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?!

We bought a boat!!!!

It's officially ours, but due to paperwork and work schedules, we are unable to go "pick her up" until tomorrow. :[ I'm like a kid at Christmas, I'm tired of waiting and I just want it to be here already!! But just because we have to wait another day, doesn't mean I will make all our readers wait to find out what we bought. 

Now, onto what you're really here for....all the boat deets and pictures!!!

She is a 1995 {7 years newer than Irie} 36' {Irie was a 30'} Catalina {same as Irie}. 

Looking in from the cockpit....

The galley {kitchen}....

The aft cabin {1st bedroom}....

The v-berth {2nd bedroom}....

We got what we wanted....a bigger, newer boat, ok, I wanted the newer, hubs would have been happy with almost anything! We are both so happy to have a boat again!!! 

So, what do you think? Who's going to be our first visitor to see the new boat?

Quick {next boat} Update....

I did it! I broke the cardinal rule of looking at boats, I got attached and now it's a no go. Back to the drawing board. Ugh!

I'll admit it, we were enticed by that 40 footer with a great price, but even with its great price it was still pushing our budget beyond its max. We decided to use that blasted hindsight everyone's always talking about....so, we retracted our offer and walked away. 

On the flip side, we found a 36' that was about to be put on the market....saw it, liked it, swooped in and put in a more budget friendly offer on it! If this one goes through, then you'll get all the deets, but until then, I think it's best to keep things under wraps. Otherwise, the pity party might get a little extreme! Haha ;) 

Making progress....

Well, we wanted a bigger boat and we may have found one! Eek!! We've put in an offer on a forty footer....40', that's ten foot bigger than Irie was!!! :]

Last weekend our broker called and asked us to come and take a second look at a boat he had showed us before, because the price had recently been lowered and he thought it might work for us. I remembered that I had loved the galley in that boat and even though hubs wasn't overly thrilled with the brand, we went and gave it another look see....and, we decided it wasn't for us. Luckily, our broker was prepared for that {he knows us quite well} and was ready to show us another boat with a recent price drop as well! It was older and not bad, but also not for us. 

We then took another look at yet a third boat and loved it....only problem was, its price was still the same, no price drop and way over our budget...so, we walked away. Not exactly what we wanted to do, but we know what our budget is and we are confident that we do not want to be boat poor. It's absolutely wonderful living on a boat, but when you're too poor to do anything else, that's not so great. 

We hung out at the marina a little bit, saw some friends, went and had lunch at a new place and ran some errands. That night, we were back at the box when our broker messaged us and asked, "what if he could get the price down a little, would we be interested then?" Again, it was incredibly hard, but we said no. We knew it wouldn't be lowered enough to be in our budget, so as much as we want to get out of the box, we told the broker it wasn't going to work for us. 

Another hour went by and our phones dinged with a new message from the broker. He said the seller had agreed to accept an offer at 40K below the asking price and all we needed to do was come in and sign & submit the offer. The next morning we went up there and officially put in the offer, contingent of course on financing, but, if all goes well we will close at the end of the month and be back to living aboard!!! Yay! 

I'm sure by now you've noticed that I managed to write this whole blog post without mentioning any defining details about the boat, other than how long it is. I know, I know, you want to know everything now, but, I've got to keep something a secret until hopefully I can do a big reveal post! So, keep checking back and please keep your fingers crossed for us, as we are so ready to be back on a boat....our boat!! 

Until next time....