Wednesday June 10, 2015
Glamping: Shorthand for glamorous camping; luxury camping. To be more precise, camping with all necessary amenities including electricity as helped by these guides is glamping. This is not what we are doing. Serendipity may have been considering glamping to some as it was a step up from camping, but we have fallen so far from there. Â So very far in fact that I might have to say that we’re a level below camping. Â This folks, is because we have just moved onto Daze Off.
Yes, you’ve read that correctly. Â We will be living on the boat that we are remodeling. Â While we are remodeling it.
‘So you’ve decided not to rip the whole thing apart, but instead just fix little bits here and there?’
Nope, we’re still ripping the whole thing apart while we are living on it.
The original plan had been to live on Serendipity while we were doing this remodel, comfortably floating in a slip at the same marina where we’d have air conditioning running down through a window vent and a comfortable place to kick up our heels at the end of the work day. Â Assuming she would takes months and months to sell, as most boats do, we thought that we’d at least have all the major areas finished before there would be any thought of moving on to Daze Off. Â The v-berth, forward settee, galley, and hopefully the head. Â Basically as minimal as you can get to comfortably live.
But because the ‘Dip sold so darn quick, which in a way we are very thankful for because at least we won’t be paying $1,100 to the marina each month, we are now left homeless. Â House-less is fine by us as we’ve been that way for nearly three years now, but at this point we don’t even really have a home. Â We have a hunk of metal that’s in pretty bad shape, and that’s before we even begin tearing apart what’s there.
To make the situation somewhat bearable we’ve decided to break the remodel into sections so at least the entire boat won’t be in shambles at one time. Â The most important thing for us is to have a comfortable place to sleep so the v-berth is going to be project #1. Â We’ll probably couple it with the forward settee as our v-berth is really just a murphy bed that folds down into that area anyway. Â When those are complete we’ll move on to the galley since cooking on the boat will be our next concern after sleeping. Â From there we’ll move on to the head and then finish out with the pilot house and quarter berth.
We’ll get by, I’m sure, but I also know these next few months are going to be a bit hard until we’re past at least the first two stages. Â Even though we’re working on the v-berth we’ll be sleeping in it every night, cleaning up what we’ve worked on during the day. Â It hasn’t been terrible so far although it does kind of suck that the boat was left with no cushions in there. Â At the moment we’re sleeping on a combination of cockpit cushions and sport-a-seats. Â My back is not loving it.
Then there’s the eating arrangements at the moment. Â We have no working fridge or chill box on Daze Off and the propane is not hooked up to the stove or oven. Â Luckily the marina has a grill on it’s patio area down by the slips and so we’ve been wandering over there every night to fix ourselves dinner. Â With only a grill and microwave at our disposal though, meals are going to have to be well thought out. Â At least the slow season has come upon the marina and we’ve managed to commander a drawer in the fridge as well as one of the cabinets in the kitchen.
Oh yes, and let’s not forget one of the other fine things that puts us right down there with camping.  We have no electricity at the moment.  What we do have an extension cord that we’ve fed through a hatch to power our air conditioner and a few tools or electronics but we don’t have wiring for lights and that is unfortunately months down the road. When the sun goes down we rely on our Ryobi rechargable flashlight
So that’s where we are at the moment. Â Living in the stone age and planning what we want to do next. Â Our surveyor is coming out in the next few days to do an ultrasound of the boat and hopefully we’ll be able to get the welding started right after and have the keel fixed and all those pesky holes filled. While we’re having that done Matt and I will attack the v-berth and maybe a few leaky hatches. With any luck we’ll have her livable within a few months, but until then, please pray for us. Â And maybe send some beer.
Have you checked Indiantown for a rental apartment/cabin/RV? You have a vehicle and are minutes from Lake Okeechobee, and it is off-season, there should be hundreds of empty, furnished, places to rent. Maybe even buy, then resell in a few months during the on-season for a profit.
I don’t want to suggest you hadn’t already thought of this. In fact you have probably already dine this, since this post is nearly 2 months old – just kidding 😉
I’ll be glad so send some beers up though.
Keep the faith, you are doing better than many of us who have yet to live the dream. You will have to stay in that boatyard for another 20 years to catch up with me.
We had thought about rentals, but two two things stopped us from getting one. First was trying to find a decent place that would rent out for only 3-4 months and also allow a cat, and the other was the extra cost. When it came down to it we thought we’d rather have the $800-1200 in our pockets each month. Plus we figure living on the boat will give us motivation to finish it faster. 🙂
I’m serious about the beers, haha, I’ll be putting up a post in about a week asking for some for my birthday. Keep an eye out.
I love this! I mean, it sounds awful but also so badass at the same time! You guys are the real deal… Ryan and I would not survive ten minutes on a workshop living space of a boat. What you’re doing is literally my worst nightmare… but I have total respect for what you’ve taken on.
Miss you guys, by the way!
xx Tasha
I totally agree with you Jessica. Living aboard will definitely give you more motivation to get the repairs done faster. It might be more of hassle to have all the repairs done while living aboard but you’ll be out on the ocean much faster. Of course the $800.00 to $1,200.00 in rent savings is always better so you can pour those dollars into the sailboat.
Looking forward to your next post. Thanks for sharing.
What about finding a “house-sitting” job? I mean, with so many snowbirds living in Florida, there’s bound to be a vacant house somewhere that needs a house-sitter. Luckily for you there are web sites for that. And sometimes they even PAY YOU… 😉 Google “house sitter jobs florida”
Good luck – and Matt thanks for answering my email today about your electronics. Very helpful!
It actually hasn’t been terrible living on the boat and we’re only about a month away now from having a usable galley (we hope). So no reason to move out anymore. Plus I think the daily commute would kill us. We love being right there to either get to work right away, or to quit.
Keep after it guys! I restored my boat and for the first year I didn’t live on it and it was slow going. The second year I did live on it/in it and it went much faster. Just being there and having the ability to knock all the little things out. Much of what I did I posted on cruise forum. Just Google 60 ft on the Chesapeake, it should pop up. Good luck!
Thank you Scott! I can’t even imagine how hard it would be to pull ourselves out of a comfortable apartment each day to trudge down here and get work done on the boat. Living on it every day definitely is motivation to keep things moving.
I am sure this must be quite an experience living in a boat while remodeling it! I know this experience and it is like growing with the house you are actually remodeling when you live there all the time. Its like seeing the child grow and turn into a full blown adult right before your eyes.
HI
I watched your “45 Degree Nights on the Boat – Sailing Ireland’s South Coast (MJ Sailing – Ep 111)” and noticed how Jessica was attached by a tether to the boat. The tether has two lengths (likely 3 foot and 6 foot) and the 6 foot was attached to the boat and the 3 foot was attached to one of D rings the harness. The snap shackle (to which the 3 and 6 foot lengths are attached) was attached to the other D ring. From what I’ve read this is not safe. In an emergency and one wanted to disconnect the tether from the harness one would release snap shackle. The 3 foot length would then take the stain. With the tether under stain it may not be possible to release the 3 foot length from the D ring. A better arrangement is to attach the unused 3 foot to the snap shackle or the 6 foot length.
In one of you videos I noticed the stem pulpit was build like mine. On checking your web site, I see you have a 1983 Trisalu 37. I own Rover, a 1979 Trisbal 36 and had her stored in Indiantown 2013 and 2014. https://krazysailing.wordpress.com/saturos-2/ I have to insulate Rover. How is Serendipity stay foam insulation holding out. After 4 years, any thoughts on pros/cons? (other than thickness on the frames)
Cheers
David
KrazySailing.WordPress.com
Believe me, I’ve tried to get Jess to hook the tether only to itself and not to the harness in that way, but she always does it anyway 🙂 Funny, a few of the spinnlock tethers sold don’t allow you to disconnect at all… they are a permanently attached item with no release mechanism.
The insulation is working well, but with only 45 degree lows, it’s not much of a test yet. This winter will show if it was enough, or if we should have added an additional inch. I do wish I would have covered the frames as well, but with the wiring and other needs for space, we had to keep those exposed and hope the air gap between the walls and frames is enough.
Matt