Raft Up: Suitcases, a Vacuum & a Couch

This month's Raft Up topic is about SPACE. Check out our list of bloggers below and see what their take on the topic sounds like!

What do these three things have in common? Well, they are definitely three things you don't *typically* find on a sailboat. We have humble beginnings. I am constantly laughing at ourselves now in comparison to our "old" selves. I mean I use a vacuum to clean our carpets, I use a full sized broom and I put them away in a full sized closet, not a hanging locker. We have many other seemingly silly things aboard that we never had with San San, like pressurized, fresh water systems (not foot-pumps only)! Things like refrigeration and a shower, you know "minor" things! I wouldn't say we "splurge" on space but we have a few things that I think are funny to have aboard.



SUITCASE - As for the suitcases, thanks to our friends, at Casa Guatemala in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala we are now storing two FULL size suitcases. They helped us out tremendously when we sold almost everything we owned and needed to fly back to the states with, well just a couple of suitcases. Most folks cruising through the Rio can be heard over the VHF asking for suitcases for the simple fact that most people don't want to or can't store them! Just think of how the zippers can rust, the fabric can get moldy and let's not even try to imagine where it would fit?! Ours fit on two shelves in our guest cabin closet, I fill them with spare towels and sheet sets and then stick them on the shelf. It works for now but eventually I'd like to take those suitcases filled with donations back to the Rio, and spend a weekend in Antigua. Ahhhh, I miss that place!

VACUUM - So not only do I have a full sized broom, but I also have a real Hoover upright vacuum. We bought it and I laughed aloud thinking that this would be my first vacuum purchase in about 10 years. I use the vacuum every other day to freshen up our carpets. Carpets in a boat, that is a funny thing too. I mean I get throw rugs, but full on carpeting just didn't register for me until Felicity. It's great waking up out of bed and putting our feet onto the soft fibers. In our last two boats we had tiny shop vacs and they did okay but really the floor space was minimal I could get down on my hands and knees every morning and wipe the whole boat with a wet cloth and be done with it. The simplicity is desirable, for sure!

COUCH - In a sailboat, your "couch" is actually a settee that may or may not house some storage underneath or behind. Our couch is something off the showroom floor of a furniture store! No function other than, taking up space and giving you a comfy place to veg out! Eventually we will replace to couch with something more functional, like the ability to store our charts or required USCG emergency equipment.

 Now that we are on a power boat and have way more space then we tend to know what to do with I can safely say that I still treat our home as I have any of our others. By that I mean to say that I spend at least once a month if not twice, purging. I'm a BIG purger. I don't like to see things piling up on every flat surface, I hate clutter. However, I also have a little girl who saves everything and can't bare to part with any little scrap of artwork, any momento or any stuffed animal she has in her "collection". Let's just say sometimes we make sacrifices for the ones we love. (And we close the door) Seriously though, making a habit of going through each locker and asking yourself , "Do we really need this?" can play a big part in keeping your boat from becoming "that guy". You know, "that guy" his deck is covered with all the half finished projects, maybe it's covered with plants or there is 3 or 4 dinghys trailing off the back of it. Yea. "That guy!"

What things do you have on board that seem funny?

Raft Up: Space Splurges

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