There’s something magical about stepping onto the deck of your floating home after time away. It’s like the boat breathes with you, welcoming you back into the rhythm of life at sea.
We spent the week around Easter back on land, wrapped in the warmth of family, catching up with friends, and embracing all the little comforts that make home feel like home. The laughter, the shared meals, the simple joy of being surrounded by the people we love—it was everything we hoped for and more. But as much as we enjoyed every moment of it, there’s always that quiet pull. The whisper of the wind, the sway of the sea, the undeniable call of adventure.
Today, we returned to Koko, and honestly? I wasn’t sure how long it would take to slide back into “boat mode.” Would it feel different this time? Would we hesitate, even for a moment, as we readjusted to life afloat? Turns out, the second our feet hit the deck, that familiar connection surged through us. The hum of the rigging, the creak of the hull, the scent of salt air—everything fell back into place like we’d never left.
The travel day was smooth—just the way we like it. With Jessica busy at school, we took an Uber to the airport, boarded an on-time flight, and, after landing, grabbed another Uber straight to the marina. By early afternoon, we were back in our world—the boat life, the next adventure already on the horizon.
Before settling in, we ticked off a few necessities: picking up an Amazon package from the marina office, filling our spare diesel canister, and then diving straight into boat work. First up, installing the new LPG regulator to fix our leaking propane system. And, after a pressure test and a thorough soapy water bubble check—success! No bubbles, no leaks. Hopefully, that’s one problem solved for good.
With that behind us, Bettina tackled the overwhelming number of bird droppings covering Koko’s deck and canvas while I got to work mounting the new holders for our iPad mini at the helm. Game changer. The Aquamaps app is a huge help for navigating shallows and timing bridge openings, and now with the iPad mini properly secured at the helm, things just got a whole lot smoother.
The prep work continued: bow thruster batteries back online, seacocks opened, oil and coolant checked, and another look at the engine intake strainer before running the engine for a test. All good. A few more smaller tasks rounded out the afternoon, and then finally—dinner in the cockpit, just as the sun was setting. Simple, delicious, and exactly what we needed.
Dishes done, water tank filled, and then straight into weather checks and route planning. The excitement is there. If all goes well, tomorrow we set off again.
Koko is ready, and so are we. Time to chase the horizon once more.