When it comes to buying a boat to live on, it’s good to have a list of what you MUST have. It will likely to save you from having buyer’s remorse, and make life aboard that much more comfortable. My Must Haves included a deep, double-sink in the galley; a bathtub; and a washer and dryer. We found Discovery had all that, compacted in a trawler-style, diesel-powered boat, 42 feet long, and 14 feet wide. Most landlubbers only comprehend square footage when it comes to living space, so I did the math: 588 square feet.

That doesn’t sound like a lot of room for a family of four with a variety of pets that included a dog, a couple of hamsters, a gecko and an anole, and even an ant-farm, although briefly. Our family boating adventure began in San Diego in 1991 when Kate was nine and DJ was seven, and concluded in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on the last day of 1997. By that time, they both were teenagers, and everybody was ready to jump ship. But the stories and the adventures we share makes us realize that that was truly a special time for our family.

Ironically, the worst of times have yielded the most memorable stories. And the gift of retrospect has softened whatever negative feeling was initially attached to a particular incident. Again, the setting for this memory is Catalina Island.

The date is embedded in my mind. April 12, 1992, my son’s ninth birthday. DJ always loved animals, small ones especially. Which was good, given the size of our living quarters.

In spite of its length, our boat had a lot of ‘creature comforts,’ or at least they were to us. Having two heads–that’s boat-talk for ‘bathrooms’–was one of them. The galley, which separated the kids’ cabin and ours, was raised, and allowed mom a birds-eye view of what was going on down below.

That morning, the crew, with the exception of the Birthday Boy, were in the galley, slowly waking up, sipping coffee, reading. We were on vacation, after all, and if you’re on a boat and the conditions are just right, it is pure bliss. We had the makings for a wonderful day. Birthday Boy was down below in the head, working on his daily business, and playing with Arnold, a gecko he’d recently gotten at the flea market in San Diego.

The pancakes I’d been working on were close to being ready, and I signaled to the crew to get the table ready. From down below, we hear the Birthday Boy cry out, “I lost Arnold!” Well, the cabin is only so big. Surely, Arnold will be found soon. But, no. Amazing how many cracks and crevices one comes across when looking for something intently, as the captain and the Birthday Boy did. The pancakes would eventually get cold, but it was more important to find Arnold.

The captain, sympathetic to Birthday Boy’s feelings, concluded that Arnold must have slipped through the door leading to the engine room, and that it actually would make Arnold easier to find, since the engine room was painted white and thus, extremely bright. Birthday Boy bought it, and the captain convinced him to go upstairs and have some breakfast; then we’d head into town. We had a birthday to celebrate!

On his way to the galley, Birthday Boy noticed that, in all of the upheaval of Arnold’s disappearance, he had forgotten to flush the toilet. So he did.

This time, a blood-curdling cry came from down below. Arnold had slipped into the toilet, and the macerater, designed to pulverize waste, did the same to Arnold. It was a horrible sight. The Birthday Boy cried hard. He cried real hard.

Why did this have to happen on the kid’s birthday, for heaven’s sake? As if being raised on a boat didn’t have its own possible ramifications, then certainly this incident would. And if a water-pump in Avalon cost $350, what would a psychologist charge, because for awhile, that was being considered as a last resort. Time, thank God, does heal wounds.

We all mourned Arnold. He was, after all, a perfect pet for a boat kid. He didn’t take up much space and didn’t require a lot of attention. The Birthday Boy didn’t have the best of birthdays that year, but he did get over what happened to Arnold. At least, I think he did.