Projects a plenty!!

We've been on our boat a little over three weeks now and we have been super busy tackling the project list! As you saw from the video I posted earlier this week, we have already started stripping the teak trim around the cockpit. Still have a lot more teak trim to refinish, but you gotta start somewhere and this is where we're starting. 

Slow & steady process

All sanded and ready for the next step...

Pretty & clean

Here hubs is applying the first coat of Awlwood primer/finish...

I've spent a lot of time getting to know our teak. And so far, I can say, I enjoy it!! Of course, this is my first time redoing it...I'm sure that will all change after the 6th or 7th time I have to do it. Who knows?!? Maybe not! 

Another improvement that we have had done is, we had four hatch covers made, as well as the companionway cover below. 

Canvas being installed

Next up on the continuing canvas projects will be, getting a new Bimini & dodger, and eventually interior cushions!!

We also wet sanded the old name off of the transom, in preparation of adding the new name to her! I wasn't able to get any photos of this job being done, because well, I had one hand on the boat for balance and the other hand holding wet sandpaper and sanding the boat, all while standing in a floating dinghy!!! I tried to convince Joe to take photos/video, but instead he jumped in the dinghy with me (almost making me fall into the water) and started helping me sand....good thing too, because painted on names are a pain to remove & I needed all the extra elbow grease I could get! 

Before w/old name

As you can see, it's still faintly visible! So, we'll have to do some work on that before the new name goes on. 

Old name {mostly} removed

One of these days, we will get ourselves a GoPro so we can fully document our projects. But for now, I hope you enjoy reading, because all these projects are using up every cent we have and there's no money left for fun things, like a fancy camera. ;)

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!!!

How did I know this wouldn't be our last boat

I knew this wouldn't be our last boat, I just thought we would live on this one longer than 4 months before hubs started talking about selling it, to buy bigger. All this talk started about a few weeks ago when our broker called Joe and told him about a boat he knew of that was about to come on the market and wanted to know if we were happy with our current boat or were we at all interested in moving up?

Don't get me wrong, we love, love, love our current boat and are very happy with it, but I think we bought her out of a bit of desperation. If I had to break it down, I would say that we bought our current boat based off of the following percentages:

     20% | we love Catalina sailboats

     35% | we got it for an excellent price

     40% | we couldn't find the boat we really wanted

      5%  | we were tired of being "homeless"

Then, if that wasn't enough, hubs had to change out the water pump on our boat the other day, and well, he wasn't too impressed with all the things that had to moved to get to the engine. 

See, with the boat we have now, the engine is under the companionway stairs. So first you remove the stairs, then you move the few galley items that I store back behind the steps, because I can't waste space and leave that empty, like I probably should. Then you remove the shell that covers the engine....and now you can get to the water pump or whatever else you need to get to. 

That's not too terrible, however the harder part comes when you need to access the back of the engine from the aft cabin. 

Now if you can, picture all the things that we already removed before that are taking up temporary residence in the salon area and add to that anything and everything that is being stored in the aft cabin (including the mattresses/cushions). All this just for you to get the the rest of the engine. If you look real close you can see hubs' hand in the top left corner. He's wedged in the aft cabin to reach the back of the engine while I'm in the main area of the boat taking pictures and helping when I can, but mainly trying to stay out of the way and not trip over anything.  

With the boat we want (our dream boat, so to say) he wouldn't have this problem because, it has it's very own engine room and that makes hubs super-duper happy!!! 

We had been mulling it over when our broker stopped by and asked again, if we had any interest. Of course it's enticing because, it's the "dream boat"! But, we would only consider selling ours if:

a) we made money off the sale

b) we ended up with the dream boat

But how often does that happen?

Then the broker says, we could always fly your boat in under the radar at the upcoming boat show, see if we get any bites and if it works out good, then great and if not, you're not out anything. We both nod yes, (I'm thinking because, that could be an option). As our broker walks away though, I look at hubs and ask, "Did I just agree to what I think we just agreed to?" His reply: "Yep!"

In the end, we decided it was just to sudden for us! We want time to enjoy our current boat and we weren't looking to be homeless yet again. That, and the boat that got all this started was already sale-pending a week prior to the boat show. 

Joe has always been a wheelin' & dealin' kinda guy, especially if he can turn a profit! It was always cars in the past, but since we have moved onto a boat, that all stopped. But somewhere in the back of my mind I always knew he'd find his way back to it and I'm wondering now if it's going to be in the form of boats?! 

Just because we didn't put our boat in the boat show doesn't mean we have changed our minds. One day, we will get the forever boat, but first we need to decide which one she is!!