Of the Desire for Simplicity and the Power of Possibility

How a Tech Nerd Dreams of Living Without Tech

When a Glass of Water Turns the Day Upside Down

We’re about to head into the city, I just want to grab a quick glass of water.

I open the tap, the pump kicks in – but there’s barely any pressure, and it sounds off.

And the indicator lights on the 12V panel are glowing suspiciously dim.

The Victron app shows undervoltage alarms on several devices. First thought: “Oh no…” Second: “Please don’t let it be a faulty lithium cell.” Everyone’s already waiting on the dock, hungry – but leaving isn’t an option. I wouldn’t be able to relax until we were back on board anyway. So I grab the multimeter and start troubleshooting. Thankfully, everything is easy to access – hats off to whoever installed this system! The cause is quickly found: the Victron Battery Protect, which acts as a load relay for the BMS, is causing a 5V voltage drop. Why? No idea. I bypass the relay – problem solved. For now. Time to eat.

Loving Technology – and Dealing with the Consequences

And in moments like this, I ask myself why I even do all of this. I could be sitting here, finishing my tea, heading into the city with everyone else. But instead, I’m kneeling on the floor, measuring voltages – because I just can’t let go of a stupid problem until it’s solved.

It’s almost absurd: I love planning, building, and optimizing technical systems – and yet, sometimes they do the exact opposite of what they’re supposed to.

Instead of making my life easier, they make it more complicated.

The Appeal of Simplicity

And let’s be honest: for a trip from Lübeck to Stockholm, you don’t really need chartplotters, tablets, inverters, or complex charging systems. A cruising guide, paper charts, a handheld GPS, and just enough power for lights and phone charging would do the trick. The reward? Living in the moment, with full attention to your surroundings. Every buoy, every rock would be cross-checked with the chart. Your position would be determined regularly by hand. Navigation wouldn’t just run quietly in the background – it would be the sailing. More intense, more mindful, than when the plotter takes care of it all.

The Lived Dream

I love this purist, almost romantic idea of sailing. And yet, I’m writing these lines while anchored off a skerry in the Åland archipelago. My partner and I are working remotely from

here – it’s how we fund this life.

The last time we were in a marina was six days ago, and we won’t need to visit one for at least another two weeks. We are self-sufficient.

A dream I’ve carried with me for a long time – and one I suppose I’ve now achieved.

The Double-Edged Sword of Progress

And that’s the irony: This independent, self-determined life wouldn’t even be possible without technology. Our solar system provides the energy, LTE turns our boat into a floating office. Especially here in the maze of skerries, digital navigation helps us find the most beautiful anchorages – without hours of flipping through paper charts. In the end, it’s all these systems that allow us to live this self-sufficient lifestyle. Between work, maintenance, and navigation, there’s already more than enough demanding our time – and we can only manage it because certain tasks have become easier through technology. And so, we still have time left for the good moments: a dinghy trip to shore, a swim, or a quick nap in the hammock. At the same time, all of it is the very reason why I constantly find myself torn – between the desire for simplicity and the realization that this dream only became possible because of the tech.

Between Longing and Reality

I love the idea of romantic, minimalist sailing, and I admire every boat that gets by with almost no tech on board. At the same time, I know that the way I live today – self-sufficient and working from the boat – is only possible because of technology. And so, I’ve come to a kind of healthy balance: enough systems to make daily life safe, efficient, and comfortable – but not so many that they start to control me. Every installation has to give me more than it takes – in time, nerves, or energy.

In the end, it all depends on how much space you’re willing to give technology in your life.

For now, I’ll be giving it none – I’m off to the hammock.

Ciao.

But wait! Something on my custom-built info display for the onboard systems looks… off.

One number is formatted incorrectly.

Alright then… maybe I’ll just take a tiny quick look.