So here we are, many months since our last posting and living on land for the winter. Ironically, our winter accommodations do overlook the Kingston Marina. But in 74 days at the most we will be once again living aboard My Obsession.
Last weekend I had two separate people ask me whether we were moving back aboard again for the summer. When I replied yes, they asked if we found living aboard difficult. Jay and I both answered no immediately. In truth, we both loved living aboard. Of course, working full time and living aboard is not the same as cruising full time, but since we arrived in Kingston at the end of June last year we did push off the dock and explore Lake Ontario and the Thousand Islands almost every weekend until the boat came out in mid-October. And despite the small living space we loved the time spent on My Obsession.
Ironically, despite having rented a three-bedroom apartment with much, much more square footage than onboard the boat, in many ways we’ve found living on land much more confining. Part of this is the winter weather, which makes it less pleasant to wander around outside. But part of it is that when living aboard, the potential for adventure is as easy as casting off the docklines. Even if we don’t take advantage of it, it is liberating to know that escape from the drudgery of life on land is so close.
Despite being mostly attached to land with a full time job, we did manage to log approximately 1800 NM under our keel last season.
Since My Obsession came out of the water, we have visited two vastly different boat shows – the Annapolis Sailboat Show last October and the Toronto Boat Show in January. In Annapolis we seriously looked at new boats on the market, drifting as usual to Beneteau. Although the new Beneteau’s are beautiful and have some nice features, we decided we were more than happy with our 373. We found that for the first time in several years we were not looking too hard for equipment either. Instead, we were more interested in the seminars which run during the shows. Both had a great lineup and we wished we had more time to take in additional seminars. In particular, seminars on cruising and living aboard piqued our interest.
Last week we paid our down payment for our slip at Collins Bay Marina for another season. We have been talking about the anchorages and ports we wish to visit this summer and spending leisure time readings sailing magazines and books written by those who pursued the sailing dream. On our list for this summer will certainly be some locations close at hand to Kingston in the Thousand Islands. But hopefully we will also manage to visit more of Lake Ontario. Yesterday, we went to check on My Obsession to make sure her winter cover was still in place and all was well. I couldn’t resist patting her hull, the promise of another season of exploration and adventure foremost on my mind.
