I realize it's difficult for most people to understand what we're about to do. I don't think we fully understand at this point exactly what we're getting into. I just got back from visiting friends in California and got the perspective of non-boaters & their children.
I get the impression most adults just think we're nuts (boaters or not) and we won't make it very long. In fact, one person actually said we wouldn't make it more than 2 years. Maybe I'll put a poll on the blog. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, I guess. I really hope we make it longer than that - there are a lot of places we'd like to see and I think this will be a great experience for us as a family. Not to mention... who wouldn't want to spend Christmas on the beach in the Bahamas rather than freezing your butt off in Chicago?
Anyway, the kids thought it was cool - especially once they found out there are "trampolines" on the boat. I did find myself having to explain several times that we are moving onto the boat. That the boat is where we will be living - not in a house. That was a tough concept for them (hell, it's still a tough one for me to wrap my brain around sometimes). One of the kids simply said we were crazy and another said it was a terrible place for a little kid. I think the most important thing I'm trying to take away from the less than positive comments I hear (from kids and adults, alike) is that I don't need to defend our decision.... um... although I am still compelled to do so. I really need to get over that. My friends, Daneal & Chris, were very supportive and curious about the logistics of the whole thing.
I'm going to get on a bit of a soapbox now. Chris works for a water/wastewater company so we talked a bit about wastewater and specifically pumping out and legality/practice of dumping the holding tank off shore. Somehow, Daneal & I got onto the topic of flushing medications and what a huge problem this is for wastewater treatment facilities (and more generally, for the environment as a whole). If you flush meds, PLEASE STOP!!! This article gets into the details if you're interested in learning more: http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/86/8608cover.html.
