So, I live on a boat several months out of the year. Preferably at anchor. Lots of time to write, right? Wrong.
Conception Bay, Baja California, Sur, is where we spent this winter. At anchor. With sketchy Internet, no electricity or running water on shore, and 25 miles from the nearest town, it is a wonderful place to hang out. Just the spot to write, write, write. Wrong.
Living on the hook requires a vast amount of time spent, well, living. Groceries come from miles away, electricity if self-generated with generators and solar power, water is made from sea water (11 gals an hour, we use about 5 gals a day), basics are not so easy to come by.
There are a couple of small places to eat on shore, but social life is what the hearty beach dwellers, RVers, and boaters make it. Card games abound! Painters gather to paint. Dancers gather to dance. And writers? Far as I know, I was the only one within twenty five miles last year.
But what do I do all day that keeps me from turning out a novel a month? Here’s a typical morning in the life of Jinx and Mad Dog (my first mate) at anchor.
4:00 am Mad Dog gets up, has coffee, reads.
6:00 am Mad Dog takes first nap of the day
7:00 am Jinx wakes up, has coffee, gets on Ham nets. (My call sign is KC6YMJ) These amateur radio nets are crucial to cruising. This is where we get the weather for that day, and what is coming. This bit of info dictates the day’s activities. If it’s gonna blow over 25, we have to move to a safer anchorage. If under 12, we can safely leave the boat and go do “stuff” on shore.
8:30 We dinghy in to the beach, Jinx walks, Mad Dog plays cards with guys on the beach.
10:30 Late breakfast on beach or back on boat
11:00 Mad Dog takes second nap of the day. Jinx writes…or reads…or makes ice cream…
Days fly by, and suddenly winter is over and it is time to head back to Arizona. Surely in Arizona there is plenty of time to write? After all, electricity comes from a pole, water from a pipe; it’s a friggin’ miracle.
Now it is time to put on paper all the ideas I jotted down this winter, meanwhile doing all the promoting of my books that didn’t get done without good Internet. So what am I doing? Blogging!
But next year on the boat I will, yes I will, turn out at least one book. Honest. Cross my heart. Really. I mean it.