We've done it again

We sold our boat, again!!

Signing papers at closing....

You may remember last time our boat sold in eight hours and we had to be off of it a week later. Well, this time we thought we had wised up a bit by waiting until the end of boating season, to list it. After all, it was mid-November and just a couple days before Thanksgiving, so we thought maybe, just maybe we could buy a little time and maybe we could have it in the 'for sale' column just a teensy bit longer, while we look for the next boat. Nope, that didn't happen! About two hours after we had listed Irie, we had it under contract....and no, we didn't list it too cheap..We're actually making money off of it! Albeit, not a whole lot, but it's always better to be on this end rather than to be losing money on the deal! The first couple that saw it, put in an offer...that we accepted. The crazy thing {well, one of the crazy things} is, is that our boat listing didn't even populate to the broker's website!! All my staging & photography skills used up and I didn't even get to see the final result.

Needless to say, the search is on to find our next boat!! I have stopped referring to it as our "forever boat" though and am just saying, "our next boat". Our pier at the marina is starting to look more like the 'Bricker Brokerage Pier'  with all our old boats lined up! Haha :)

In the meantime, we have become pros at being squatters!!! I wish I could say I was joking about that, but that's the downside to selling your boat in a couple of hours, during the holidays. Everyplace is either already booked or extremely over priced because of the time of year. The upside however, is the friends we have made at our marina have been outstanding to us in our current situation! We have had many, many offers for us to use their boats, come do laundry at their house or stay in their spare bedroom!! I've said it before, but it bears repeating, our marina friends & neighbors are without a doubt some of the best people and we are so incredibly grateful for their hospitality!!!

I'm hoping by the time I type up my next post, I'll have something to tell you (or show you) on our next boat, but until then, I'm keeping it hush hush on the blog, so nothing is jinxed! ;)

Here's hoping we aren't homeless for too much longer...until next time!

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 ;) 

We've moved, again....

The box is what I have so affectionately named our temporary dwelling. This little cabin is where we will be taking up residence for at least, the next four weeks.

 We have got to find another boat and fast! 

Sure, I could take pictures to show you the inside, but really, it would just be one picture because it is that small! I will give you a vivid description however, that should prove to be far more enlightening! When you walk through the door, on the right wall {of the box} there's a light colored faux wood desk accompanied by two light colored wicker chairs, complete with green vinyl, circa 1960's, I'm sure! It is followed by a tv stand {that I'm pretty sure is covering the water heater} an uber small TV along with an even smaller DVD player. Now we are at the back wall of the box, where there's a super small & thankfully, closed off bathroom. Its depth is as wide as a shower stall and there's a toilet across from the shower. Come out of the tiny bathroom and there's a "kitchenette" with a little bar sink, microwave, itty-bitty coffee pot, a couple of cabinets & a dorm sized refrigerator. And lastly, on the left wall of the box, we have a lovely set of.....wait for it....bunk beds, oh yeah, you read that right! :/ There was a little joking on "who gets the top bunk" but all joking aside, I can't remember the last time I actually slept in a bunk bed and here I am, mid-thirties, sleeping in a bunk bed. And just in case you were wondering, no they are not the kind you can remove the top part of and put side by side, not that there would be room for that anyways, in the box. :[

In fact, hubs & I were talking the other night & he said it is actually smaller than the living space of our 30' sailboat. So there you have it! 

There may not be any sailboats in our immediate view {literal & metaphorically speaking} but one thing remains the same, we still have incredibly amazing sunsets, like this one from last night!!

Homelessness on the horizon....

A couple weekends ago, on a whim, hubs & I decided to take a super mini road trip and get away from it all! Friday at about 6:24pm we up and decided we were going to go somewhere! We left a little before 7pm and started driving south. We ended up in Rockport, a small coastal town near Corpus Christie. We thought we'd look at a couple of boats, well, we looked at the outside of one & crossed it off the list immediately. It's amazing how pictures can lie! I called on another boat that we wanted to see, but the broker couldn't be bothered to show it to us. {must be nice to be independently wealthy, cause he sure isn't making money selling boats} Luckily, I made friends with a local fish market lady and borrowed her key to at least access the dock where the boat was. We still didn't get to see the inside of the boat, but a close up visual of the outside showed us that the boat wasn't worth the amount they were asking. However, we didn't cross it off the list just yet, but we also haven't decided if we want to take on that big of a project. So the search continues....

Aside from the radio station playing music from the past 25 years & giving me the feeling of having my very own mix tape....the real plus side of our little getaway landed me with this most wonderfully king-sized bed!!

It was enormous and I may or may not have took a running jump & dove onto said bed! I could've stayed there forever, oh but if only I was independently wealthy!!

We have just over a week left on the trawler and then we will be back to being homeless. I had hoped that we would've bought our next boat by now, but this month has gone by incredibly fast & we just haven't found the boat we really want, yet. 

So, it looks like we will be back to square one...whatever that might be! 

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....

Why am I not more stressed out about being homeless?

I guess I have Irie to thank for that! When we, ahem I, named this blog, it was decided that no matter what boat or boat name we had, the blog would always be Forever Living Irie. Because who wouldn't want to forever live with no worries? Ok sure, there is always going to be some worries, but for the most part, life has certainly taught me that, worrying is no way to live! 

With that in mind, we have lived the last 14 months on Irie, relatively, care free! It's a simpler way of living on a boat and that's fine by us!

Oh, but don't get me wrong though! It's not all sunshine and butterflies! There are plenty of day to day chores to take care of, week to week maintainence that is never ending and monthly tasks to stay on top of. Sure we don't have to mow grass anymore, but tell me, how many times a day have you checked to see if your house is taking on water, or growing mold? I think you get the picture! I would even go as far to say that, there is more work living on a boat than when we lived in a house! However, through all the extra work, changing the way we do, almost everything {and I do mean e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.} & constantly thinking outside the box of normalcy, we choose to live with the mindset of, no worries!

As I was typing this post, our boat was already 85% packed up and we had approximately 1 day left before we had to be completely off the boat. I had no idea where we were going to be living in the meantime...but I've got to say, we both look pretty calm & relaxed hanging out in our empty boat for the last time! 

So for now, we are temporarily taking up residence at a nearby extended stay hotel. 

Of course, I am missing my marina-living life already, but this normal shaped bed, bathtub and big TV are a nice change!! What's really great is, being able to watch HGTV's Tiny House Big Living show.....although, that just makes me miss my boat & my own tiny "house" living.   ={

Our mantra has basically become, "We'll make it work...we always do!" 

Until next time.....

Congratulations....we're homeless!

Well that was quick!!!

They say the happiest two days of a sailor's life is:

1. the day he buys his boat 
   
   
   
2. the day he sells his boat 
   

Call me crazy, but hubs seems a whole lot happier in the first photo than the 2nd one! 

Poor guy! I hope we find the next boat sooner rather than later, so we can get back to that happy place in our life!! 

*Full update coming soon....