Cargotecture, duck boats and a man called Boris

Posted on | August 11, 2011 | No Comments

Photo: Sunset magazine

Cooooool. And it’s a shipping container, no less. Sunset magazine, which features it in its latest issue, took a 192-sq ft mini-home it’s calling Cargotecture (clever) and made a showhome out of it.

It features bamboo flooring, a galley kitchen, and sleeps up to 4 people. The cost? $59,500.

The reason I’m sharing it is that there were lots of discussions amongst our family whilst on our summer hols, about whether or not we could live on a boat. We even posed as rich buyers one day (see below) and went boat window shopping. It was a treat. They let us clamber all around inside and everything.

But after just 4 nights in a 26-foot long R.V. (camper to you Brits) I don’t know if I could do the boat living. I mean, an occasional jaunt would be very pleasant, but living on it? No thanks. I would fear for my sanity, my dog’s life (because of course The Mutt would have to come with us), and our sanitation. Even though there was a shower in the R.V., only Hubby used it. The rest of us thought it too much bother and chose to remain dirty. Mind you, at least living on a boat you could jump in the water regularly. Brrr, though. And I do love my creature comforts.

I’m known to change my mind like the wind, however. Must be the fickle Gemini in me.

Coming top of the list of my Most Fickle (and Most Unlikely) Moment of the summer vacation was this: Me going on a Seattle city bus tour called The Duck. It’s an amphibious creature that sails as well as cruises the streets. The drivers pump loud music and urge everyone to clap and do the actions to YMCA. I cringed for about ten seconds, thinking it all very unfunny and wondering if I should just disembark and leave the rest of the family to it. Then I was whooping along with everyone else and doing the actions to YMCA.

Proudest Moment? The kids completing a 6-mile hike with us up to some beautiful falls in the Olympic Peninsula, Washington state. It took about 5 hours with stops, snacks, rests. Chocolate and oranges helped.

Happiest Moment: Crossing from Granville to downtown Vancouver late at night on a river taxi with Sweetpea. We’d just seen a play about Patsy Cline. The harbour was looking enchanting. I loved that my wee girl prefers to do things like this than go around museums of flight with her dad and brother.

Most Disingenuous Moment: Posing as those rich boat-owners-to-be. Sadly, we got the kids’ hopes up and Munchkin has been asking about boat living and earnestly building LEGO boats ever since. Maybe one day one will be big enough for us to live in.

Our Most Bizarre Moment: Spotting London mayor Boris Johnson in Vancouver. Hubby shouted him down with a loud “Bo-riiiis!” and we shook his hand. Poor bloke no doubt cut off his holiday early to deal with the London riots, because he was back home within a few days.

I was going to list Tastiest Moment as either a caprese salad eaten in a tiny Washington village, or Russian pastries in Seattle. But after devouring a whole bag of British chocs (and stupidly calculating the calories at more than 800 – why on earth did I even look?), I’m going to change my mind (again) and say it was (and is) the chocolate we stocked up on in Canada before we crossed the border.

“I’m glad my parents are British,” declared Sweetpea. “Because Cadbury’s chocolate is sooo much better than American.” Atta girl.

Now I feel quite sick. And since Hubby just came in and grabbed a pear to snack on, I feel guilty too.

Ah. Now he is eating a Mars Bar. Atta boy.

* Next time: The return of Ms Fix-It (can you hear me cheering?)

Home is a Four-Letter Word

Me, motherhood and a sorely neglected house

Cargotecture, duck boats and a man called Boris

Comments

He Said/She Said

This week I’ve loved

Family affair

Archives

That was my blog, this is my magazine

Does size matter?

Recent blog posts

Comments