Rubbish

Rubbish! No matter how simply we try to live we still create it. Living on land or at the marina disposing of it requires just a short walk to the rubbish bin. But what about when we're at sea or at anchor in beautiful, remote parts of the world? What do we do with our rubbish then? Burn it? Dump it over the side? or stash it on the boat somewhere? Or a combination of all three?

As cruisers we spend our lives on the sea. We see the effects of irresponsible practices, such as fishing nets and lines cast off and left to drift, harmful plastics injuring animals or entering their food chain, oil and fuels left to spill and kill.  As inhabitants and lovers of the oceans we have a duty to make responsible and sustainable decisions about our trash. Making us in effect the ocean's custodians. With that in mind we've put together a collection of blog posts that explain how fellow cruisers deal with rubbish onboard. 

What I Learned on My First Cruise

Shoals and currents and inlets on the chart can seem quite daunting on your first passage
(Plodding in Paradise) 

It doesn't matter how much - or how little - experience you had before you set out, there was something, or many somethings, that you didn't expect.  The lessons our bloggers learned on their first trip were in some cases about nautical technique, and in other cases philosophical.

Dogs on Board

Dyna and Dylan keep tabs on marina comings and goings (TakingPaws)

Call me Ishmael. Or, Fido, or even Spot. No matter, a dog by any other name is a sailor's soulmate upon the sea. Brave, loyal, trustworthy and enthusiastic--always. You couldn't ask for a better crewmate. Still, there are times when finding our best friend a safer harbor is the most loving--and hardest--thing to do.

In this topic, our bloggers talk about the dog days of cruising.

Kids as Crew

Here at The Monkey's Fist, our goal is to continually provide a place for newbies, wanna-be's, dreamers and planners to find information from real cruisers with experience. The topic "Kids as Crew" explores what it's like to have our children aboard and what types of jobs, responsibilities and chores they assume. Because like my mother always said, "Why do you think I had three girls? So, I'd never have to do the dishes again!!"

More Moving Aboard Transitions

Photo from The Life Nomadik 

Wow!  We got so many great responses to our first call for blog posts on moving aboard, that we decided to make a second post!  Here are more stories written by folks who are in that confusing, high-energy period as they became new liveaboards.