Water Access

A major benefit to living in a floating home is the immediate access to water.

This may not sound like an “aha moment” but consider this.  If we want to head out in our boat, we just go.  We grab the keys, maybe grab a cold beverage, perhaps lather on the sunscreen.  Then we step in, fire up the engine, slip off the moorings and go.

No boat trailer.

No drive to the water.

No boat launch.

We just go.

Same for kayaking.  Our kayaks are stacked and stored right next to the house.  When we are ready to head out, we wrestle them down and set them right in the water. 

No special roof rack for the car.

No driving to the launch site.

No lugging the kayaks down to the shore.

We just go.

We can go on a whim.  We can go right after work, to take advantage of the sunset or the shift in tides. We can go first thing in the morning, a cup of coffee in hand as the perfect accompaniment to start the day. Although the route may be similar, the trip feels different every time. Once we startled a heron off his perch; his loud shrieks and flapping wings offered a sharp rebuke to our invasion.  Once a catfish startled me by leaping right next to my kayak; I wonder if I could have caught him if he had decided to flip just a bit to the right. I wonder if I would have wanted to.  Sometimes we kayak with our neighbors, sometimes we wave to them as we pass by. 

Sometimes others will kayak to us, to our home.  Once we were outside on the dock and our neighbor kayaked past, looking for an abandoned duckling.  Chores forgotten, we helped in the search.

The water is right here.  Right here and ready.  All we have to do is go.