TEN REASONS WHY WE LOVE TO LIVE ABOARD

1. There’s no lawn to mow.

One time, not long after we moved aboard, Michael came home from running errands one day with a big grin on his face. He said he'd been driving home sort of wondering if we'd done the right thing when he saw a guy out mowing his lawn, sweat pouring down his face. To Michael's delight, he realized "that guy wasn't having fun."

2.We’re close to the elements – no storm windows, 8” thick walls or carports to ‘protect’ us.

Several years ago, we were asked to house-sit for some friends who had a waterfront home, and on a Saturday morning sitting with his coffee at the kitchen table and looking out over 10 miles of the Strait of Georgia, Michael felt a weird uneasiness. Paying attention to his senses, he realized that he was watching birds flit around the yard -- but he couldn't hear them singing. Waves were crashing on the shore 50' away -- but he couldn't hear them. He realized then that the doubled thermo-pane windows were completely cutting him off from the outside world! To this day, whenever we see folks sitting inside a house like that -- or watch a boat captain, on a hot summer day, steering from inside his living room instead of up on the open bridge -- we joke about how some folks are just afraid to 'get any environment on 'em.'

3. We have to ‘keep it simple.’

I can't own 10 pairs of shoes or three sets of dishes -- there simply isn't enough room to store them. In fact, we have a general rule that if something new comes aboard, something old has to go. (The knitters among you are now wondering where on earth I keep my stash -- well, you already know how much yarn a few medium-sized baskets can hold. And we do have a storage room here at the marina -- in my world, we actually call it my yarn room.)

4. We live right downtown, but you’d never know it. Life on the water is quiet! We can't even hear the traffic, except an occasional siren if it's right in the neighbourhood.

5. We are part of a ‘community’ of like-minded folks who are passionate about the lifestyle. We find that boaters in general, and live-aboards in particular -- old and young, men and women, experienced or 'green' -- all share the same passion for all the things I've just mentioned -- keeping it simple, being close to the environment, and living quietly.

I'm going to save the last five reasons we love to live aboard until tomorrow, but meanwhile, feel free to read this old column I wrote several years ago for a little more insight into the lifestyle ...