One boat, two boat, we got a new boat!!!

Sea Trial Day with our new boat!

Here we are on the sea trial day, with our new {to us} 1983 Endeavour 40'!!!

As you can tell, hubs is over the moon excited about the new boat, as am I!! I told him, "I'd like to think this photo shows his love for me, but I really think this photo shows the love between a man and his boat!" To my surprise, he responded with, "it's the love of a man that has a wife that lets me live on a boat!" ....yeah, he's a keeper!!! ;)

Enough of all that sweetness, let's get to the real reason you're reading this! 

We got our new boat the Wednesday afternoon before Christmas! (Whew, just in the St. Nick of time there Santa!!) We unloaded all the things out of both of our cars onto the boat on Thursday and then left Friday morning to drive to Fort Worth to spend Christmas with both of our families! Hubs really didn't want to leave his new boat, right after getting it, but neither of us wanted to call our mom's and tell them we wouldn't be home for Christmas, after telling them both, "we would be there for Christmas!" So, off we went for a few days...  

So, what did we buy? We went with a 1983, center cockpit, 40' Endeavour sailboat. For you non-boaty people, a center cockpit simply means, the helm {a.k.a. the wheel}, from where you drive the boat, is located in the center of the boat. Unlike our two Catalina's, that were both aft cockpits. 

The benefits of a center cockpit are mostly interior, giving better access to the engine and allowing for a bigger, roomier, aft cabin! Exterior wise, the center cockpit means you sit a little higher out of the water, which is good for both visibility and more likely to get sprayed by crashing waves! You'll have to remind me of that last one being a good thing when I post about how soaked we get!! 

Here's the layout in case you're not familiar with the Endeavours.... 

What are the differences between this one and the other two? 

• 1st boat: 30 foot long and had a beam of 10' with 5'8" headroom. Vberth, quarter berth, 1 head. 

• 2nd boat: 36 foot long and had a beam of 11'6" with 6' headroom. 2 cabins, 1 head

• 3rd boat: 40 foot long and has a beam of 13' with 6'6" headroom. 2 cabins, 2 heads

Is this boat, our forever boat? Only time will tell, but I do know that, the more time we spend on it, the more we like it! And, I do see us going cruising in this boat!! 

She needs a little love and attention on the outside, but the inside teak has been well taken care of and was just recently varnished! 

We even have a hallway!!! And the best part is, I don't even have to duck or crouch down to walk through it. Hubs has to tilt his head, slightly, but that's really the only spot. The rest of the boat has 6'6" headroom, so that is something we both appreciate, since we are both tall. 

The other major upgrade is that this boat has two heads (a.k.a. bathrooms). She's a two cabin, 2 head, layout, with plenty of storage and can sleep 8 comfortably, before we have to send anyone outside, to sleep in hammocks!!

Now for some more photos....

Starboard side of the boat

Port side of the boat

Navigation area | looking down the hall to our cabin

Hallway with control panel, engine room access, & more storage

Aft cabin | closet/storage

Aft cabin | bed

Aft head

Vberth | there's much to be said about this part of the boat, but for now, let's just call it the garage ;)

Forward head

Port side settee

Starboard side settee

Each settee folds out & makes a full-size bed

The galley

Closeup of the galley

The cockpit | albeit, somewhat messy

The aft deck | or what i like to call it, the back porch ;)

We still have a little settling in to do, but we are mostly moved in! Besides, I just couldn't handle keeping our blog readers in suspense any longer. So, now that you've seen our beautiful boat & disorganized cockpit, what do you think of our new digs?? Let us know in the comments! ;) 

Happy New Year & thanks for following along on our journey afloat!!!

Keeping busy....decorating vs. organizing

There's no reason why you can't decorate when you live on a boat....you just have to be more creative about it! 

Now every female of a liveaboard couple knows, you can't drill any holes in the boat for decorating purposes. {I use a lot of tape and command hooks} Although, if you ask me, I'd say that in a way, hubs was "decorating" the cockpit when he drilled eight holes to hang the lines up in this very organized way.

....but what do I know?! ;) The lines do like nice though, don't they?! 

      FYI: rope is referred to as line once it's brought onto the boat. No, I don't know why normal words all have a new word that means the exact same thing, other than sailors want you to learn a whole new language whilst also learning a whole new hobby. Left is port, right is starboard and rope is line. Why can't it just be left, right and rope?? I don't know, maybe there's a Rosetta Stone somewhere out there that teaches the sailing jargon. I could play it when I go to bed each night and get in some valuable sleep learning time!!

-rant over-

He did allow me a few holes to hang up a spice rack. Which helped clean up the space so much! I went from this bowl of my 'most used' spices....

 

To this neatly organized spice rack!

I think what it really comes down to is, the wording. If I say I want to hang up a pretty picture for decorating purposes, it's a no go on drilling holes. But, if I want to organize the boat in order to keep it neat and tidy looking....that just might me the magic phrase. :)

For the jazzed up galley cabinets above, I used a decorative tape. It's like contact paper, but instead of large sheets, it comes in a small roll {similar to duct tape}. 

 Simply remove the hardware, affix the tape, replace the handles and there you have it!!

I have big plans for the bathroom{head}, if only I can remember where I bought the tape in the first place. Haha! 

Until next time....

Our beautiful boat!!!

I don't know what we're more happy about....to have a boat again, or to be out of the box!! I'm telling you, that box life was not for us, at all! There's a reason why I never took an interior picture of the place, {which is odd for me, because I usually document everything with photos} but this was one area of our life that we don't care to remember. They said when I rented it, that they don't usually recommend our cabin size for couples, because they go in talking and leave not speaking to each other. And though that wasn't the case for us {we're not your typical couple}, we are both extremely happy to be out of there!!!

Now, onto what you're really here for....pictures that you really want to see!!! :)

Remnants of the sunset and our boat, front & center!!

Can I just say how much I love our new to us boat!!! Ain't she a beauty?!? Okay, okay, more pictures.....

Hello there beautiful, walk-thru transom...no more crouching over the side to climb aboard!!

The salon area....

Six foot bigger may not seem that much to everyone, but when you live on a boat....6' makes a world of difference!!!! It's not just longer than our last one, she is also 2' wider! The floor plan is mostly the same as our last boat, but one noticeable difference is the two cabins, complete with real-live doors for actual privacy {when guests come visit}!!

Here's a peek into the aft cabin, where we sleep!

The head {bathroom}....it's so much bigger than our last one, you could spin around in there, if you wanted to....that would be weird, though!! 

The v-berth, where our guests will most likely be sleeping {yes, we'll remove the extra cushions first...probably}! Most of this is usually kept in the cockpit, but when it rains the v-berth becomes the storage area. Let's hope it doesn't rain when you're here visiting!! ;)

And speaking of noticeably different.... My new galley is much more spacious!!! I now have all galley items {food & dishes} actually in the galley, versus stowed in every nook & cranny like on our first Catalina! I didn't waste any time getting back to cooking either! I have been cooking every day & even as I am typing this, the boat is filling up with the aroma of banana bread baking in the oven....man, I've missed my "easy-bake oven"!!!

Friday, we moved the boat into the Marina. Saturday was spent going back & forth to get our things out of storage and by Tuesday we were completely unpacked....{all my cross country living & moving came in handy}! For the last two days I've been decorating & making it look and feel like a home!! We have now been on the boat for exactly a week and all it wants to do is rain, so no sailing just yet....I guess it's time for a movie marathon in a really clean & organized boat!!!

And just in case I missed anything, here's a shot of the floorplan....

After being homeless for two months, we are ecstatic to be back on a boat....our boat!!!!

So, what do you think?!

Simple living and a lot of work

 

I love this saying, and that's what living on a boat is all about! .....it's even more apparent now as I sort through my clothes, again! 

The rod in our hanging closet broke last week and ever since then, the inside of the boat has been in shambles.....and driving me cRaZy! Though, I'm glad it broke, because that gave me the perfect opportunity to convince hubs to turn our hanging locker into a more user-friendly,  use of space, that can accommodate rubbermaid bins full of clothes, shoes, purses, etc....basically, whatever my little heart desires! ;) 

Currently, our boat looks like this:

See what I mean?? It's a wreck!!!!

Even the cockpit is a mess, while we try to figure out what bins we want to keep and what can be donated. 

So today has been a day full of cleaning, organizing & building. I've been sorting out what we really need to keep on the boat while Joe works hard at transforming the closet. 

It's coming along...

And, we're back to an organized life!! 

I love it.....thanks hubs!!!!! 💜

And hubs says, you never really know how hard it is to remodel when there's no flat surfaces & nothing is square.....it would be like, building shelves in a bowl. :/