That Kind of Girl

I never thought I’d be that kind of girl… you know, the one who gets her nails done every other day, the girl that has a “colorist,” the type that has a different pair of sunglasses for each outfit. But today I did something that put me dangerously close to being the kind of girl my friend Brian calls an HMB (the H and M stand for High-Maintenance).

I bought Duncan clothes. And not something purely functional like a life jacket. He now has a cable knit sweater, and a cute little fleece hoodie. We just couldn’t help it!


Duncan in his Search and Rescue hoodie, which is perfectly appropriate - he looks just like a rugged mountain dog that would assist in avalanche rescues, don't you think? Squint your eyes, nod politely, and play along, please.



Little Blue Riding Hood

In our defense, it’s getting colder and although the boat has heat, the heater runs on diesel, so we don’t like to leave it on while we’re gone. However, poor little Duncan is on the boat all day. At the coldest it gets down to the 50’s, which isn’t so bad… but we still feel a bit guilty.

So instead of suffering through the chill, Duncan has to suffer through the indignity of being dressed up like a doll. But a very cute and well-dressed doll!

We've said it before: It's a rough life being a boat dog.

Sleep with one eye open

Boat owners, beware. There’s a monster out there, lurking under every piece of carpet, next to every shower, under every hose, near every skylight. You can lock the doors, seal the seams, and close the windows tight. But the Rotten Wood Monster will still get in. We’ve never actually seen him, but this is what his footprint looks like:


The beautiful teak on the left is what Tom used to repair the damage. To the right of the teak is classic Monster tracks. Note how the wood is dark and, well, rotten-looking.

He left his first mark on the stern, and Tom had to dig into the freshly painted transom. Then, when the winter rains started last week, the Monster snuck in through unzipped canvas, and crept into the lazarette. Just when you think you’ve taken care of the last bit of rotten wood, you throw your clothes in a corner, and the next morning notice that the edge of your t-shirt is wet… as is the carpet… as is the wood underneath the carpet.

In reality, we haven’t discovered that much rotten wood. Just enough to keep us busy for the next few weekends. Even so, we feel it’s our duty to warn other boatowners. Don’t ever assume you’re safe. Unless of course, you own an aluminum or fiberglass boat, in which case you can go to hell.

-Jessi and Tom

A night at the theater

My parents are in town. We went to Teatro ZinZanni. It's like dinner theater, but they encourage audience participation.


Wheee!!

I was chosen to be her... his... no, her boyfriend for the night. I was surrounded by 200 people trying to eat dinner. I'll go ahead and apologize to them all now.

-Tom

FAQ

When friends and family find out we’re living on a boat, there’s often a standard set of questions we get. Here they are, complete with answers:

Q: Do you have electricity and water?
A: Yes, we are moored at a marina (not floating out in the middle of the lake). Shore power, water, and even cable for TV and internet are available.

Q: Doesn’t it get cold on the boat?
A: Yes, but we have heat. There’s a small diesel heater that heats hot water and sends it to four different zones throughout the boat (salon, aft stateroom, forward stateroom, pilothouse) each of which are thermostatically controlled.

Q: How close are you to other boats at the marina?
A: Very close. Probably a few feet between us and the next boat. Makes docking interesting. However, as far as we can tell we’re the only full-time liveaboard on our dock, which means despite the proximity of neighbors, it’s actually a very quiet neighborhood.

Q: Isn’t it creepy living on a dock? Don’t bad things happen “down by the docks?”
A: It’s not an industrial dock. It’s well-lit, small (about 150’ long), and full of yachts, not scary warehouses.

Q: Don’t you get sick of keeping your food in an icebox?
A: We actually have a real refrigerator. Not full-size, but better than an icebox.

Q: What about laundry?
A: We also have a washer/dryer. A little luxurious for a boat, but this is our home, after all...

Q: Can we come with you to Alaska?
A: Of course! All we ask is for a little help with sanding, scraping, applying epoxy, painting, pressure-washing, polishing, pumping septic tanks, vacuuming, scrubbing, fueling, provisioning, navigating, standing watch, filling water tanks, fixing leaks, paying slip fees, anchoring, cleaning off bird poop, docking, bailing, washing windows, hosing decks, and varnishing.

-Jessi and Tom

Weekends

As mentioned before, we’ve finally finished most of the big projects, but we still have a lot of little projects left to complete. Luckily, the little projects are kinda fun, and not nearly as time-consuming or urgent as, for example, getting the boat painted before winter hits. Therefore, we can put off little projects until the weekend. And even then, we usually spend one weekend day doing fun stuff, and the other day working on the boat.

Last weekend was a perfect example. Saturday we slept in, ate breakfast at CJ’s (best breakfast in Belltown), and then headed out to the Gorge to see G-Love and Jack Johnson. The show was great, made even better by the location. The Gorge Amphitheatre is in central WA, 20 minutes from the nearest town, perched on the cliffs overlooking the Columbia River. An amazing venue:



Sunday was chore day - Tom cleaned the outside of the boat while I cleaned the inside. Stereotypical assignment of chores, sure. But I can't help it! Little does Tom know (although I guess I'm about to blow my cover) I actually like cleaning the inside of the boat. Or rather, I like the results, which makes the chore not so bad. Here’s a pic of the pilothouse, gleaming after a good Pledge polish. Note the yacht log, a great boat-warming gift from Tom’s parents:



Meanwhile, Tom was outside scrubbing all the bird poop off the decks (see why I like to clean the inside?) Ah, the romantic life of living on a boat…



As soon as he finished, I quickly took a picture. Who knows how soon the little birdies will show up to poop all over it again.




Tom is also the one who tucks and smooths our couch slipcover, because he seems to have a flair for making it look perfect. He ties the bow on the corners just so:



Once he’s done smoothing the slipcover, Tom quickly turns on ESPN2, gets his power tools from the engine room, and then goes outside to rev his motorcycle a few times. I can’t imagine why...

-Jessi