Electricity

At home, the house has heating and AC, plenty of lamps, appliances and electrical outlets for hairdryers, computers and other necessities. The boat does too, but those outlets only work if you are hooked up to shore power in a marina. If you are under way, some things work off batteries, which are charged by the motors when we run. Or they work because the generator is running. Sometimes I feel that living on a boat you need an engineering degree to survive…

The captain showed me how to turn on the generator and shift from shore power to generator.  “And this switch is covered (by a flimsy piece of plastic) so that you don’t accidentally turn on shore power and generator at the same time. That will blow up the boat”. No kidding. I think I’ll stick to my candles lit by matches, so if you don’t hear from me in a while, I haven’t been able to charge my smart phone or my computer. I will never earn the title of Chief Engineer, that’s for sure.

Saint Augustine is a beautiful place, it is affectionately called Ancient City by the local marketing people. We have just begun to find our way around town, to sample food and drink and meet other boaters in the marina. Everyone is courteous, friendly and helpful. In my mind, I had decided to grocery shop "every other day or so" since I don't have a car and it's just the two of us, so I test-walked to the closest Publix yesterday. After 10 days on a boat, the walk felt wonderful, but at almost 3 miles one way, I will be calling cabs in the future.