BACK TO BOAT LIFE (our daily routine on the sea)

Are you ok? I'm ok. Don't forget your coffee. Don't forget to bring my coffee. It's 6am and light. It's so bright. I'm Nikki, this is Jason, and this is Curiosity. Our home and the driving force behind our thirst for exploration and discovery, literally and philosophically. We believe curiosity is the key to unlocking life. It's what pushes us outside our comfort zone, softens our assumptions, and helps us embrace the great unknown. This week, that comes in the form of getting our group back. Because, well, we've all got some sort of routine that keeps us grounded, and, well, we don't have one anymore. And I think we can all agree that 2020 packed more than its fair share of punches. But, we're finally back home, on the water, and slowly finding our routine. Most shade over here. It's been a long while. For me, it feels oddly, like, as if we never left. Kind of, it's like 50% of me, and then the other 50% feels a slight bit discombobulated. As if, like, I don't know quite what to do with myself every day. Yeah, it's going to take a while to ease into boat life again, because it's just a different world than we've been living in the past year and a half. Yeah, well, and then, yeah. There you go, that says it right there. Yep. No wonder it's not like, just like, it's been a year and a half. It's just, there's so many things. Especially because we were gone for so long, and the boat just needs, like, it's gotten so much better. But there's still so much, and there's always so much to do. It's just a never-ending thing, which is totally okay. But now, all of a sudden, we're trying to incorporate some actual life beyond boat projects. Yeah, and in this video, we thought, why not share what a typical, sort of typical-ish day looks like sometimes? What it's going to look like? Maybe. Hopefully. We're not fully sure yet, but we think this is how the non-filming, non-adventure, just-on-the-boat days go. Fish! Breakfast? Potato egg cheese burritos that are very heavy on the potato. I like to start off with breakfast, because then it gets really hot, and eating a hot meal on a hot day. So, lunches tend to be a little bit lighter and cooler, and breakfasts tend to be heavy. Yummy. It's already hot. Yeah. I'm gonna take that shirt off. Yeah. Goals for today. Eat breakfast. That's it. That's a fun podcast. What are we going to accomplish today? Yeah. Well, I know one thing. Well, you write, because I'm not writing. I know one thing. We're definitely going to go for a swim, because I'm already swimming. Swimming in your own sweat? Oh, geez. Okay, so I know I need to get out of hard drive hell. I definitely need to tackle some of the rust. Stainless steel. Crack the coconuts. Yeah, we need to do the coconuts. Maybe grab our ... Big list? Yeah. Okay. Oh, I should do the water tanks. Okay, that's all major stuff. What about that port light, the gaskets in the windows? I'll put that down here, because if it's not raining and I get around to it, that would be great. Okay. Probably the number one thing would be installing the air con, so we can run it, since we're getting tons of sun. We're almost at 100% by the midday. But that's a big project. Yeah. I don't want to do everything today, but we can definitely check the seizing wire on the bridle. Yeah, that's more than we can do in a day already. And we're going to swim. Yeah, I don't know. We'll just start with that. Dishes. I didn't put that on the list. That's a given. What's that for? Since the generator's broken, we don't have the water maker working, and I'm using salt water to do the first wash on the dishes, and just using a light fresh water rinse. We're trying to conserve fresh water as much as possible. Jeez. Okay. Starting to sprinkle again. Third time this morning. Second time. It's not terrible, but it's definitely the worst we've ever seen this wheel. And it's just because it's up for so long. Normally, I would be more on top of the ongoing cleaning and polishing. I've got just a soft cloth and a baking soda. Baking soda? Baking soda. Are you British? Or soda? Baking soda. Baking soda and water paste, which I'll use to scrub off the rust. And then, for a little shine and protection, I'm going to use my McLube, because, well, that's really the only thing I've got right now that works for stainless, but I also just find that it works pretty well on almost everything on a boat. It's kind of a one-in-all product. And it is, well, so it says eco-friendly. Citrus-based cleaner. Polish. Whatever. Okay, why do I have so many hard drives? Well, when we left the boat here in Tonga, I had 2018 and part of 2019, and then I put 2019 on another drive so I could take it with me, and I left the old 2019 drive here. Then I got end of 2019, early 2020, ran out of drive space, bought a couple more drives, so I literally have, like, six drives for a couple years that are all half-full and miscellaneous stuff on each one based on where we were in our crazy year. While the computer's doing its thing, I'm going to fill up the water. Next! Looks beautiful. Good job. Well, I have to say, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Yeah? Yeah. Considering it's been a year and a half, I guess? Yeah. I'm surprised how well the baking soda works. Never underestimate the power of baking soda. Need a toothbrush over there? Yeah. Good thing about the baking soda is that if you accidentally leave a little behind, it's not a big deal. Yeah, if it falls in the water, it's not that big of a deal. Yeah, exactly. Doesn't take too long with the both of us. Yeah. Have it done in an hour or two, maybe? Maybe, yeah. Well, I mean, just the lifelines. Yeah, yeah. Okay, there you go. Not the dingy davits and all that stuff. Alright, this is pretty good. Starboard side is done. Woo-hoo! Smoothie time! Woo-hoo! Do you want to get stuff out of the freezer? Yeah. Okay. Speaking of freezer, yes, our fridge and freezer is still a no-go. Yes. We can't do anything about it until we get to a mainland. But this guy has been doing well, staying strong, freezing hard. Is that what you would say? It's freezing hard. Yeah. 93.1% on the batteries. Do you think we'll get to 100% today if the sun stays? If the sun stays, hell yeah, we'll be at 100% in a couple hours and then maybe I'll roast some more coffee. Something. And start the yogurt. Yes. I need to make some yogurt. Yeah. Do you want to tell people that we've been... We've been what? Well, we have no generator. We're just totally... Oh, yeah. So the generator... We're off-grid, like really off-grid. Exactly. We're like super off-grid. We're all electric, basically, because we aren't allowed to move the boat unless we ask for permission. So we haven't run the diesel engines in a couple weeks and no generator. So we've been totally off the grid, just living off solar and lithium. And I feel like we really set ourselves up well when we left Florida. 1,600 watts of solar, 1,200 amp hours of lithium battery. We made a video all about that. I'll link to that in the description. It's been enough. Because we haven't been editing hardcore and my big Alienware computer died and it was like a super sucker of power. And now we have this like Asus that uses like a quarter of the power, but it's also like half the size physically. You know, give and take, yeah. So we're totally off the grid, living off rainwater, living off solar. Everything we use is all solar-powered. That's pretty cool. Is it powered by the solar boat or is it powered by the lithium? Well, that's always the thing. Like you could say it's a solar-powered air conditioner, but it's technically battery-powered, recharged by the sun. There you go. Pineapple. Coconut cube. Ginger. Cinnamon. Dash of cacao powder. One more coconut cube. Tickly sorbet. I don't like them drinkable. I like them scoopable. Look at that. Ridiculous. Scoop it like ice cream. Mm-hmm. We need the on-camera taste test. Oh. Of course it's good. We need a third-party taste test. Let's see here. Oh, yeah. Very good. It's the cinnamon and ginger that make it. It's weather time. Sort of like mail time because mail time used to be the thing when I was growing up. Every single day I'd go check the mailbox because, I don't know, somebody might have sent you something exciting like a letter or a card or whatever. But now it's weather. It's a daily weather check. In regular everyday life for most people, you might check the weather because you want to know what to wear. Is it going to rain? Do I need to bring an umbrella? That kind of stuff. But on a boat, it becomes very pertinent to the day. Do we stay anchored here? Is the wind going to shift? Do I need to prepare for a storm? Am I in a good spot? There's just so many considerations. And when you get out of the groove of doing it, it can be easy to forget to check. And it's really important to check pretty much every single day depending on the weather. You might check twice a day. So I check the weather. I check the tides. I get like a big global perspective. So I zoom out really far so that I can see all of New Zealand, Fiji, and parts of Asia. Is there any sort of cyclone that could be kicking up? Because also it's cyclone season. So I'm looking for all sorts of things. Just trying to make sure that we're good. We don't need to prepare for anything. And also just getting back in the groove of it. Okay. Back to work. Jason. Yeah? Do you want to come show them the railing? Okay. One thing I've kind of forgotten about. We... There's been so many things that we've discovered that broke or went wrong while we were gone. And one of them is, well, this plate that holds in our... It's the... Pulpit? Well, there's the pulpit and the pushpit. You know. Fancy sailing name. And this holds this in, but it is cracked on both sides. So, you know, you're kind of like, well, maybe... Don't lean on that too hard. I mean, there's still a lot of points holding this in. This is definitely a really important one. And we can't get this part here. And we could just have somebody potentially weld it. But there's no welder on the island. You know, it's just one of those extra things. You just aren't going to get fixed in this remote island. Or you're going to have to get really creative. And we'll maybe put some extra sealant or silicone or... Steel stick or something. Steel stick. Yeah, there you go. Steel stick is definitely... Yeah, not silicone. I thought... Right after I said that, I was like, that's not a good choice. You have to tap into, like, your inner MacGyver to live on a boat. That's what I feel like. Okay. Anyway, sorry. Okay. Back it up. Oh, man. Oh, that's all right. It's okay. It's going to pass. Big one. Right over us. Right there. Yeah. Get them, fishes. See them in there. Hunting. All day. Feels like the rain's coming. It is. This is a two-handed job. Well, it does not look like the rain is going to let up for now. So, I am going to cut up these coconuts. Sounds like a plan. Okay. Come a long way since that key in the Bahamas that we visited and cut open our first coconut. Got a lot more practice. Learned a few tricks. Yeah. Still not simple. Not a big stake. But it only takes me about 10 minutes instead of an hour. Put on your safety goggles. Now, I need a knife. Sorry. I forgot that. You can use the tip of the machete. Okay. I mean, it's an oversized tool for the job, but come on now. Okay. There we go. Now, I got a hole. And perfect. This is what the islanders called an old nut, and it's not necessarily best for drinking the coconut water, but you do mix the coconut water with the inside flesh, and that's how we make coconut milk or coconut cream. That's what old nuts are good for. Making cream. Nope. It's not supposed to be a straight line. That way, it's easier to pull out the flesh. So, it's broken into little puzzle pieces. See? That's the way I did it last time, and you liked it. The rain's coming. Just in time for cleanup. Clean up me. Clean up the deck. Don't clean too much, because we're getting water. Finish this job up later. I got some sun. Yeah. Go take advantage while we got it. Okay. Go. That feels good. Yeah, it does. Wash that steak off. Yeah. Practiced a couple of breath holds. At least I think. Might be a little dark and creepy down there. Back in the groove. That's right. Give it a go. Oh, I think about you every night. Tell me, what am I supposed to do? Because I feel like nothing without you. Oh, I am nothing. Oh, sweet nothing. Without you. Forty-four. And we're out just in time for more rain. Yeah, it's definitely rainy season. We're going to have coconut cream for our curry that I'm going to make, and we're going to use the extra coconut in the rice, I think. Do the whole thing? Sure. Look at all that coconut creamy goodness. Nice heat. Just the right amount. Well, I believe the sun just set because you can hear the cicadas. It's one of my favorite times of night because normally the colors are really nice right behind me. The cicadas are starting to pick up their audio, and the sun's gone down, so it is very nice and cool, and it gets breezy right about now. So this is like the perfect, perfect time of day here in Tonga, except this time you can't tell the sun set because of all the rain clouds. It still feels good. It still sounds the same. It just doesn't look the same. Five days of hard drive hell. 2020 is done. Sorry I scared you, but I like getting stuff done, especially things that take forever. Are you really done? I'm really done with 2020. 2018, 2019, 2020. All organized. Today we've just shot five, six, seven different cards. So you just add to it. Let's just start it back up again, get out the new hard drive. I got some blanks here. Go to town. Dinner is pretty much ready. I don't have a beverage. Oh, I will fix that straight away. I just want to log a formal complaint, the fact that I don't already have one. That's genius. Rain, rain, go. Or fill up our bucket. Yeah, I was like, what? Don't wish it away now. It can rain all night if it looks to. Yay. What do we have? Oh, okay. So this is curry. What did I make? My hair is tickling me, and it's distracting me. Okay. Pumpkin, bell peppers, onion, garlic, coconut milk. Yeah. It's a curry. Okay. Bon appetit. Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm. Right? That's got some kick. That's creamy. That's, man, the rice is good with the coconut. Mm-hmm. That's my favorite. I would say. Ten out of ten? Yeah. No, I wasn't going to say that, but I will say that. I'll agree with that. What I was going to say was this felt like a typical day as far as, like, if we're not on an adventure or sitting behind a computer editing all day. Yeah. I would agree. In terms of a normal average day, it's pretty banging. Yeah. Thank you very much for joining us. On this day. On this very normal average. Very sort of not really almost normal, constantly changing. Fairly boring, probably, day. But that's boat life. We have lots of these. Lots of these. More of these than the other days. But. Thanks for joining us, guys. Yeah. Thanks. Bye. If you want to know about anything, let us know in the comments. Anything you saw. Got any questions? Down there is a good spot. Down there? Down there. Nope. Oh, God. Well, should we see what we have in there? What's in there? Could we have something? What? The files are in the computer. It's too early. Get away from me. I'm fine. What are you going to listen to this morning? I'm going to do science. Okay. If it's going to work. Internet Wi-Fi. You never know. Internet Wi-Fi? Island Internet. You never know. Again. Too early. Lefty Lucy. Stuck on my beard? Mm-hmm. Just a little bit. It's so cold. Oh, that's a mustache, not a beard. You've got papaya all over your shirt. Yeah, I know. I'm going to make some mess. Nobody wants to see me with my shirt off right now. Still farmer's tan. Farmer's tan. No working out. I'm going to paint on that six-pack. Dead man. I'll do the dead man flip. You do the live lady. Oh my God. What are you doing? I'm just kidding. Just kidding. Editing nightmare. Patience. Tranquilo. Getting angry. I'm getting angry. I came out of the top a little bit. There's a joke in there somewhere. Yep. I know. Really? Why is that? I got I mean I got up at 6 because it was so dang bright and I was like oh I don't want to get up the alarm hasn't gone off. But it was so bright. It was so bright so I just said screw it. I'm up.