Portrait Projects
Between June 2021 and June 2022, while the world was still reeling from the Pandemic that engulfed us all, my husband and I traveled the Great American Loop in our small motorboat. This 6000 mile journey travels along the rivers, canals, lakes and intracoastal waterways of the eastern United States. Along the way I met many people whose lives were linked to the water and I was curious how they fared during the COVID lockdowns. I asked them: “what did you learn about yourself during the Pandemic?”
S, Sailor, Marathon, Boot Key Harbor, FL
I learned in 2020 that I like living on a boat. I like the independence of it. We’re making our own wind and our own solar. Family is the most important, family and friends and let’s be safe for each other because what a mess! What a mess. The way we were doing things was wrong. You know, you shouldn’t have so many kids in a classroom environment, parents shouldn’t have to work for them and send them away to school—there should be more online. And maybe that way, stay-at-home moms can take a group at a time and maybe they could work too. We got so into that routine that it was bad for humans. I’m 57, this has been my life for a while, being a live-aboard and my kids are grown. But we can do better onshore. People who live in inner cities and such who have no access to farms or seeing how things grow, maybe we should be getting back to that kind of lifestyle.