This year I have decided to take full advantage of the week between the end of the school year and beginning of summer school by staying on the boat. Aside from cutting out the lengthy and monotonous commute through the fields and dairy farms of Clinton County and giving me time to finish the headliner and some other smaller projects, this also gives me some much-needed practice living on the boat for a period longer than a weekend. Now, as Brittany from Windtraveler was noting in her blog post just yesterday, day-sailing (even week sailing) is a obviously a vastly different experience than full-time cruising; however, I would still maintain the learning opportunities from the prior are still useful towards consideration of the latter. For example, I’ve already learned that provisioning can be tricky. While I’ve still yet to wear most of the clothes I brought after 3 days, Joel and I’ve already eaten almost all of the food that I expected to last us until tomorrow. Now, since I’m currently a week-sailor, this isn’t a big deal. I hop in my car, take a twenty-minute drive around the lake and reprovision at the supermarket. As a cruiser, I’m obviously not going to have that option, nor will I have the ability to bring as many perishables. Another thing I’ve learned recently? No matter what the weather above, the grass carp never cease to practice kissing on your hull below. You can hear their lips and fishy faces bouncing off the bottom day and night, rain or shine. Now, while this fact may seem like a moot point to cruisers, these fish (and my changing reactions to them) remind me that about the importance of perception. Sometimes, (generally at night) these carp purely annoy the hell out of me. However, these past few nights, though I have woken to the sounds of their clumsy fish lips, I wasn’t bothered in the slightest. I think it’s because of the knowledge that I don’t have to wake up and drive to work in a fee hours. My priorities this week are on beautifying my boat and relaxing after another hectic school year. So on that note, I’m going to roll over in my newly painted vberth, feel the boat tugging restlessly on its lines in the storm, and listen to those clumsily-kissing fish. Don’t worry fishies: we are both still wet behind the gills.
Headliner above the galley: notice the swatch next to the companionway. That’s the original color; i ran out of primer and have to pick that up today too.
Headliner in the head… So many curves! 
