Boat shopping continues....

Just when I think we decide on a certain boat brand, we {and by we, I mean Joe....(okay, I do too a little bit) but it's mainly him} change our minds and go with something else! We both are desperately trying not to jump into a quick decision just because we are indeed desperate, but the clock is ticking before we wind up homeless, again!

A few of the boats we've looked at lately. 

At first we thought for sure we would buy another Catalina. Then we threw that out and decided on a Morgan Classic <---my favorite!! 😊 After finding none locally, we thought it might be better to find a boat near us so not to have to pay any extra charges (I.e. shipping/trucking the boat, hiring a captain or taking time to go get it & sail it back ourselves) all of which are added expenses to the purchase price of whatever boat we buy. 

Originally I wanted five things in my next boat:

1. Walk through transom 

2. Two separate cabins 

3. Usable counterspace in the galley

4. Double stainless steel sink in the galley

5. More overall storage

One & three were somewhat negotiable, but the others were basically must-have's. 

Then Joe went back to his love of true ocean going boats. Which are great for well, ocean going, but living aboard, not so much. Don't get me wrong, they really are great boats {most of them} they are just much much more narrower than I would prefer. And none of them meet my full criteria, basically I get the double sink and more storage. No walk through transoms on the older boats, usable counter space is sketchy and don't even get me started on the lack of cabins. 

When I think of an aft cabin, I'm thinking more along the lines of what a 2nd bedroom would be in a house....maybe more like a tiny house 2nd bedroom. But mainly, it would have an actual bed that sleeps two people, somewhat comfortably! However, the problem comes with most of these ocean-going boats only having a quarter berth and if you're real lucky, maybe a 3/8 of a berth..... Not exactly what I had pictured in my mind. .

 In all actuality though, I could probably do without most of my criteria. I mean I lived on a 30' boat for 14 months and quite frankly that was never what I had thought would happen, so maybe I just need a new picture in my head. Needless to say we are both going to have to come to some sort of compromise or even a few compromises, before we can decide on what boat to purchase. But really, it would also help if we fell into a nice loan too! Because if the boat is more than thirty years old, banks will not finance it and well, most of these ocean-going boats that is within our budget tend to lean on the older end of the spectrum. 

So that's where we are at right now. A lot of "I don't knows" and "we'll see's"!! Hopefully by my next post I'll have something more to tell you! 

Until then....

What made us decide to live on a boat? Part two:

If you missed part 1 of this story, you can read it here.

So, we had made the decision to buy a sailboat, now we had to narrow the search down to size, layout, and functionality. 

As a full-time liveaboard, we knew we would need more storage than if we were just planning on being weekenders. We really liked the layouts of Catalinas and they seemed to have the best use of space {for our budget, anyways}. After Joe searched 100's of different boats and more brands than I could count on my fingers & toes combined, our researching always brought us back to a Catalina. 

Of course we wanted {and still want} something bigger than a 30 footer, but at the time of purchase, and because we wanted it to happen quickly rather than waiting longer to afford bigger, we went with a 30' Catalina. 

Everyone says, you won't find a bigger 30 foot with any other brand than that of a Catalina sailboat. I know it sounds small, especially when we came from a 2,200 sq ft house, but any boat will sound small with that comparison. 

We kept close tabs on  the broker's websites and when a Catalina 30' {within budget} became available we made an offer and it was accepted! 

Now, was the hard part, for me anyways. I had to move away from my family and a job that I absolutely loved! Hubs was fortunate that he was able to transfer down here with his job, but that wasn't an option with my job. :/  I was a nanny for 2 of my nieces and walking away from that job was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It goes without saying, that I had become seriously attached to those girlies and their momma, {one of} my sis! Then there's my parents, whom I have always lived within a hour from. I don't think you ever truely realize how big Texas really is, until you can't just hop in your car and be at their house in 30 minutes......miss y'all every day! ;) 

Despite how hard we knew it would be to make the move away from family, friends, & my dream job, we knew this was to be the next chapter in our lives. So, we did it! We said goodbye to a life we knew and people we loved and moved aboard our Catalina! 

For just the two of us, Irie has made a great starter boat! And, we couldn't be happier with our decision and our new life afloat!! :)