March 1, 2012
As Tom mentioned, after almost two months of staying in a marina, we are on our way again, primarily anchoring in harbors and bays. For these two months, we've had electricity and water dockside and trash and pump out facilities within a very short walk. We could have used the marina cable with our TV (which hasn't been used for the 2 1/2 years we've owned the boat) and we've had wi fi available.
Now that we are anchoring most of the time, there are many adjustments we need to make, because we have to conserve valuable resources. I've recently learned that many cruisers have generators, so they will use their microwaves and electric coffee makers while they are anchored. The only time we use any electrical outlets is when we charge our phones and other electronics (usually once a day for an hour). For this, we use an 'inverter' which converts DC to AC electricity. Things like the refrigerator, lights, fans, and even water pressure are all run by batteries which have to be charged daily. Much of our charging is done by solar panels, but we do still need to 'top off' the batteries by running the engine. Many times this just happens automatically when we are moving from one place to another. Other times, we do have to run the diesel engine while we're anchored to finish charging the batteries. One advantage of running the engine is that is the only way we can make hot water when we're away from the dock, since our water heater is AC. The bottom line is that we have to be very careful of power consumption, and have made our boat as green as possible. Some examples are the installation of our solar panels, replacing our light bulbs in the main living area and the anchor light with LED (translate expensive) lights, and the replacement of our old refrigerator with a more efficient model.
Electricity is just one of the valuable resources we have to monitor carefully. Our water is limited to a 170-gallon tank. We can only refill the tank when we go to a marina or use our water maker, which is run by batteries. 170 gallons may sound like a lot, but the average 4-minute shower uses almost 20 gallons. Our water maker would have to run for 2.5 hours to refill the tank for one average shower, so we don't take average showers. We try to use minimal amounts of water for dishes and showers and use marine toilets (uses a hand pump and sea water instead of fresh water to flush). Starting to sound a lot like camping, isn't it?
Maybe our biggest challenge is garbage disposal. We've made green progress, like using our boat water for drinking (by sanitizing our water tank and lines and using a high-efficiency filter for the drinking water), using refillable water bottles, making G2 and Crystal Lite from powder, and greatly reducing our soda consumption. But, we still have a lot of trash that needs to be kept for a week or two before we can dispose of it properly. Convenient trash disposal is probably what I miss most about marina life.
As you can see, there are lots of challenges while at anchor, but last night was just great. I took a nap in the cockpit after we anchored, with a nice breeze blowing and a gentle rocking. Later, we had dinner outside and watched the sun set over the channel...and it was bug-free. As the sun went down, there was a spot of green for a short time. I'm not sure that it was the proverbial green flash, but it was different than anything I'd ever seen. And, today we had a great sail, motoring only in and out of our anchorages.
While we'll miss the conveniences of Harbour Cay Club, and more importantly the people of Harbour Cay Club, we are also very excited about our upcoming adventures.
Joyce
Rodriguez Key
Monroe County, FL
http://g.co/maps/7jfe2
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