Boat kids vs. land kids

After living on a boat for a year, and traveling 6000 miles I have made a lot of close friends in the sailing community. Some of my closest boat friends are on Serendipity and Abeona. We met Serendipty two years ago in Casco Bay and spent a day playing with them at Dolphin Marina. In the U.S. Virgin Islands we met Abeona and were with them for two months before we both made our way to Maine. There are many differences between having friends on a boat and having friends at home. Some of the main ones are how long it takes to become close friends, who you make friends with, and where, when, and how you see your friends.

One of the main differences is how long it takes to become close friends with someone. At home it can take the better part of a year or longer. With boat kids it can take less then a week. When making friends at home or in school, it usually takes having things in common and getting to know each other after a stretch of time. For example you are on the same sports team, in the same class, or your parents are friends. Even then it can still take awhile to get to know someone. One of my close friends at home I met on the swim team. We were on the same team for two years. On the second year we were in the same class and we got to know each other better through swim team and school. When living on a boat you do not meet many other boat kids. When you do meet other boat kids you always have at least one thing in common, you live on a boat. After one or two days of playing you know what sports they play, what they are interested in, how long they have been on their boat and the places they have been, where they are from, and many stories. After a week you know almost every thing about them. If you are lucky to be with them for a month then you are as close as you are with your friends at home. We met Abeona about four months ago, we got to know each other and become close while we were in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Now we are in Maine with them and they are practically family. It takes much longer to make friends with land kids then boat kids. I think the reason for that is, at home you already have lots of friends and do not need or want more. But on the boat you do not always have friends with you and when you find other kids you want to know them and you want to be friends with them. Which makes getting to know someone a lot easier.

One of the biggest differences is who you become friends with. At home all my friends are my age, in my grade, and in my town. On the boat I am friends with kids of all ages, in all grades, and from all around the world. We have boat friends from Maine, California, Australia, the Netherlands, and many more places. When we were in Culabra we met another kid boat from France. The parents spoke English but the kids knew very little. We played Uno with them and used their sailing dingy. Even though we did not speak the same language we were still able to communicate and have fun. At home I do not have any friends that speak a different language. Before living on the boat I would probably never end up play with anyone who dose not speak the same language as me. When we move back to land I think It will be easier for me to make friends with different people, because I know that even kids that are younger or older than me are just as good as friends my age.

Another big difference is where, when, and how you see your friends. At home you almost always know where your friends are, and the next time you will get to see them. With boat kids you may only ever see then once then never see them again, or you might end up in the same place at the same time by accident. With some of our closer boat friends we try to keep track of where they are, so we can try to meet up. When communicating with friends at home you would use your phone. Then if you wanted to go over to their house you would have your parents drive you or ride your bike. With boat kids we pick a VHF channel, and all put our radios on that channel. When we want to plan something or invite someone over we call them on the VHF. To get to other peoples boats we sometimes paddle board or swim, but usually use the dingy. Our dingy is a ten foot inflatable with a twenty horse power engine named the Purple Narwal. The dingy is like our car, which is cool because kids as young as five or six can drive the family “car” around the anchorage. Its a lot harder to see your friends and keep track of where they are when you both live on a boat. Then when you both live on land, but its worth it.

Some of my close friends live in Maine, but others live on boats. There are many differences between having friends on a boat and friends at home. While there are many differences between boat friends and home friends there are also similarities. The things we might do with our boat friends are similar to what we might do with are friends at home. We like to talk, or play games, and we have sleepovers on each others boat. All my friends on the boat and at home are fun amazing people. I may have known my home friends for years and my boat friends for a couple months, but they are still the best friends I could ask for. Whether I live on a boat or on land, I am lucky to have them.