Cruising with kids - a snapshot of a week in the life aboard Positive Waves

 

Looking over the harbor on Paxos, just south of Corfu

The other day I was grumbling as I started to wash the dishes, not because of the act of washing dishes (although I do grumble about that a lot), but rather about our current multi-step process to get hot water. “Hashtag boat life,” is a common refrain heard aboard Positive Waves. Our boat is five years old now and some of the systems are starting to need a little more attention. Our water heater has a gasket leak which means that when we want hot water for dishes we have to turn it on at the freshwater manifold and then turn it off as soon as we have enough in the sink. The manifold is located in the forward bathroom; sort of behind the portable freezer. The valves are a little sticky because we usually always keep them all in the ON position. So I’ve been using a wrench to open and close the valve and the other day I torqued it a little too hard and broke the valve handle. No big deal, but still, another complication. Let’s not forget that the water has to get hot somehow. Enter solar power or using the engine. Both good solutions, but also not a matter of just paying the electric bill. I was reminded how living on a boat is not always a simple matter of turning on the tap and getting hot water.

PW under sail, Ithaka to Kalamos

Now that we’re back at anchor and actively cruising again, our daily rhythm has changed a little. In the same day there is both more work and more enjoyable relaxing time. Since we’re not hooked up to to shore power and water, we spend more time watching our batteries and making water, but we also spend more time swimming and relaxing in the cockpit watching the changing scenery. Some days it is listening to birds and watching clouds, other days it is watching anchoring shenanigans and hoping no one gets too close to us.

a line of boats stern-tied in Fiskardo, north end of Kefalonia

So what does full-time cruising in Greece look like? Here’s a snapshot. Location: we are now exclusively at anchor. That means the dinghy is our car, we need to keep the gas tank full (or at least not empty), we make our own water, the solar panels give us power. We’re moving to a new anchorage every other day or so, depending on weather, friends, comfort, and where we want to explore.

Sunset, Corfu

Hans and I always wake up at least one hour before the kids. Some days I go for a run and then we sit in the cockpit and have tea and breakfast while reading the news and analyzing the weather, and then one of us will make cappuccinos. If they’re not awake, I wake the kids up at 9:00. They get 30 minutes of screen time in the morning and then breakfast. We are currently anchored in crystal clear, Bahamian-esque water so the kids went swimming before breakfast.

An early morning motor along the east side of Lefkas

School starts at 10:00, theoretically. Usually it’s more like 10:30, no matter how many times we nag at the kids and give them time checks. They work independently on math and Moby Max (a math and language arts review program that ensures that they are meeting standards and we’re not missing anything); Hans teaches physics to Matilda; I work on Biology with Freja; I teach the kids history (Rome just fell, the Barbarians invaded, and we’re about to enter the dark ages); and I work on English with each kid individually. (Although we’re studying English together because what is the obvious subject right now? Anchored off Ithaca? Homer’s Odyssey.) Freja has a piano lesson on Tuesdays; she is currently mastering SOS by Abba and is starting a Mozart piece; and Matilda has a singing lesson on Tuesday afternoons. She is working on Birds of a Feather by Billie Eilish.

Anti Paxos

Anti Paxos

Corfu

Usually we break for lunch and school is finished around 2 or 3PM. We’ve been combining history lessons with our friends on s/v Farfelu who have kids the same age. They work in pairs and then give presentations on Fridays. They are so much more engaged and creative when they’re working with their peers, especially at this middle school age, so we’ll try to find more opportunities for joint work in the future.

Megasini

Kefalonia

So many shades of green!

While the kids are doing school, Hans and I focus on boat work. Well, mainly Hans focuses on boat work because I drop in and out as the teacher. I try to encourage them to work independently as much as possible, but some lessons and topics work better with more focused instruction. But I’m still able to do fun things like making water, laundry, vacuuming, dusting, picking up clutter. Hans has a list of boat projects a mile long, some voluntary, others more maintenance based, so he’s always busy. Currently we have the hot water leak that needs to be fixed, Matilda wants him to build a desk in her room, there is always paint touch-up on deck, and a deck wash pump is next on the list.

Fiskardo, Kefalonia

Port Police aka Hellenic Coast Guard are just up this flight of stairs in Fiskardo. We had to stop and take Hans off the crew list before he flew back to the States.

Hans's new "modern Greek summer" look

recreating Odysseus's landing on the beach in Ithaka

After school and boat work, we either do something fun at the anchorage: swim, hike, go grocery shopping, or drink Aperols in the cockpit or at a waterfront cafe; or we sail to the next anchorage. The common weather pattern in the Ionian is no wind overnight and then gradually filling in from the NW in the afternoons. This works perfectly with our school schedule, thanks weather gods! As I’m typing this, Matilda is taking a math test and Freja is in her piano lesson. We’ll have lunch when Freja is finished then we’ll weigh anchor and sail about 25-30 nm south to Lefkas where we can pick up the part for the water heater, go grocery shopping, and meet up with friends we haven’t seen since October.

A moderate hike to this waterfall on Lefkas. Well worth it!

But the water was cold!!

We’re fast approaching summer solstice and the days are getting long. The sun doesn’t really set until almost 9PM so we end up not eating dinner until 8pm at the earliest. Then we like to watch a couple episodes of Brooklyn 99 and then it’s bedtime, rinse, repeat. We have about two more months of this before we leave the boat for summer camp and Sweden, so we’ll max out our fun and hope the water gets warm enough for Hans to swim.

 

Vathy, Ithaka