When one who is a confirmed live aboard person, if asked about their lifestyle, they usually give the Living the Dream response. What they don’t tell you is that some time that Dream is a nightmare, but then nightmares are actually dreams as well.
So let’s start this new Blog approach with a nice history of our live aboard life. Back at the start of 2016, we were fascinated by a television show called Tiny Houses. After watching several of these shows, where people downsized from large and costly homes to the inexpensive to buy and to maintain, small tiny houses of less than 500 square feet, we thought how nice it would be to rid ourselves of the large monthly mortgage payment, Condo fees, high property taxes and simplify our lives. I mentioned that a motor yacht (40 feet or larger) would provide a similar living space and would have the added nicety of being able to move across the waters of the Eastern Seaboard.
After checking a couple of online boat broker websites, we decided to look at a couple of options in that area. Long story short, we found a boat in Dundalk, MD that suited our need for size and price.
Once we determined that we wanted to acquire this boat, we arranged for a yacht surveyor to conduct a viability survey of the boat. This was a $1,500 dollar deal, and the boat had to be hauled out of the water using a huge Travel-lift unit, the accumulated residue and little sea creatures power washed off the hull to allow the surveyor access in evaluating the status of the hull (blisters in the fiberglass, weak spots around the keel and prop shaft outlets, and a special device to measure any wet areas in the hull signifying any possible areas of deterioration), he also checked the trim tab, rudder and prop surfaces for viability.
Once the boat was back in the water the survey continued and the yacht was checked from bow to stern. We were then ready for a sea trial to check the running gear. The first trial was a bust because the starboard engine overheated and we had to return to the marina on just the port engine. The owner had a new raw water pump impeller installed and we took a second sea trial the following week. This time it went well.
After the second sea trial was a success the next hurdle was to get our condo sold in a timely manner. Interestingly enough, even though our asking price was well over 500k, our condo sold in less than seven days after listing. We had placed our earnest money on the motor yacht about a month prior to the closing on our condo and when the condo sale funds were deposited into our account, we transferred the balance of our offer price to the broker.
The following Saturday we met the broker and his lady and he drove us up to the marina where we were to be joined by my son, his wife and our youngest grand daughter. They were going to ride with us down to the Annapolis area and to the Ginger Creek Yacht Center just off the South River.
The trip started out wonderfully, the broker took us out of the marina as the slip was very convoluted and directly behind were several yachts in the million dollar class. I certainly didn’t want to start my yachting career hitting an expensive boat. Once we turned toward the Chesapeake Bay, I took the helm and was totally enjoying our new live-aboard yacht. But as fate would have it, two hours into the trip, the starboard engine blew. Most of you, who have followed this blog from the early days, know all about the starboard engine blowing up two hours into our voyage down to Annapolis.
We wound up limping into the Gingerville Yacht Center in Edgewater, MD, just off the South River and spent the next six months with the boat “up on the hard” which is boater slang for having your boat hauled out of the water and settled on blocks. She stayed that way from May through September and we spent almost six full months in the local hotel. The Sea Cats were not thrilled with being restricted to a single hotel room day in and day out. But then neither were Charlotte or myself.
The day they finally finished with the engine and had it back into the boat, was a super happy day. Rick (the TravelLift Operator), put the slings under the Misty Lady and lifted her off the blocks. The engine specialists finished up up a couple of things and we put the big girl back in her element, the Water. We put her into a temporary berth and wrapped up a couple of other items, before scheduling a sea trial for the newly installed engine.
During the sea trial, we took the Misty Lady out of the marina and into the South River. Shortly after we got the engines up onto some speed, the diesel specialist noted that the new engine was starting to get a little warmer than normal. So we headed back to the marina, calling the marina owner and they had the Travel Lift available to pull the boat out of the water. We kept her on the Lift’s slings while the technicians evaluated the water intakes, etc. Turned out the “raw water” impeller was worn and needed to be replaced. The tech installed one from the Center’s parts inventory and we put her back in the water to resume the sea trial. This time, all went well and we brought her back to a maintenance slip to begin the process of putting all the pieces back together. The flooring was replaced, the cabinets and appliances along with the sink/faucets were reinstalled. The settee and dining table were installed and the Center staff replaced and resealed the large galley window that were used to remove and replace the engine. Just to give you an idea how large these marine diesels, a photo is below, this is the engine that we bought and prepped to be installed. They weigh several hundred pounds. This picture is when they brought the finished engine back to the yacht center to do the reinstall.
Within a few days of the final, successful sea trial, I signed off on the engine installation, settled up with the diesel specialist and turned the boat over to the yacht center employees to finalize the restoration of the interior and exterior items to their status prior to the engine work.
Once the interior was restored to functional status, the flooring people finished installing the new flooring in the galley area and the forward entry to the guest cabin in the bow area. Finally we were ready to bring our personal items on board, let the Sea Cats be freed from the hotel and removed from their carriers on board their new sea going home. Needless to say they were a bit nonplussed at the different area, having been moved from a single room to a multiple cabin area with a 1,000 square feet of areas to explore. As usual, Penny found an open hatch on the bridge and got underneath the dashboard cowl. Took us a long time to coax her out and to shut down the hatch.
Our plan was to prepare the boat with food, water, snacks and of course COFFEE, then get a good night’s rest in our new master stateroom. Our plan was to leave in two days (Saturday morning) at first light. However, as Mother Nature would show what a capricious being she was, a storm was forecast for that weekend with high winds (gusting to 50 knots) and heavy rains. Being the intelligent captain, we decided to postpone the voyage home for another weekend. As it turned out, we were smart to delay, the winds and rains were fierce and we experienced that living aboard a motor vessel was like in a storm, even though we were securely tied to the dock.
Finally the following weekend we were able to begin the process of heading home to Washington, D.C. and our marina home at the Capital Yacht Club.
The early blogs describe our voyage home, the things we saw and the trip down the Bay and up the Potomac. Blogs following this will describe the many facets of our life as live aboard yachts people. Some will be mundane, others will be interesting, but all will be informative. Especially if any of you are considering joining into the yacht live aboard life.
More to come, keep watching.
Misty Lady Thought and Comment 