Becoming a SailorIn short
Living on a boat without a car makes grocery shopping feel like an Olympic multi-sport event. Betty and I took the dinghy ashore, my first time driving it, bouncing across white caps for ten minutes. We walked half a mile with a collapsible wagon, choosing dense items like cheese, coffee and sugar over bulky chips. We lost four eggs on the way back and dropped the carrots overboard. The whole trip took about three hours.
Today, I went grocery shopping with my daughter, Betty. It was a memorable and challenging afternoon. Living on a boat, without a car, makes grocery shopping feel like an Olympic multi-sport event. This is how my first dinghy drive went.
First Event: My First Dinghy Drive
To get to shore we needed to use our dinghy. The ride to shore takes about 10 minutes. To get ashore we bounced across white-capped waves, sometimes being sprayed in the face as we went. I am brand new to dinghy driving and tend to drive at various angles so this aspect of our trip qualifies as an event. A major event.
Next, we docked our dinghy, and tied it to a post.
Second Event: Walking to and From the Grocery Store
With the dinghy secured, we unfolded our collapsible wagon, and walked half a mile to the closest grocery store. We could have called a taxi, but taxis are expensive in the Florida Keys, and half a mile seemed a manageable distance.
At the grocery store I filled our wagon with dense and compact items like blocks of cheese, coffee, sugar, and Gatorade. Bags of potato chips will have to wait. Potato chips take up too much room in the wagon.
Our cart was overflowing when we got to the cashier, and we packed it as best we could. Still, it was full to the point that items sometimes fell off as we walked. Four eggs were lost as they shattered along the way. Here is a picture of Betty as we walked back to the dinghy dock.
I was very tempted to call a taxi. But, after setting mini-milestones for ourselves we made it back to the dinghy dock.
Third Event: Lifting Groceries into the Dinghy
We put on our lifejackets and began lifting our groceries into the dinghy. I was careful to place our groceries on extra lifejackets. I wanted to protect the cardboard and the contents inside from water.
Results: one bag of carrots was dropped into the water by mistake. It was retrieved by paddle.
The dinghy ride back to the boat was quick.
Final Event: Getting the Groceries Aboard
With Rick meeting us on our back transom we unloaded our groceries from dinghy to boat.
Time: approximately 3 hours of quality time with Betty.
Betty turns 10 on Monday.
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Hello cat sailors!
My husband and I were recently talking about cruising while running daily errands that would take you an hour on land in a house. We’re counting on a half- day affair for things like groceries and laundry. Lucky this one only took three!