Click below to read more about living aboard
The actual idea of going from a landlubber to a full time live aboard, that part was easy. From my view point at the time, we would go pick out a boat and make an offer on it. Much like buying a car. Then we would pack up our things and it’s off over the horizon to see far off lands. Need I say that my original point of view could not have been father from the truth! Not only that, but I had a lot to learn about the whole live aboard concept.
For a week or better we had been on Yachtworld.com. I had found so many boats that I thought would be ideal for us to get. You see, having not ever lived aboard a boat before, my idea’s and Damon’s idea’s were totally different. We had set a price range that we agreed we could afford. It’s just that I found it hard to find a 48 to 54 foot boat to fit into our budget. And then there was this thing called the ‘draft’ that we had to keep in consideration also. I really wasn’t sure what that was, nor was I concerned about it. All I cared about was how pretty the boat was, and if we could afford it. The reality of it all set in when we went to look at our first boat.
I had come home from work to find Damon waiting for me at the door. He told me that he had found a boat for sale on the lake and we had to go see it. First I thought, if we like it, won’t it be difficult to get it to the coast? Damon told me that it could be easily be trucked to the coast. I was flooded with questions mixed with the excitement of looking at our first boat! We arrived at the marina on Lake Travis and located the brokerage. The broker took us down to the boat. There is was. Floating in the water. It was a little dirty. I wasn’t quite sure what to think about it. It wasn’t at all what I had expected it to be. The broker opened the boat and we boarded her. That’s when the first real reality check hit. It was so small! I wanted to ask Damon, without the broker hearing me, ‘are you sure that this is an Islander 36!?’. And if it was, then I was sure we would have to have at least a sixty foot boat! As I stood in the galley I stared at the sink thinking to myself, ‘How is anyone suppose to wash dishes in this sink!?’ It was barely ten inches square and only six inches deep! And counter space! There wasn’t any! Where am I suppose to put my Kitchen Aide food processor!? And more importantly there isn’t any place for my gourmet coffee maker! Not only that, there were only four drawers each only a third of the size of the one’s at home! And I had six! How are you suppose to store your cooking utensils? Then in the salon, there wasn’t any place to put the T.V. or our stereo! And then we entered the ‘V’ berth. There wasn’t any closet! So just where are you suppose to put your clothes!?
We looked at everything on the boat. Inside and out. When we left the marina Damon was full of excitement and vigor! He chatted all the way home about the wonderful adventure we were about to embark on and how he couldn’t believe that his dream was coming true. At least this is what I think he was talking about. I sat stunned, or maybe I was in shock, by the whole experience. Damon’s voice was much like that of the teacher on the Peanut’s cartoon, all the while the same question going thru my mind…’How was I ever going to live on something so small!?’ And then the fear started to set in! ‘What are we going to do with all our things!? For years we’ve bought antiques and collectables. And now we have to get rid of all of them!?
Well, we did talk about these concerns of mine and we decided that we are not getting any younger and the material objects will always be there should we decide to become land lubbers again. And so, the hunt for the perfect boat resumed. I now knew what I wanted to look for in a boat. A galley that I could function in and one that had some ample storage. Now to find one that we could both agree on, this was not going to be an easy task. But it was necessary so that the dream could continue. The search took us nine months, and well worth the wait. Not only because we feel that we have found the perfect boat , but the knowledge that we learned along the way… Priceless!
Copyright 2004, 2005, 2006 S/V Bruadair. No reproduction without written consent.