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I <3 Boats

Writer's picture: Trevor PowellTrevor Powell

I have been stewing on what my next blog post was going to be about for a while now. I really have set myself up with expectations that every post I make will tell some small piece of the grander story that is my life and all of the things I have learned about the world. But that shit is HARD. So as I am writing this now I am really trying to narrow in on why I actually started the blogging journey in the first place. And I started it because I wanted a platform to document what I was thinking about and what I was doing. An open journal if you will for anyone who may benefit. So instead of trying to preach about yet another philosophy for life, Imma give it to ya straight. Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about BOATS!


This is really funny if you know me super well, but for those of you who know me as the theatrical star and mental health advocate that I have been in previous posts on this blog, you have to understand that I have a hidden obsession with boats. I love em. In season one of the pandemic I bought a rot filled shell of a boat out of a barn and did a complete refit of it so that it had functionality and charm. And I could talk about this boat at length but really the main thing you need to know is that the project re opened my eyes to a truth that I knew when I was young. That truth being that I just really fucking love boats.


Last winter I went through the same ‘I <3 Boats’ moment that I find myself in now. While I was in a spiral of needing to never do theatre again and give up on everything that I had worked so hard for, I actually considered buying a 42 foot boat that I wanted to restore and live on. I just think there would be something so freeing about living on a boat. Whenever the place you are at starts to feel old, the people you are with start to get on your nerves, and the culture you are in doesn’t spark something inside you anymore, you can haul up anchor and leave. And you can go ANYWHERE. Imagine buying a $200,000 house that can be in NYC for the spring, in Italy for the summer, and New Zealand for the winter. The whole freaking world right there at your fingertips.


Last year when I was walking around frozen boat yards looking at my savings account and doing math that would never add up thinking ‘how can I escape the life I’ve always known and disappear from the expectations I have set for my future’ was when I really started to unpack what living on a boat would mean to me. I was graduating from college with a degree I didn’t feel passionate about and the country I had always known just continued to let me down time and time again. I was trying to figure out if there was anywhere in the world that I could realistically move to that would at least be different if not better than where I had been my whole life. And I figured out that what I really wanted, was to be able to sometimes have my own country, separated from all other humanity, where I didn’t have to rely on anyone else.


I gotta add here that the ‘living on a boat’ concept is one that has been deeply explored by similar minded people to myself. You might be imagining a square house that floats, or a big yacht like you see associated with millionaires. That is not what I am talking about. There is a whole community of folks, many of whom document their journeys on YouTube, who live on boats and fall into a financial bracket that isn’t unattainable for the real world. They have jobs that they can work on remotely. And they live a similar life to other people who have a work from home existence. The difference is their home is moveable and floating. Did you know that a crew of two people can sail across an ocean in a boat that is only 40’ long?? Crazy. Look up ‘Nordhavn 40’ on google. That boat and go ANYWHERE in the world. Or better yet check out some sailing catamarans… they can go anywhere AND they can be operated with almost zero emissions!


So with this knowledge, I feel like WOW I really could live on my own island with a cat and some to be determined second person. It’s not a life that is unreachable by anyone, you just have to want it enough. So, here is me saying I want it. Just like I was told when I was a youngin, anything is possible if you are willing to put in enough time and energy. And what I want to be possible for me is to see the entire world by sea and have the freedom to experience things on my own terms.


This isn’t me saying I am stepping off dry land tomorrow. I still plan on moving to the city, being a legend icon and star, designing lots of homes using other people’s money, and living a life in an apartment firmly secured to bedrock. But someday, there will be a chapter of my life that takes place at sea. And you can consider that an incentive to keep reading this blog. My adventure is one with many layers.


So I suppose if there is a lesson here, which I realize I said there wasn’t going to be one, it’s to talk about what you are thinking about because that’s what makes us interesting. If you are still reading, it’s because you found my interest in boats to be worth observing. Stop trying to live by the expectations you have set by what you have done before, talk about what interests you, and when you feel called to, sail away with what you want for that moment in time.



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