Voices of the Crew

There is six of us living aboard. 35 feet, six souls and not a space is wasted, but somehow we fit together quite snugly. Perhaps we moved aboard when they were the young enough (Aidan was eight and Channan just a baby). Everyone was still small and even though it is now two years on and all the children have grown taller, we have become accustomed to fitting ourselves and all we need into this cosy space. We are family, but we are also crew. Every family member has their part to play, from the smallest who packs up lego and helps me bake cakes, to the captain who studies the maps and the weather and finds the safest passage.

I do not know how this time will be remembered by us, especially the children. The memories of childhood are not the whole thing but a few startling moments. It is the unremembered days and moments that mould the child into the adult they will become and I often wonder what the boat is making of them and us. ML