1 week and 2 days in

temporary dock built for upcoming boat show

so far, so good. 1 week and 2 days ago i packed up all of what was left of my belongings (crammed tightly into 2 suitcases), said goodbye to NY, and hailed a one way down to Ft. Lauderdale to embark on my new life as a hopeful yachtie. for most of you reading this, you know that i'm looking into working as a yacht stewardess. some may balk, yacht stewardess?! on a boat? won't you get seasick? how will you stand being away for so long? or even worse, you're going to pretty much be a servant! and yes, admittedly, one way to look at the profession is as a glorified maid to the ultrarich aboard a yacht, but all i see is opportunity! hello $, travel, adventure! hello no living expenses! oh, yeah, and did i mention and endless stream of new, adventuresome people to meet? plus, we get time off, have schedules, all of that. it's just like any other job,
difference being you're living where you work. so yeah, considering all the perks, it doesn't faze me that part of the job will be cleaning toilets and turning down beds. big deal! housewives without help are doing it regularly without pay, so whatevs.

anyway, let the naysayers naysay. this is the first plan in a long time that's really spoken to me. checking off the boxes: it satisfies my love of travel/wanderlust, provides some serious earning potential, and gets me out of good ol'-i-love-and-hate-you NY. also, i've always been drawn to nautical life. my dad sailed boats (all the way to new zealand/south pacific from new england), his dad taught him how to do carpentry on them, and grampy jacobsen on my mom's side was a fishermen, so it's in my blood (hence the title of this blog, SALT IN THE BLOOD). anyway, so yeah, even with whatever drawbacks, i'm glad i made the choice!

so here's how it's been so far:
day 1- i arrive in fort lauderdale at around midnight. cab it over to my new temporary stay at a yacht crew house. no one's home, and i scare myself upon entering looking at my own reflection in the wall to wall mirorrs. next i choose a bed in the room i feel best about which despite having oddly masculine articles of clothing neatly piled in the center of the room, i ignore given i'd confirmed i'd be living in a girls' house. wake up the next morning to my (surprise) 24 y.o. south african MALE roomate, ayanda and figure i'll give it a go.

room #1 with Ayanda

 that doesn't work so well since he gets all cling-on with me and starts following me around,  telling me all his innermost feelings. NEXT! so as soon as a bed opens up in the other room, with a girl, i hop on it.

room #2, upgraded accommodations

the abode

get a bike for transportation. a bit of a rip at $160 for 2 weeks, given you can buy your own, used, on craig's list for just a lil' more. but hey, with limited time to set up before school started, i needed something STAT.
there's no getting around FTLw/out a vehicle! city buses? puhlease. you'll be adding hours to your commute!

the ride

day 2- start 5 day certification safety on the water course and meet a nice friend, ellis (girl), from indiana. speed through way too much information 8 hours each day, wishing i could just do it all online. feel like i'm back in school again, taking scantron tests with a #2 pencil.

 have 2 practical days- one for water, one for fire- and feel like i might die at least 4 times with all the crazy things we're made to do with heavy, hard-to-maneuver-in suits.

day 7- complete class, go out and celebrate with everyone at some local bars. make it down to the beach for the first time, to hit up the "strip" of local haunts, and learn firsthand why they call it Ft . Liquordale (Snort Liquordale if you're really going for it).

Ft. Liquordale, y'all!

then beach weekend. meet up with old friend through whom i learned of yacht work. we worked together in Portland, and she came down here a few years ago to pursue the industry. haven't seen her since, so 'twas a nice reunion.

and since then it's just been getting the ball rolling on finding jobs: yacht crew placement agencies, captain and crew networking parties, getting biz cards printed up, you name it!

more to come soon...time to get some shuteye!