When I had left the fashion industry to pursue this lifestyle, I never thought I'd be trading the corporate ladder for a physical one. We have been on the hard now for a almost a year and a half (how time flies!) We had expected to have the boat back in the water by this time when we had first hauled out, but of course, nothing ever goes to schedule. Procrastination, life, hot humid summer days, lack of motivation, opportunities to go to NY, work, feeling disheartened, life....these have kept us on the hard a little longer than we have wanted. I can't tell you how much it sucks to live on, what I sometimes refer to as, a trailer on stilts. Every day, we climb the ladder, up and down, up and down, up and down. We have learned to balance our groceries in one hand while climbing the ladder with the other. I can't tell you how many times Frank and I have precariously carried something heavy up this. An air-conditioner, our new stove, our dehumidifier, our mini fridge, our boom, etc....all these times, we have had to think of creative ways to haul it onto the boat. I have slipped on the ladder once the whole time we have been on the hard, but managed to catch myself mid fall. Though I was hanging upside down, holding on to the thing with one leg while hysterically laughing, it was still quite scary! Frank has learned to climb it with no hands, but I'm too clumsy to attempt that. When it's raining, it gets very slippery and I have to remind myself to hold on tight. Our car is our garage, and we are constantly between Frank's workshop and our trunk in search of a tool that we can't find. Our sink drains into a hose that leads to a 5-gallon home depot bucket, and our bathroom is up six steps, down a 12 ft ladder, and 100 yards away (or if it's late at night, just down the ladder in a dark corner, though we are not above using an empty bottle either...) Our dorm room fridge can fit 4 bottles of water, a carton of eggs, maybe a vegetable or two, a package of meat, and some York peppermint patties. I have to drive out everyday to get us something to cook for dinner. When we get a new neighbor, I suspiciously eye their bottom paint, and secretively pray that that's not the job they are hauled out for, though it usually is. Our decks are usually covered in red, blue, or black bottom paint powder, and everything takes on this odd metallic smell. Sometimes we get a cool neighbor and sometimes we get a power boater. Luck of the draw. You would think that all of these things could put a fire under our asses, but set-backs (both major and minor) are extremely effective in sapping our motivation. There are some days that the light at the end seems so close, I can almost feel the warmth of it and then there are others...
