We've had our first boat visitors!
Stan's sister Charlene from New Mexico, was the first.
At the end of a trip from Finland to Holland via Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
(- not exactly the usual route.)
At the end of a trip from Finland to Holland via Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
(- not exactly the usual route.)
Then - son Mikey, his Italian wife, Iris, and Baby Noah came from their home in Berlin.
At one point, we considered changing the boat's name to Noah's Ark.
(or - some other options)
However, Iris' father - he's from Venice - nixed the idea STRONGLY.
"You NEVER change the name of a boat! It's VERY bad luck!"
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| Finally got the name of the boat painted again! |
"You NEVER change the name of a boat! It's VERY bad luck!"
He should know. He's from Venice. They have lots of boats there.
So - we kept the original name.
No choice, really.
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| "Sorry, Noah. No Noah's Ark this time." |
Then - son Erik came from Bangkok.
He's lived there for about 5 years.
He speaks great Thai.
Not as much French.
He's lived there for about 5 years.
He speaks great Thai.
Not as much French.
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| Off to the market in Capestang via bicycle. |
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| Erik draws for a living. We even got to do a little drawing and painting together. |
And son Kilian, also living and working in Bangkok, arrived shortly afterwards.
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| Kilian: "Since I work online, I guess you could say I'm at the office, right?" |
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| Our first local wine tastings in the area - with Kilian. |
We never really had BOAT GUESTS before.
So we had to think about BOAT INSTRUCTIONS.
So we had to think about BOAT INSTRUCTIONS.
We're still winging it.
So for now, it goes something like this:
So for now, it goes something like this:
Rule 1: Regulations require that we inform guests where the life jackets are.
Well - that's pretty silly, since you can pretty much stand up in the canal.
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| The canals LOOK beautiful. But - they're not entirely clean, clear water... |
I can see it now:
"Man overboard!"
"Should I toss him a life jacket?"
"Nah, just tell him to stand up.
Walk to the edge of the canal.
Walk to the edge of the canal.
And then take a REALLY good shower."
But: we DO make sure we use the handrail.
Especially on the canal side of the boat.
And especially after a glass or two of wine.
Yes, people fall into the canal.
Mostly, it's just embarrassing.
And smelly.
Rule 2: Shoes off inside the boat.
That's easy.
Rule 3: Toilet protocol:
This one is important.
NOTHING goes down the head (toilet) that hasn't gone through you first.
Got it?
Because: NO ONE wants to clean a blocked toilet.
Rule 4: Use power and water VERY sparingly. (We go into this in detail.)
Rule 5: Put everything back where it belongs.
A boat is too small to support a casual mess.
It can happen quickly.
Rule 6: Close the hatch if it looks like rain.
If not, you - and your bed - will get VERY wet.
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| Stan - showing Noah how life on board works. Noah's got it down. So does Stan. |
Rule 7: Enjoy!
I can't think of anything else.
ALL of our recent boat guests were GREAT.
You know? This IS a pretty cool lifestyle.
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| Would you like a glass of rosé with that? |