Why we decided to sell our house and live on a boat....

Unless, this is your first time reading our blog, you probably know a little about how we came to living on a boat. We don't try to hide the fact that we wanted kids, we love kids!! In fact, we wanted to have children so much so that we spent ten years trying to make that happen, including numerous doctor visits, several procedures and approximately $40,000 out of pocket.  Long story short, life had other plans for us! 

In the 2-4 years prior to us buying our first boat, we had started talking about how cool it would be to live on a boat, when we retired. We looked at boats all the time! I'm talking, online, boat shows, TV/movies/blogs and more online. Joe was definitely more into it than I was, I still had babies on the brain, but the thought of warm air and tropical places kept me interested. The bug had bit us so hard that we started talking about taking a year off and going cruising, mostly because we didn't want to wait until retirement....we are so not the patient kind! But, we were still trying to start a family, so it always slid to the back burner. 

Rewind to a few years earlier and little did I know, my whole world would change when I was 25. My thoughts about life would be forever altered. 

My oldest brother died at the young age of 31 and it wasn't until his funeral that I learned he was actually talking about buying a sailboat. Sure, I knew when we were kids that he loved the outdoors and one summer in South Africa, him and a friend spent every waking hour in a little day racer where he learned everything he could about sailing. But spending his weekends crewing and possibly buying a sailboat?....I had no idea. I talked to my brother, though, apparently not often enough if I didn't even know this. But one thing about my brother that I think everyone knew, is, he lived his life.

Life and loss kept going, in the next few years, we had two miscarriages, my cousin died and my Mamaw passed away. Joe lost a couple family members and we both were given the harsh reality that life is short! No one knows how much time they have and yet so many people are perfectly happy living their life with the expected normalcy that we grow up with. Two cars, a house working corporate jobs and waiting for retirement before possibly doing any big traveling. Although now, most people have to go back to work, because their retirement isn't enough to really live on. 

One day, I walked out of my home office and looked into our spare bedroom, the room where I had many times, envisioned a nursery and beautiful baby(ies). I always thought {and dreamed, prayed, hoped and wished} that I would be a mother. Try as I might, that wasn't happening and in that instant I knew that if I couldn't fill up my home with babies & children, then I didn't want to live a so called "normal" life, in a house where every time I walked past that room, I saw failed attempts and sadness. I remember it as clear as anything, I walked into the living room and told hubs, 'forget about waiting, let's just buy a boat and move aboard'. 

Obviously, I didn't have to tell him twice. We rented out our house, lived in a rental for about a year, bought a boat and moved to the coast! Our life may not have been what I had originally envisioned, but I am thankful that we are living life and hopefully honoring my brother in some small way! 

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?!

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.....