The boating culture.

There are subcultures among the country. Louisiana has it’s Creole heritage, New Mexico has heavy roots in Native American traditions, and Florida has it’s boating community. It’s a culture all of it’s own. Being active in numerous activities that develop these micro-cultures, rock climbing, diving, vegetarianism, environmentalism, etc – boating is by far the most bizarre of these. For example, names. There are a ton of name repeats among the men, particularly among the ‘Daves’ and ‘Bobs’. So the boaters have developed a naming system to prevent confusion. There’s Wobbly Bob, Blabbering Bob, and Bad Ass Bob. There’s Fiberglass Dave, Computer Dave,  and Headphones Dave. You’d think that Malpy would be Computer Dave, but wrong. Considering we’re nearly joined at the hip, his Dave nickname is Danave. It’s a combination of Dave and Janae.

 I decided that in our last months here, I would find a way to bring money in, one way or another. Not having been working for the last 6 months has made me feel like a serious sponge. Since we first arrive in Marathon, I have put out over a dozen resumes – to no avail. In the end, I decided that needed to set my standards lower. Working in a biological field just wasn’t going to happen.  So I started applying to other kinds of places; West Marine, dessert cafes, editing positions. Finally, I got hired at a local health food store and vegan café called Food for Thought. It’s a wonderful all female staff. The owner is incredibly nice, the products there are up my alley (we’ve been shopping there for a ton of things since we got here), and the job is a lot of fun. This will, in theory, give Dave more time to work on our crucial boat projects. Before, he was the one responsible for bringing in money. Now that we are up to the solar, electrical and systems part of the project list, I’m way out of my league and can offer little contribution. If I’m able to pull in enough to cover monthly expenses, he can spend more time with boat prepping, and money he continues to bring in with web design can go towards savings. Yay!

Now that I’m a WORKING WOMAN, I’ve come to notice the peculiar trend among the boating community: most couples are matriarchal. I don’t mean that in the sense that they rule the roost, I think that’s a national trend either way. I mean that the women here are the bread winners, the financial providers – while the men are the ‘stay at homers’. For some of these men, staying a home consists of buying a twelve pack and drinking under the “Tree of Knowledge” most of the day. For others, it means picking up odd ball jobs here and there; boat rehaul, engine rebuild, bottom job. Overall, most of the men here don’t work, and most of the women do. If I was a man, I’d be looking for a wife at a harbor somewhere.