A few days ago I had a blog follower hit me up with a ton of questions about the sailing life, which I didn’t mind at all. I was glad to be able to answer as many as I could. Honestly, I still hit up other sailors with a ton of questions about areas that we have yet to discover but are on our list of places to see. Like before we took the leap from the Dominican Republic we were clueless as to which direction we wanted to sail, back North to the Bahamas, or across to Central America, or South to Windward/Leewards. So we polled the sailor friends that we knew had done it, and whom we trusted their opinions. Based on what they told us we were able to make a more informed decision. And now we are back at it, bombarding people with questions about sailing in Mexico.
Our experience out here is one of the things that we do have to offer. It is what I have to give, one of the ways I can help. Don’t be shy, if you have questions, feel free to ask them. Just keep in mind that I am also a mother of two very active girls, and so it may take me a day or two to get back to you (as I can only write uninterrupted during nap time or after 8pm, and by that time my brain is usual mush). But I will eventually get back to you, or at least send you a link to a post that I already wrote on the subject.
We leave for our boat in one month. I've never been on a sailboat, much less lived on one, but I'm totally up for the adventure. I've been reading and learning for a few months now and I'm kind of curious about the information that I might have missed because I didn't even think to look for it.
What were you most surprised by when you moved from land to the boat? What are your top 3-5-10 things that you wished you had brought with you when you first left the shore to seriously sail away (or maybe a better question might be, if you had the chance to come back to the US after being gone for a while, what did you/would you have stocked up on?)
Also. Chocolate. Is it possible to keep chocolate on board without it melting/getting all stale? We'll have three females on board, all of whom go through mad chocolate cravings during pms (aka The Kraken). We have a recipe that we're adapting for the boat that is chocolate, but that won't always suffice.
We had done a lot of traveling and living abroad before going sailing and so we were already pretty used to living minimally. I can't say I really missed having certain things. Sure the luxury of having a Target close by for when the girls were babies and outgrowing their clothes would have been really nice. But with other boaters and people flying in and out we always managed to order things online and have them brought in by someone. Give it a few months on the boat and then you can see if you feel you are missing anything.
One major thing I would suggest is getting everyone who may want some alone time (and is old enough) to learn to start and drive the dinghy. It will give all of you so much more freedom.
As for chocolate, I also have a sweet tooth. It is possible to buy it pretty much everywhere. If you have a fridge or freezer I would suggest keeping it in there. If not then try and eat it not long after purchase, the shape may be different from melting but it will still taste just as good!