We had actually started this process before we had even bought a boat. After my eye opening experience with the Islander 36, and having been to Kemah, TX to visit several brokers I knew a little more of what we were up against. In Kemah we had probably boarded near a hundred boats ever looking for that perfect one.
I was amazed and yet frustrated in the fact that every boat we seemed to look at was completely different on the inside. I, being the chef in the household, of course was concerned with the galley. With every boat I tried to imagine myself preparing any number of our staple dinners. So a workable galley was key for me.
My other concern had nothing to do with food at all. And that had to do with our cat Ashley. Yep, you guessed it. Where to put the litter box so that it was out of the way and yet not out in the middle of the salon where everyone could see it.
Damon’s concerns were few. He wanted to have a separate shower and to have ample and easy engine access.
In the mean time, dreaming of when we would find our boat, every day we would go though our home and look at each item, deciding if it was something actually needed or was it something that we could live without. This is easier said than done. When you have to look at each and every item in your home, they suddenly have more meaning. Being the sentimentalist, I remembered the day that an item was bought, where we got it, and why I wanted it so much. Now, to have to said goodbye to it…this was extremely hard for me! Furniture was one thing. That didn’t bother me as much, but when it came down to all the collectables that we had…well it’s a good thing we started when we did!
Then we scheduled our first estate sale. We had gone thru the house and picked items that we either weren’t sure if we wanted to take with us on the boat, or send to relatives to ‘hold on to’ should we discover that cruising just wasn’t for us. We put all these items in a separate room so that we could shut the door and lock it, with a sign on the outside saying ’not for sale’. The day before we both were plagued with anxiety! Were we really doing the right thing!? Are we really crazy like some friends and relatives said we were!? We had better decide now because tomorrow… there is no turning back!
We opened the doors at 10 A.M. And surprisingly we had about twenty people waiting to enter! We opened the doors and the day began! We had told everyone entering, ‘If it’s not nailed down, it’s for sale!’ I don’t think that it had really set in what was happening. At one point in time we estimated about sixty people rummaging though our precious belongings, and the house was quickly emptying! And to our surprise, the things that we thought we would have a heck of a time selling, were actually some of the first to go! We had our friends Clara, Vernon and Randy helping us. I don’t think that we could have done it without them! Randy, with his broken ankle, and Vernon stayed in the garage which we had set up with tables and extra furniture. Clara manned the kitchen. And Damon and I just ran around the house and the back yard like chickens with our heads cut off!
At the end of the day, we all collapsed! Then the reality hit as we looked around. Our house was empty! There was no more furniture in the place! And the only things left were various little things sitting around. It was bitter sweet in a sense. Yet we were really doing it! We felt as though we had conquered the first stage in scaling down everything that we owned to become live aboards! We soon realized that, although our estate sale was a success, we had not actually thought the entire process through completely. I went into the kitchen and all my pots and pans were gone! So we ended up having to go out and buy more!
We had gone around the house gathering all the items that were left and started moving everything out to the garage. Over time we ended up having two more garage sales to get the rest of the things sold. Each day we seemed to keep adding to the ‘for sale’ lot, from the remaining items in the house. The process of scaling down was becoming easier and easier. At least that I thought so. Damon still thought that we had kept way to too much, and that we would never be able to get all the things onto the boat.
It wasn’t long after this that we actually did finally purchase our boat, Bruadair, a 1984 Hans Christian 33. Now that we knew exactly what space that we were dealing with. So scaling down, was much easier! Don’t get me wrong, this was probably one of the single most difficult processes that I think that I have ever had to undertake! But I can now tell anyone that you can do it! And I don’t think that we have given up a lot. Sure I occasionally think back to what we had and yes I do sometimes miss it. But then I sit here on Bruadair and look around at all that we do have and eventually what we hope to do. Then the trade off doesn’t seem so bad and we have the perfect water front porch to watch the sunsets from.
I feel as though we have a beautiful home and the advantage now is that, if we do go anywhere, our home goes too! So rather that packing suitcases to leave, now we go around and make sure that all is secured and won’t fly across the room should we encounter rough weather.
Click below to read more about living aboard