This is not a story of shantyboats, per se. But it is a the first in a series of articles about seeing the world in the most compact way possible. This is the story of a journey in a ten foot boat.
Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be. ~
Why is this column in Shantyboat living? In spite of the name of this site, it’s really about affordable living afloat in any form you wish to take it. Shantyboats will continue to be the major focus, of course. We already have well over 300 articles in the archives. But in this series we look at one of the most affordable ways to live a little more daunting adventure.
Pico.. small… tiny… boats in big waters.
Jeff Smith of The Frugal Gourmet on public television, once did a show on lobster. He knew he was going to get some mail about this rather pricey food choice, but he explained that frugality isn’t always the most affordable way. While the definition in the dictionary does talk of “cheap”, it also goes on to say…
“Economical in use or expenditure; prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful: What your office needs is a frugal manager who can save you money without resorting to painful cutbacks.” In other words, an office’s expenses… or those of living on a boat… can be frugal without cutting to the bare bone.
I see it all the time, the doubters, the guys who “gotta tell you like it is”. “What’s this obsession with small boats, when you can be so much safer.. comfortable… logical in a larger boat”? Couldn’t that sentiment be applied to SO many things? Why travel? Why learn to do anything challenging? Why did Lindberg fly? Why climb mountains? Why go fishing? For all these endeavors there is an easy, comfortable, safe and logical way to go. Go to the store and buy your fish. It’s cheaper by a factor of ten.
Logic? Let’s just agree to suspend it.
We all seek our own challenge, at our own level. Some climb mountains, some play video games. In this series we look at small boats on adventures in big waters…. with relatively small funds. We will talk of success and of failures… of brave sailors and of murderers… of those crazy enough, or daring enough to take to sea in small boats.
Originally posted 2013-07-04 00:19:10.