Pink’s Point of View 
Our division of chores hasn’t changed much since moving aboard. Mike used to drive us to work (we worked for the same company) and now he mostly drives the boat – he is a much better boat-handler anyway. I’ve always been the organizer and cleaner. Mike’s used to fiddle with things in the garage, now he fiddles out in the cockpit. We both cook and we both stand watches underway. I like to make the boat cozy and comfortable just as I always did our homes on shore.

Mostly we just divide chores by what we each feel like doing and what we’re good at. The problem on a boat comes when he’s better at fixing things than I am, so he ends up with a lot more work sometimes. Like maintaining the engine, outboard and generator and fixing things like waterpumps and watermakers and going up the mast. I try to pay attention and learn but I think guys just have more years on us in learning about engine stuff. Maybe it’s an innate guy thing, who knows? 

So I do the laundry, keep everything clean, handle our finances, research parts for repairs and organize some more. All of our food stores and spare parts are tracked in an iPad app and there is nothing we can’t find (except for that one part we actually need). And I take pictures to make sure our lives are documented. Lots and lots of pictures which also need to be organized and then shared with friends and family.
Blue’s Point of View 
I do blue jobs… I do pink jobs… I do green jobs, brown jobs and even black jobs. I have a hard time categorizing by color. This is probably why I am so disorganized in the “home”.

 For example, a few days ago we heard the oh so dreaded sound of a dying macerator. I disassembled the macerator and cleaned up the chopper blades. What color would one ascribe to this job? Isn’t cleaning a pink job? But I was “fixing” a pump, which sounds “blue” to me. The pump is for “black” water though, so I would categorize this as a black job.


I would like to get on my high horse and say that I am an awesome team player and that on a boat, if you see a job that needs doing, you should get on it. I feel as though I am selfish when it comes to cooking which most would categorize as a “pink” job. I mostly do it because I am very hungry. But how about grilling meat? Burning meat over a fire has to be a “blue” job! When cooking is done outside of the kitchen how does it become a “blue” job?


 I do the vast majority of the “blue” jobs on the boat. I fix this and fix that, lube this and lube that. However a lot of times the pink worker comes over and tells me there is a better way to do a blue job. She does have a very good eye for detail and when she applies her good eye to a task there really is no better. I have to catch myself sometimes, set my ego aside, and listen to the pink worker. Though sometimes she is wrong… 😉

Snowy Egret on the beach


Walking to the beach


View from our boat of the Sierra Madre Mountains after heavy rains on New Years Day






This post was written as part of a blog-hop. Visit the Monkey’s Fist website for posts about this topic written by other cruisers or check out these topics: 

 Why do we Cruise
Relationships Aboard
Leave it or Bring it: Stuff
Provisioning
Fear
Swag and Approaching the Natives
Clothes and Laundry