300 Square Feet

I have noticed that the same question has repeatedly come up in different forms. 'How does life on Sila work out?' and 'How do you avoid driving each other overboard?' are just two different versions of the question. While there are many thing that I like about living on Sila but there are two main things that make life possible. They are what I call banter and personal space.

Banter is a type of debate that involves teasing and joking. While there is a lot of banter on Sila, it is most common in the morning when Mama and Daddy are still in bed drinking coffee. One of the most common debates is about the coffee itself. Daddy always says he has to do all the work around here and make his own coffee while Mama says that that is simply not true and she makes it more often than he gives her credit. The truth is, I get up early almost every morning and make the coffee. (Note from the editor: While Porter does indeed make the coffee for us, it comes in fits and spurts. Throughout this expedition, there were many consecutive weeks when Porter would choose to stay in bed reading instead.) The banter during the day often begins with an ironic (not sarcastic) comment from someone and is followed by a humorous retort. While the parents generally start the banter, Jack and I often join the fun. Anyway, it is our bizarre way of creating even closer relationships to each other. Although banter does make it easier for us to live in such a small space together, it does not solve every problem. We also need the exact opposite of banter, personal space.

In a marina, personal space is easy to find. If we need some space or time alone then we can simply walk around the docks. At anchorage, when there are no easy ways to get off the boat, I will probably go read by myself for a bit or go up to the fore-deck. The fore-deck has the most open space on board Sila and is therefore an attractive place to go. Both Jack and I disappear into our imaginations there. Just like in reading, I find I can face other imaginary character's problems and leave my own alone for an hour or so.

The hardest time is, in my opinion, on passage. Going up onto the fore-deck is out of the question and reading often makes me sea-sick before I have gotten my complete sea-legs. Jack and I are pulled to the poop-deck where we can disappear into our imaginations and still be a step out of the cockpit. After thinking about it, I have noticed that Mama and Daddy need much less alone time on passage. I think this is simply because of their three or four hour night watches, which they spend on their own. I think this might affect the entire boat's feeling but I may be wrong. Either way, Jack and I get into the most arguments near the end of the passage regardless of how the parental units feel.

When Jack and I do argue, which is really rare actually, our parents make us resolve it. Sometimes this means VOEMPing, which is a way of working out arguments and preventing future disagreements. I learned how to VOEMP from Mama, but it is something they used to teach at HMI. VOEMPing is Venting, Owning, Empathizing, and Planning. We don't normally VOEMP because after getting a little space, the argument is easy to resolve. When it is a worse argument, we go through the VOEMPing process carefully.

I hope I have explained how we live in less than 300 square feet of space, not including the deck or the area around Sila, suitably. If you have any more questions, I would be glad to answer them. 
– Porter