I’m scared it will heal over a bit and also I’m probably scared because before I ever went on a big sailboat I went out on a little one with no motor and there was a storm on the lake we took it out on.”
How do you like living on the boat?
O:”By playing with toys.”
Do you miss living in a house?
D: “I miss like the open space and there is a house I used to live in that I miss very much but I like living on a boat more.”
O: “I do.”
What do you miss?
D: “Well there is a house I miss and I miss my friends because we had to move. I miss my friends and the places I knew because we had to move.”
O: “Katherine and Andrew and Windsor house. I miss Zeke.”
What do you do for fun?
D: “Play with my dolls and play games. That’s what. I play.”
O: “Play with my toys.”
What is your favorite part of living on a boat?
D: “I don’t have a specific favorite but I like the handrails to climb on.”
O: “Dinghy rides”
What is your least favorite part?
D: “One of my least favorites is I miss my friends.”
O: “Winching without my gloves.”
How do you learn?
D: “By doing educational things.”
Like what?
D: “I was just playing Dragon box Algebra on a tablet and I was programming on a tablet and I read almost constantly sometimes.”
How do you learn?
O: “By building train tracks.”
What is it like living on a boat?
D: “It is different and the same. Similar in some ways but strange in others. Different from living in a house.”
O: “Not Anything.”
If you could tell future you something what would it be?
D: “That’s obvious it’s would be ‘something.’ If I were to tell future me something, it would be something.”
O: “Play Mario Kart”
If you could tell past you something what would it be?
D: “I wouldn’t travel back in time.”
O: “I don’t talk, while I’m a baby.”
Why do you live on the boat?
D: “Because we decided to move onto a boat and I like it.”
O: “Because I like boats.”
Where do you want to go on the boat?
D: “I want to sail under the golden gate bridge and I want to sail to Ireland.”
O: “Drop the dinghy and motor to the beach, and hop out and go to the beach, and you can bring your shoes, if you want toos.”
Like Deirdre said life on a boat is different but also the same. We read, play, go to the library, park and grocery store and sometimes we even play video games.
The difference is, now we live in a much smaller space. We do just about everything together as a family. We are all learning to be more courteous of others.
We have gotten rid of so much stuff. There is only space for the things that are really important to each of us. So we have all had to learn how to let go of the clutter in our lives.
The kids play together more often than before because there isn’t a whole house full of reasons not to.
We still have a long way to go but I think we are on a good path.
