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ImaginaryAstronomer49 karma

When we're in motion, we all have jobs so we're not in each other's way.
When stopped, we're either busy presenting the project/giving tours, or we're preparing for the next thing (e.g. post the articles about the day, fulfill kickstarter rewards, cook the next meal/clean up the last meal cooked).
When there's relaxing time, it's basically like hanging out with your best friends in a cozy living room with a nice porch.
I prefer sleeping on the front deck with a mosquito net, which is pretty roomy if you're not used to a queen sized bed or larger.
There's a loveseat inside, as well as a sleeping loft up above... oddly, it has never felt cramped all these years!

ImaginaryAstronomer36 karma

Yes we have! How close we've come to sinking is hard to quantify...

The two most harrowing rivers to navigate were the last two: The Sacramento River (2017), and The Hudson (2018).

The Sacramento was fraught with hidden snags, and whole tree trunks waiting to puncture the bow. Benzy (@bluefrapp) and I were posted on the front deck spotting best we could and levering off what we could only narrowly avoid.

The Hudson was a different beast entirely: the combination of strong winds and tidally affected water made for larger and larger waves as we close din on New York City, providing us ample training in navigating treacherously choppy waters.

ImaginaryAstronomer27 karma

Every year we've improved on how we schedule the trip, and revised how/where we stop along the way. When we were first starting the project, from my perspective, we were figuring out how to network with people and communities, and relied heavily on our existing friends in the area for local knowledge.

Back then, we didn't have as many invitations from museums and marinas, which meant we were a bit more free to engage on our time line, with budget and time being the deciding factors.

As we've been graciously hosted by colleges, marinas, museums, and individual families, we've balanced those times with our adventuring and exploration of areas.

We generally don't navigate water at night, so we're usually up at 'em early enough on travel days to get a decent breakfast in, clean up the quarters, make everything shipshape, and spend 4 to 6 hours traveling so that we have time to anchor or dock, and close up the boat for the night.

Thanks for asking! Happy to elaborate if you want to know more about our day to day!

ImaginaryAstronomer17 karma

Great practical questions!

We're very conscious of the negative impact humans have on waterways with their trash, and as such we take a lot of the same precautions one would while camping in remote areas - but we have the benefit of being able to pack our waste in the boat instead of our backpacks.

Thankfully, we end up visiting marinas and public docks very regularly, and they generally have some amenities such as trash/recycling, public restrooms, and occasionally fresh water.

We have 30 gallon tanks in the hold that we fill with fresh potable water every chance we get.

A rule of thumb for disposing of compost properly is to bury it 12 inches deep and at least 200 feet from any campsite or body of water, and to of course be aware of the local laws regarding disposal.

One of my favorite activities on the boat is hanging off the front deck and catching any and all trash that we can (without falling into the drink ourselves)!

ImaginaryAstronomer16 karma

The hot and humid conditions around rivers during the summer is a persistent source of consternation for me, tell you what!

Often, we're lucky enough to just be able to jump in the water and chill out that way.

One of the official chill out cocktails of the boat is the NAFTA! https://www.instagram.com/p/BIfljicgMS3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

This also prevents scurvy amongst the crew!