Showering on the hook = A carnival ride with your eyes closed!

Smaller than a phone booth…

One thing that takes a little getting used to in this oddball life of anchoring out in a sailboat on Mexico’s Pacific coast is that the boat never stays still.  Cruising northern New England and the Caribbean in the past, I don’t remember our boats rolling around quite so much.  But Mexico’s Pacific coast is different.  The ocean swell barrels into Mexico’s coast with force, and there’s nothing to slow it down on the way in.  And most of the anchorages offer minimal protection.

So taking a shower in a space smaller than a phone booth can be an exercise in agility.  Invariably, once I’ve gotten myself all watered down and all soaped up — with my eyes tightly closed — the boat rolls out from under me.  Not a gentle little sway but a great big lurching roll.  With a stifled shriek I find myself grasping desperately for a handhold.

Just as I find the wall and steady myself, the boat is tossed the other way and I hear my razor slip off the shelf and hit the shower floor.  The blade pops off, and then I’m suddenly groping around my feet trying to find where the two pieces disappeared to.

Wham!  The boat pitches again while I’m doubled over searching for that razor, and I’m thrown into the shampoo rack.  My feet slip on the soapy floor.  As I fall, I’m wondering whether it’s better to sit down hard on the bench or twist a little more gracefully on the way down and catch my fall with a hip and a hand.

At this point I usually peek a little bit — who cares if I get soap in my eyes? — and I hear Mark’s distant voice, “Sweety, are you okay in there?!”

“Oh yes, just fine!!” I yell back just as a bottle of body wash flies off the shelf and crashes onto the floor with a bang, spilling a puddle of soap around my feet.  “If someone could just stop this carnival ride for a minute or two while I get rinsed off…”  But the waves march on, never ending.

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Other blog posts that give a glimpse of what it’s like to live on a sailboat:

• Life on the Hook in Mexico – What do you do all day when you’re cruising in the tropics? 11/17/14
• Oh, That’s Just Swell! – Life on a Boat that ROLLS At Anchor!! 05/17/13
• Snap, Crackle, Pop – Fishy Sounds from Deep Under Our Boat! 04/17/13
• The Tourist Tangle – All tied up in knots! 04/09/13
• And God said: “Let the Beer Flow” 03/30/13
• Surfing the dinghy = Crash landings on the beach! 03/18/13
• Swabbing the decks underway! 03/16/13
• Cruising = Fixing your boat in exotic places! 03/02/13

More funny stories from our Mexico cruise + Tips for planning your own sailing cruise

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