by Joshua Wheeler
LIFE IN 240 INCHES Living Aboard a Flicka
T
he Pacific Seacraft Flicka 20 has a reputation as a well built, good sailing, bluewater sailboat. Most sailors will be familiar with the design. In spite of, or perhaps because of this familiarity, when other boaters learn that I live on a 1985 Pacific Seacraft Flicka 20 called Sampaguita, they tend to raise their eyebrows. For the record, it’s not a stunt. I’ve recently been reflecting on and writing about why I bought Sampaguita, and also why I live aboard what nearly everyone considers a very small boat. I think my philosophy and style will resonate with some people, and not just sailors. But I also suspect that others will consider me an antisocial plebeian masochist. If you are curious about which group you belong to, read on. When I decided to purchase and live on a bare-bones, 28-year-old Flicka 20 in 2013, I considered it a necessity. No one forced me to buy a boat, but with personal goals of solo sailing expeditions, I felt that it was part of the bigger plan. I also felt that the only fiscally responsible option was to live aboard and forgo the costs of living on land. The experienced sailor knows that the bigger the boat is, the more time and money it takes. I 48º NORTH
knew liveaboard neighbors with much bigger boats who found it difficult to reach escape velocity because they got stuck in the transition from home to boat. Others never left the dock, either because they never intended to, or couldn’t afford to keep their boats seaworthy. Some owners maintained their boats well but rarely used them. With all of this in mind, I bought the smallest boat that would accommodate my aspirations. I have begun to achieve those sailing goals and have sailed Sampaguita around the Pacific Northwest, with 275 days of sea time in six years. Most of my expeditions have been single-handed and have included trips to Princess Louisa Inlet, up the outside of Vancouver Island to Hot Springs Cove, and throughout the San Juans, Gulf Islands, and the Sunshine Coast. In May and June 2018, I completed a 39-day counter-clockwise solo circumnavigation of Vancouver Island. It is not, however, the cruising that confounds most sailors. It’s the living. Once the decision to live aboard Sampaguita was settled, the question became, “how do I manage this?” Through determination, the adaptability of the human race, and by embracing the proverb “necessity is the mother of invention,” I have developed systems and adjusted my lifestyle to make it happen. Don’t think that I have discovered the secret to a blissful 38
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