Is Simplicity Political?

Living aboard a boat has never been solely about sailing for me. In my hopes it has always persisted as an avenue for diving fully into a new and uncertain way of life and by doing so, perhaps encounter my own ideology. I turned to the sea to look for an answer to some of the unease I felt when I first began exploring my country as an adult. “A person who is going to make a fruitful inquiry into the question of the best political arrangement must first set out clearly what the most choiceworthy life is. For if that is unclear, the best political arrangement must also be unclear.”-Aristotle My exploration of Simple…

Black Friday OR Buy Nothing Day?

Fifteen years ago I celebrated Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa’s house with Aunt BK, Mom, Dad, Alicia, Marissa, Nick, Tony, Angie, Uncle Denny, Karen, Mike, Aunt Fay, John Michael, Shane, Richard, Linda, Katie, David, Laure, Jeff, and often many others. The Schirripa family is a loud talking, game playing, song singing, laughing, and loving group. Family gathering were always full of good cheer and good times. I would sleep in the attic of Grandma and Grandpa’s house, and after a long lie in bed I would wander downstairs, sit down in the living room, and enjoy the baton twirlers, Radio City Rockettes, and marching bands of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. One by one, people…

Money! Money! Money! Mon-ay!

One of the top reasons that people get divorced is money. One of the top reasons people commit crimes is for money. And one of the top reasons people who read my blog or see my videos say disparaging or hypercritical remarks to or about me is…you got it… money! Here are some of my favorites: “How many Americans could actually afford a 27-foot sailboat much less consider such a lifestyle of simple living? It is simple all right, simply incredible and egotistical in its lack of work ethic.” -Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh, Canada Free Press “Such a pretty boat. You must not live so simply to afford that boat. You live in such luxury.” -Nancy,…

My recipe for simple living in the city.

Written at sea, 7/31/11 by LARISSA POWERS, camera woman for One Simple Question I am on SV Elizabeth, cozy inside the cabin while Teresa reads in her bunk behind me. The sun strobes on the teak woodwork, having been dispersed by the sea’s surface and sent through a small porthole. It finally feels like summer on the trip that I have been fortunate enough to be asked to join and we sail today from the colorful town of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia around Cape Sable and across the Bay of Fundy to Jonesport, Maine. In some ways, I am sure my friends and family imagine me enjoying a pleasure cruise, sailing from place to place, sampling…

Nor’Sea 27 “Daphne” is for sale!

UPDATE: October 22, 2011 Daphne is sold. Please check the following links for other used Nor’seas and a sister ship Bristol Channel Cutter that are for sale. 1990 Bristol Channel Cutter SOLD 1978 Nor’Sea, location Arizona 1992 Nor’Sea “Ladyship,” location Georgia SOLD 1977 Nor’sea “Perelandra,” location California 1977 Nor’sea “Chinook,” location Nova Scotia  See below for specs and info about my Nor’Sea! When something stands in the way of your dreams, you remove the obstacle or find a way around it. In 2008 the obstacle was lack of a boat and a land-locked job. So, I left the job and purchased Daphne, whom I’m now convinced is by far the best liveaboard and coastal or offshore voyaging boat I…

Mowat Moments

It is decided that my new favorite author is Farley Mowat. After having read and reread the expressions that Coelho inspires me with, I have found an author with a different sort of inspiration. I can’t say that Mowat’s adventures inspire me because of his flawless skills or his admirable courage and he certainly doesn’t compare to Coelho’s ability to weave myth with truth. No, instead, Mowat is the only author that has produced bellowing laughter from the depths of my stomach even when others are trying to sleep. I just can’t help it. I began reading Farley Mowat’s The Boat who Wouldn’t Float just a few days ago and I’m already looking forward to…

99th Anniversary of the Titanic Tragedy

In the Oceanography course I teach at a high school we are studying the development of echo sounders and their influence on bathymetry and the charting of the seafloor. Believe it or not, the tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic was very instrumental in stimulating research that developed technology for more rapid mapping of the seafloor. It was called an “Iceberg Detector and Echo Depth Sounder.” This ended the labor-intensive work of heaving a lead-line (which I still use aboard my boat) overboard and retrieving as much as 1.25 miles of rope for each depth measurement. The echo sounder, although not perfect, still aided in creating the first comprehensive charts of the ocean floor, which were…

Only One Rule

Growing up, April was the time of year when the registration flyer for summer camp would arrive in the mail. To me, this was better than Willy Wonka’s golden ticket. Glenkirk was a Presbyterian camp near the banks of the mighty Shenandoah, run by unshaven young men and women, who actively practiced the transcendentalist notion of meeting God outdoors. Each morning, we rose at 7am in the chilly mountains, picked up dog-eared copies of spiritual passages, snippets of Thoreau, the Lorax, Jack Tales, Touch The Earth, or whatever else our counselors had put out for us on a picnic table, and walked out alone and far enough into the mountains that we could no longer…