The topic of our living situation naturally comes up in conversion with a host of people at work, church, the playground etc. A surprised "Oh" is their typical response, especially when they discover that we have two small children. Typically, the conversion progresses to something like "I could never do that", or "My wife would never let me do that" or "what a great experience this will be for your kids" or "How do you manage in such close quarters?"

Well, much easier than living in an Army tank with three other grown men.

In a tank, the driver lays reclined down in the front of the hull while the gunner, loader, and commander are in the turret behind two feet of armor in a cavity about the size of a space capsule. On a boat, you're not competing with a 120mm smooth bore cannon for space. The back deck of a tank is nice and cozy to sleep on at night, if sleeping on top of a running 1500 horsepower turbine is your thing. So we usually slept inside, upright in our seats. For pillows, we just kept our helmets on and rested our heads up against the cold steel. When you're sleep deprived, you can sleep in just about any position.

As with a tank, I think it must take time for boat and crew to get acquainted. At first, you're always forgetting where you put your flashlight, electric razor, leatherman, map, etc but with time, things have a way of finding their ideal location to where you can grab them even in the dark. It's imperative to know where everything is so that you're not fumbling around in the heat of the moment; simple little things like tying your map to the machine gun mount so that it doesn't blow away and having it situated in such a way to be able to read the GPS and efficiently plot coordinates on the map while moving at 30 MPH over undulating terrain, at night. In that respect, I think sailing and tanks have a lot in common, especially in rough seas. It makes me want to stow every last bit of our earthly possessions, down to the tea and spices that decorate the walls in the salon. We're obviously just starting out, but I'm already looking forward to one day sailing at night. I like the idea of being outside in the cold, piloting our boat up the Sound, while my family is down below comfortable, warm, and safe.

We actually sailed for the first time today, with just the main sail. The wind was barely blowing but just the simple act of hoisting the sail and watching it fill with wind, felt like a major step. After an hour, we anchored and the kids and I explored a small inlet in our kayak while V napped.

Pictures of inside the boat

Everyone keeps asking for pictures.  So here we go, not too many though.

Here is the kitchen, otherwise known as the galley.  In this picture you can see the ice box that we use for our dirty clothes hamper.  You can also see my three hardest working appliances.  The crockpot (with dinner in it), the water heater, and the lovely new coffee pot.  On the far left of the picture you can see our cup holder, yep, everyone get's ONE cup.  You can see that we have one empty space, because Outdoor Girl is drinking tea while she does her school work with her cup.

Here is the other side of the kitchen.  If you notice the pink play silk hanging on the right side, that is the covering to Outdoor Girl's room, otherwise known officially as a quarter berth.  You can see my convection oven sitting above the fridge here as well as the sink.  I have several windows just out of view of the camera on both of these.

Here is a shot from the front of our room forward.  Yes, we have a door, it is not in this picture.  This is the very front of the boat.  The anchor is on the other side of what looks like a white stripe in the middle top of the photo. the angle of this photo is really bad.

Here is from the front of the boat looking toward the back on the inside.  Through the door on the other side, you are looking through the bathroom (we removed the toilet and added a dresser and 2nd row on hanging closet space) and then through the kitchen/living area.  Just past the kitchen you can make out Outdoor Girl's berth, and what you can't see is the living area or the door to the inside.

Here is the bathroom sink all cleaned off.

And here it is in reality.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Getting ready to move aboard

It is Monday evening - in about a week we should have our new home in the water here and getting ready to move aboard.  It is exciting and scary all at the same time.  I keep thinking about the 1 million things that need to be done first.

Today I went into the iMac store at the mall and had a long conversation with one of the sales people about how we can change our 'electronic' life so that it will mesh well with living on a boat.  I feel like technology has gone through about 30 generations since the last time I put any real thought or effort into how I was going to communicate with the world.  I think, maybe, just maybe, in a few weeks we are going to own a smart phone (or two), have a data plan, drop the land line, and go flying into the future.  It is really scary.  I am sure a number of you reading this post are thinking 'about time already'.  I know the kids are excited, they are already begging for an iPad after being in the store for the 20 minutes it took for the guy to try and explain how a phone can power the internet for a laptop to me.

I have also been working on downsizing the various components of our lives.  Today a friend came over and got some of the homeschooling items that I am no longer using.  It feels really freeing to know that the 'things' in my life are going to people who will be able to use them and gain enjoyment out of them.

The living room furniture is also gone.  The kids were playing several board games on the floor and using up all of the available space.  It was sweet to see how they just adopted to not having a sofa in the space and are totally cool with it.  They almost seemed to like it better.  I can't wait to see the changes in adopting to having very little space.  I am hoping it will help to make them more mindful of how their actions affect other people.

Signing off to go de-clutter.

Purchased a sailboat

After looking at quite a few sailboats we have finally settled on the one that we want to buy.  We ended up getting a Cal 29 with 2 quarter berths on either side.  It has already been being used as a live aboard and has had a few upgrades/changes already completed to have it work out nicely for us.  One of the big changes is that the inboard diesel engine  has been taken out and a gas outboard put on.  Where the engine used to be has been transformed into extra storage space.  There is also a heating system and a real fridge in the boat as well which were two things we have been concerned about.  And it is all ours.

Now we just need to get it were we need it to be.  Moving it via the water will take sailing experience grater then what we have available.  We have been toying with the idea of hiring a captain and having them sail it and teaching us as we go, but it seems like their availability and our availability are not going to line up. So we will probably put it on a trailer and move it over the land to it's new home.

Buying a sailboat

I think tomorrow is the day that we join the ranks of people who own sailboats, not just want one.  We have been looking at a number of them, and I think we finally found one that meets our requirements of having a place for each of the kids and the basic amenities for the family within our price range.  It is very exciting.  Hopefully I will have a post soon with pictures and reporting that it is a done deal.

Signed up for marina waiting list today

Today the first step was taken - we put our name and paid the deposit to get on the waiting list for a live aboard slot at the local marina.  No, we don't own a boat that we could actually live on, yet.  But have been looking.  They told us that the expected wait was anywhere for a few months to a year or so.  Not exactly the time frame we were hoping for, but I guess it will do.

Yesterday we went and looked at several local marina's and the one we liked best of course has the longest waiting list.  At the moment we have just decided to put our name on one list, we might talk it over and decide later to do something different.

Our 4 year old is very interested and wants to know exactly: when are we going to move onto a boat?  It is pretty cute, he is trying so hard to get us to say "in X days Sweetheart we will move onto a boat".  I am so sorry, I don't have a good answer for him.

The lease on our house is up in mid-October, and our dream is to move directly onto the currently theoretical sailboat at that time.  We will just keep praying and if this is what is supposed to happen, I am sure it will.