Boat Show featuring boats & suppliers

December 24, 2018June 14, 2019

What a year it has been!

2018 was a year to remember!

They say time flies as you get older and 2018 flew by for us. Sadly, we started the year, by saying goodbye to Mac on January 18th – the same day my dad died in 2002. We have been through some tragic times and I have to say that this was one of the most difficult things Scott and I have dealt with. Mac really made an impact on so many people.

This was just the start of the changes we would experience in 2018. Next, we began the hunt for an apartment in the city and purging our belongings. It’s one thing to “talk about your plans”, but it’s another thing when it actually happens! As we were selling our house, we were also hauling out our boat for the first time. What an experience that was!

City Folk

Scott and I have been talking for years about downsizing and living on a boat. Finally, 2018 was a our year to make the move! And what a crazy time this was for us. I was interviewing, we were working on the boat and the house and preparing to move, all at the same time! When it finally all came to fruition, it was a bit surreal, but we were ecstatic. We love our new digs!

With all of our activities living in the city and traveling this summer, Scott and I didn’t get a chance to go on as many boating trips as we would have liked. Living in the city, we took advantage of the sights nearby. Soon after we moved in, we took our annual trip to the Anacortes Boat Show with our good friends Nick and Michelle. This is smaller, intimate boat show and a fun getaway.

2018 Boating Season

Scott and I did start boating season on a trip to Poulsbo in June with our good friends Ben & Maria and what a start it was! We had historical record tides and 22 knot winds. Yet, we made it through Agate Pass and at the marina (yet a bit banged up.)

One of the perks of living in our new apartment, is the view of Lake Union – especially on July 4th! Though we owned a boat, we had no desire to join the mayhem of the lake party. Honestly, I can’t imagine being around that many boats at one time! LOL

Where else did we travel to?

As summer was underway, Scott and I planned a couple more trips. Next was Gig Harbor and this time we stayed at Arabella’s Landing. This is such a nice and easy trip from Seattle and there’s so much to do in Gig Harbor!

We squeezed in another trip to Kingston this summer and traveled with some of our great friends, Randy, Cory, Stacy, Ben and Maria! Kingston offers concerts on the lawn at the marina, so it’s always a great time!

Once we returned from Kingston, we put Kokomo up for sale. We had only planned on owning the boat for one summer, as we prep for moving onto our live-aboard. Over Labor Day Weekend, we went through the locks one more time and enjoyed Lake Washington before we said goodbye to Kokomo.

Going under the Montlake Bridge

Of course, this was right after we broke down in our marina! LOL That’s a funny story in itself. Why? Well, because I had just joined Lake Union Sea Ray and I called them to go diagnose the issue. Find out what happened here.

Good Bye to Kokomo, Friends and Elliott Bay Marina

Within a few weeks of listing Kokomo, we got an offer from a really nice couple. Now was time to say goodbye to not only the boat, but all of our friends at Elliott Bay Marina. It’s funny how close you all can become in just a matter of a year. We know we’ll be back soon, but it was still a pretty emotional day for us.

Olympic Mountains

As the year comes to end, Scott and I are thankful for all of the great memories we had on Kokomo. We are continuing to look for our liveaboard and more importantly, a slip that will hold a 50’+ boat. In the meantime, I am loving my new job at Union Marine and gearing up for the Seattle Boat Show in January. Then we are headed to the Caribbean on a 7 day cruise through the Leeward Islands on the tall ship Star Flyer with our good friends Ben and Maria in March! We can’t wait.

Just this week, we learned that our blog has been selected by Feedspot as one of the Top 20 Boat Blogs on the web. How cool is that!

https://blog.feedspot.com/boat_blogs/

Keep following us for new updates in the New Year! Thank you for all of your support this year and we look forward to sharing our journey with you. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Cheers, Scott and Ally

September 24, 2018October 4, 2018

Boats Afloat Show 2018

The Last Boats Afloat Show for Awhile

This past weekend, Scott and I attended the Annual Boats Afloat Show 2018 on Lake Union. Sadly, it will be the last Boats Afloat for awhile, as the marina and businesses are being re-developed by Vulcan. We first attended Boats Afloat seven years ago when we got the bug to buy a catamaran.

This year was a bit different for me, as I worked the show for the first time. Remember, I just joined Lake Union Sea Ray as their Marketing Manager. One of my job responsibilities is to decorate the boats and make them look top notch. Not only am I lucky enough to be immersed in boating and marketing, but I’m also part of a fun and dynamic team!

Boats, Boats and Boats – What are we looking for?

This boat show is unique and one of the largest floating shows on the west coast. It featured over 225 boats including cruisers, sport boats, fishing boats, trawlers, yachts, dinghies and sailing boats. After attending the show for so many years, Scott and I decided to focus more on what we might be looking for, not what we were dreaming of. (But I captured some of that too!)

I worked on our Sea Ray 510 Fly yacht for a couple of days. Yes, I could work here every day!

Lake Union Sea Ray featured eighteen boats including our Boston Whaler, Sea Ray, MasterCraft and brokerage boats. While I might be a bit biased, I did feel we had one of the best selections of boats for every lifestyle.

Boats Afloat Show — Sea Ray 350 Sundancer Coupe

boats afloat 2018 — Boston Whaler 320 Vantage

The Hunt for a Liveaboard

Looking at a Trawler

Our dock neighbor Jules has been telling us over and over, that we need to look at trawlers. As most of you know, I do not like trawlers. Of course, if someone were to give me a 55′ Selene or Fleming, then I might reconsider! But those are way out of our price range. Scott and I did look a Selene during the show.

Everything inside was gorgeous, but it just isn’t my style at all. It would be similar to those people who love a really old house versus a super modern house. You just know what you like and what feels right. This is the type of boat that is rugged, yet comfortable and designed for ocean crossings.

Yes, the engine room is adjacent to the master stateroom, but at least you can stand up in it!

Okay, Let’s look at one more

We also checked out a 1998 57′ Nordhavn Trawler. Keep in mind, that both Selene and Nordhavn are highly rated trawlers.

Enter the galley and the first thing I noticed was the boat had a Thermador stove / oven!! Now we’re talking.

It did have a large settee for entertaining too.

And the master stateroom was very roomy and comfortable.

The dream boat

One of the fun things about attending a boat show, is you can tour some of the big yachts. Nowadays, Scott and I don’t waste our time waiting in line for a tour. But on Saturday, there were no lines for Conundrum, so I couldn’t resist. This is a 2007 67′ Regency Yacht and the sales price is only $1,395,000. We could certainly live on this boat! I took a video of it, but no photos. So be sure to watch our tour on YouTube.

We did look at a 2017 70′ Ocean Alexander and it was only $3,195,000. It was beautiful and the door hinge would definitely keep the water out if you capsized!

Here’s another hinge on a trawler!

Scott checked out this trawler. I told him, don’t get any ideas! While it is not my style on the outside, the inside was gorgeous, including the galley.

Other vendors

One thing I always do at boat shows, is visit with the other vendors besides boat sales. I stumbled upon a company called Color Glo Marine.

Basically, if your vinyl is worn out, they will match the color and restore it. In the photo below, he had just restored the left corner of the bench yesterday. It used to look like the middle square!

This year, Boats Afloat had a live band playing and the mood was more festive than in years past. We really lucked out with the weather, as it stayed dry almost the entire time.

What about a Sailboat?

Scott and I still plan on retiring on a catamaran, but we did look at a monohull at the show, just to see what it was like. This sail boat was a 2019 Jeanuneau 490 and it had lots of space. We also liked the fact that the deck was pretty roomy and comfy. To give you some perspective, this 49′ boat new is $519k.

Okay, so we looked at boats – now what?

Great question! I will say that I was a bit distracted this show, as I was working it and not thinking about finding our next boat. But we did use the show to try and open our minds to a trawler – that didn’t happen.

We do have a plan (sort of) and we will share that with you in our next blog. The new owners of Kokomo will be moving the boat from Elliott Bay Marina this week and over to her new home on Lake Washington.

In the upcoming blogs, we’ll also share some of our favorite drink recipes and how life has been living in the city in small apartment. So stay tuned!

Watch Episode #23 below for a full tour of the boat show!

Thank you for following us! Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Cheers, Scott and Ally

#BoatingJourney

August 15, 2018August 16, 2018

Boating Journey on YouTube

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel?

Many of our followers don’t realize that we also have a YouTube channel. Scott and I will admit, that we are certainly not “YouTubers”. The objective of both our blog and YouTube channel is simply to document our journey. Along the way, we decided to share it with friends, family and many more.

At the same time, I’m a perfectionist and want to update our channel with higher quality videos and productions. In fact, for my birthday last week, Scott gave me a really fun tool for taking videos with my phone! It’s a DJI Osmo Mobile 2 Handheld Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizer Ultimate Travelers Bundle, which allows me to take more stable videos! I’m so excited to try it out.

Creating our Channel

At first, we posted our early videos on my personal channel and then we created our own channel for Boating Journey. We are trying to grow our subscriber base to over 100, so we can get a custom channel. So please subscribe, if you haven’t already.

Thanks to other videos on YouTube, Scott was able to learn how to change the oil, winterize the dinghy motor and a few other maintenance items. Our goal with our channel is to share operating tips, but also information about different destinations we visit.

Our first videos

When we first posted videos, we hadn’t planned on creating “episodes”. They were merely informational and quick clips, starting with our first trip through Deception Pass.

Scott and I went through Deception Pass for the first time last summer and everyone told us horror stories before hand. So we were pretty nervous, but as you can see it was very smooth.

When we posted our video going through the Ballard Locks for the first time, we decided that would be episode #1. Unfortunately, there was so much smoke, that the video has an eerie feel to it.

Originally, I had posted the video of me docking for the first time on my personal channel and it has over 2000 views! Eventually, I added it to Boating Journey, where it actually belongs. It was such a great day of practicing and I’m glad we decided to capture it. (Notice the first three videos all say “for the first time”?)

Watching episode #2 is why I wanted the Gimbal Stabilizer. This video doesn’t do the scenery justice as it was so incredibly beautiful and festive that night.

Creating Content Videos for Our Viewers

Starting the new year, one of our goals was to make our videos more informative to our viewers. That began with the Seattle Boat Show, which was definitely a rough first attempt to say the least. Again, using the gimbal stabilizer will make such a big difference!

Our most viewed videos have been our haul out series, beginning with our haul out with a broken prop, then checking on the status and bringing the boat home.

After moving into our new apartment, our content changed a bit. We shared videos of our move, getting ready for boating season and touring Seattle.

Destinations

This year, we visited only three ports: Poulsbo, Gig Harbor and Kingston. You can checkout our footage of each of them on our channel. One of our favorite destinations is always Kingston, as it’s close to Seattle and they offer a free concert on the lawn.

So thank you for following our blog and please subscribe and “Like” our videos on YouTube. See the Like and Subscribe Buttons below – simply click on them.

Our next goal is to buy a high quality drone to take more awesome videos too.

Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @BoatingJourney. Stay tuned for the next update – so much is happening right now!
Cheers, Scott and Ally

#BoatingJourney #KokomoSeattle

August 10, 2018August 10, 2018

Our Boat is For Sale!

Our Boat is For Sale!

Scott and I announced yesterday that we officially put our boat up for sale and folks are asking so many questions. So we wanted to address those and also give some information about Kokomo.

Let’s go back to where it all began about two years ago. We have always wanted to sell our home and move onto a liveaboard. But then I realized that Scott hadn’t ever slept on a boat, so we decided to get a “weekender” first. That’s when we bought Kokomo. It was merely temporary, as is our new apartment.

More than a “Weekender”

I must admit though, this boat has been more than just a weekender. I suppose you could live on it, as it has a place (many actually) to sleep, a kitchen, full bath with shower, television with digital antenna and outdoor dining. What more do you need in a home? (Just kidding of course).

But this has been such a great boat for Scott and I. We have traveled to many ports in Washington with friends and family, creating awesome memories. If we weren’t planning on buying a liveaboard, we would keep this boat for a long time.

But we put so much money into it this year?

This past March, we hauled out and did a lot of work to the boat. We wanted the bottom painted along with the stern drives. We put brand new propellers on it and zincs.

We had the engines tuned up and the trim tabs adjusted. It needed to be done, whether we kept it or sold it. Honestly, this boat is in much better shape than when we bought it a year ago, considering it is 18 years old.

Scott and I also added a few things, like new speakers, brand new 150 quart cooler, Magma grill and all of the accessories for the galley.

What is our timeline?

By selling the boat now, someone can enjoy her until early November. Scott and I went boating all last Fall. In fact, I learned to dock the boat last November.

Remember, we did a lot of prep work for the winter and checked on it almost every weekend. We did all this because we wanted the boat to be in perfect shape come Spring. But if we are buying another boat in February or March, I would rather not have to worry about a boat I won’t own. Selfish, I know.

Here is the official listing with NW Yachts and our broker Eddie Sauthoff. He has truly helped us throughout this entire journey, beginning back when we first met at the Seattle Boat Show years ago.

CLICK HERE:

Please feel free to share this blog with any friends and family that might be looking to buy a boat. Stay tuned for the next chapter in our journey!

Thank you for following us! Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Cheers, Ally and Scott

May 21, 2018June 1, 2018

Anacortes Boat Show 2018

Attending The Anacortes Boat Show 2018

Every year, Scott and I attend the Anacortes Boat Show with our good friends, Nick and Michelle. It used to be held in the Fall and recently was moved to the Spring. Last year, we had already looked at our boat, Kokomo before the show, but thought we should still check out a few more options. Turns out, Kokomo was still the favorite and we made a offer while we were in Anacortes.

Everyone has been asking us if we are in the market for another boat now. Our answer is that boat owners are always in the market for something bigger. For us, it’s a strategic reason. The reason we sold our house and moved into an apartment, is so we can make sure we like living in small living quarters as we plan on moving onto a live-aboard in a year. (Well, that’s the plan at least). Scott and I hope to find a boat that is about 50′-55′ for our live-aboard, which is nearly twice the length of what we have now (31′).

We would like to find a transition boat around 38′ – 42′ that we can still moor at Elliott Bay Marina. The issue now is, inventory is low because it’s peak season and the marina is also starting to fill up. So our take on the situation is if we find the right boat, great. If not, we still have our fantastic boat that’s ready for boating season!

Fidalgo Island

Did you know that Anacortes is actually on Fidalgo Island? You cross a very small body of water, so it doesn’t really seem like an island. We love Downtown Anacortes as it is small and quaint.

The food is great and the drinks are always flowing. Our favorite pub is the Brown Lantern Tavern. We had a special treat this year with an acapella group performance! Be sure to check out our full episode on our YouTube channel at the end of this post.

This year we stayed at the Sunrise Inn Villas & Suites and I have to say this was one of our favorites for the price. In the past we have stayed at motels, because they accept pets and we always had Mac. While there is the Majestic Inn, we didn’t want to spend $250/night knowing that we wouldn’t be in our room much. The great thing about the Sunrise Inn is that it was walking distance to both the show at Cap Sante Marina and downtown Anacortes.

For breakfast, our favorite place is the Calico Cupboard Old Town Café and if you love donuts, be sure to check out the Donut House. They are open 24 hours and no matter the time, we always make a stop there.

The First Annual Anacortes Boat Show

Okay, I know you are wondering why it says “first annual” if we have been coming for years? Well, this year the show was organized by the Seattle Boat Show and they charged for attending the show (in the past it was free). In the past, they had a small vendor tent and mostly used trawlers & sailboats to view.

This year, they had many more vendor booths in the tent and they had brought in a lot of brand new boats up from Lake Union. Our friends, Nick and Michelle have been smitten with a Catalina sail boat and in fact, found a fantastic one at the show! We hope they buy it and moor it next to us at Elliott Bay Marina!

Looking for a new boat

Scott and I were on the hunt for the elusive 38′ – 42′ cruiser, but to no avail. We did tour two brand new boats from Prestige and Four Winns. But at $500k, they are out of our price range. But it was fun to check them out and see all of their awesome features and upgrades. The funny thing is our own broker, Eddie has three 38′ SeaRays listed and we are going to try and have him show them to us. So stay tuned.

We really lucked out with the weather this year as it was warm and sunny. At 4pm they opened the Wine & Beer Garden and each attendee received a free drink! Anacortes Brewing was pouring their beers and they were fantastic. Cheers to that!

When we toured the Seattle Boat Show, we visited with the vendors at the beginning of the show. Since I didn’t want to walk around all day carrying stuff, I didn’t buy anything from the vendors. One of the vendors there was Nauti Girl and I really wanted their t-shirt. Luckily for me, they were at Anacortes and I got two awesome shirts finally!

Anacortes is only about two hours north of Seattle and we were back home on Sunday by 12pm. It’s definitely a fun show to attend that gets you in the mood for boating season.

Watch our full tour on our YouTube Channel below:

Stay tuned for our next blog as we spend the Memorial Day weekend on the boat! PS Can you believe it was a year ago this weekend that we took possession of Kokomo? How time flies!

Thank you for following us and be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube! You can also check out our Patreon Site HERE.

Cheers,

Scott & Ally

#BoatingJourney #KokomoSeattle

April 16, 2018April 24, 2018

Leaving the Boat Yard

Finally Leaving the Boat Yard

It’s been six weeks and Kokomo is finally leaving Seaview Boat Yard. As a new boater, we have gotten lots of advice and tips from fellow boaters. Hopefully this story will help others too.

Before we selected Seaview, we asked for recommendations in the Seattle area and there were just a few that would work for us. With our broken prop, we had no choice but to go to Seaview, as they were the closest to our marina. As you might remember, we met them at the Seattle Boat Show and they had a great haul out deal of 50% off the haul out and 20% off labor with any bottom paint package. The staff at the boat yard was very friendly, but they don’t move too fast. Luckily for us, the weather was horrible for the past month, so it didn’t impact us too much.

As I mentioned in our last blog, the boat yard had finished painting the bottom and the engines two weeks ago and my nephew and his dad waxed it for us last week. This saved us significant money. We paid Spencer $800 and the boat yard wanted $1700! He and his dad, did a fantastic job!

Sterndrives look new!

Our sterndrives were painted too and they look amazing compared to before. They installed our new Bravo II props last week and compared to the props they pulled off, wow!

There was a boat next to us in the yard and check out the mussels growing on his engine and trim tabs!

So what does all this cost in the end?

What’s funny about boat maintenance is everyone loves to say that BOAT stands for “bring on another thousand”. But if you are a boater, you know that and expect it. So did we have any surprises this time? A few. Here’s the final breakdown of all of the work. I will say that the boat yard, originally charged us for 24 hours to paint the stern drives and we questioned it. They adjusted the bill to 18 hours.

Bottom Paint Package, including parts & labor $806
Bottom Paint Seahawk Sharkskin Black 1.25 gallons $235
Replace Anodes incl labor $336
Prep & Paint Sterndrives $1805
10 point inspection (see below for what that incl) $121
Pull & install new props $1315
Boat Show Discount <$605>
Misc fees & taxes $594

Seaview Boat Yard Total $4608

We also hired a Mercruiser mechanic to inspect the engines and also tune them up. His cost was about $800.

So overall, the entire haul out cost us $6200 and we had estimated about $5000. Not ever having done this before, our estimate wasn’t that far off.

Communicating with the boat yard

Our biggest issue with Seaview was their lack of communication. We had to call almost every day to find out what the status was. Then finally last Thursday, they called to say the props were on and they were scheduling the haul out for 1pm the next day. I was shocked, because we were still waiting on the 10 pt inspection and the trim tab work. On top of that, there was a small craft advisory for Friday afternoon and neither of us were able to move it on short notice anyways.

Then they called back an hour later saying the inspection was done and that they would put it in a slip for us to pick up over the weekend. Scott and I went down to the boat yard on Friday evening to pay our final bill and confirm everything. The weather was horrible and now we just prayed it would be nice over the weekend.

What does the 10 pt inspection include?

Since we have never had one done, we only know what Seaview includes. It was a quick checklist that they gave back to us.

Check Bottom Paint, zincs, shaft, thru hulls, knot meter/depth sounder condition, grounding damage, thruster/trim tabs
Paint/Scratches, gel coat punctures, boot stripe condition
Interior thru hulls/valve condition, galley, head, electronics, hose clamps, linkage/cable condition, bilge area

What were their findings?

Stiff steering
Head pick up valve is stiff
Port trim tab in operable – possible relay

So nothing too major to worry about this time.

Finally leaving the boat yard

Scott and I looked at the forecast and we had a small weather window on Sunday, April 15th. While many of you might be thinking, “what’s the big deal? It’s Springtime in the PNW and the weather is fine”. Not so much!

According to the NW Weather Service, with the first two weeks of April, this month is now the fourth wettest April in 120 years! Read more here.

Luckily, Sunday morning arrived with sunny, blue skies and calm waters. I dropped Scott and Kurt off at Seaview and then drove back to Elliott Bay Marina to meet them. I guess the boat was hauling, as they beat me back to the marina!

We docked stern first, so we can clean the dinghy and also the top of the starboard side of the boat. Next Sunday is supposed to be sunny, so Scott and I will head down to clean the boats, inside and out.

We still have no update on our house or our move, so stay tuned for that. Until then, thank you for following us! Please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Cheers! Scott & Ally

#KokomoSeattle #BoatingJourney

November 30, 2017November 30, 2017

Finding our boat slip at Elliott Bay Marina

Finding the Perfect Boat Slip

How did we pick out our boat slip? It occurred to me yesterday, that throughout this entire journey I never really talked much about how we picked Elliott Bay Marina for the home of our boat Kokomo.

Let’s go back to my blog that I wrote in August 2016 about “Live Aboard Marinas“. Scott and I realized that not only were we challenged with finding the right boat, but also finding a place to moor it! I talked about the buying process in our blog “We’re Finally Boat Owners“. The entire process reminded me of when we started our wine shop. In order to get a liquor license you had to have a lease. In order to get a lease, we had to have a liquor license. Crazy.

At the last Seattle Boat Show we attended, we met with Elliott Bay Marina and Fisherman’s Terminal. Both were very helpful and eager to help us in a pinch. In the end, Elliott Bay Marina had nicer facilities, secured docks and the views were unmatched. Yes, the monthly moorage is a bit higher, but worth it to us. They also allowed us to reserve a spot before we owned the boat.

We found the marina, now what slip?

In all of the books I have read, one thing I have learned is the importance of liking your slip and slip mates. Scott and I went down to Elliott Bay Marina on a sunny Saturday and met with Jordan and Brandon at the harbor masters office. They gave us a sheet with available slips and we then walked the docks N and M.

N Dock is the last dock on the east side of the marina towards Seattle. All of the large yachts dock on the outside of N during the summer.

Our objective in looking for a slip

Scott and I had two objectives in finding our slip. One, was to find one with a view of downtown Seattle. We knew that would be tough with all of the yachts on Dock N. What we didn’t know at the time (because they hadn’t arrived yet), was that the cruise ships would ruin that come summer anyway.

Our second objective, was to find a slip that either didn’t have a slip mate or one that had a small boat. Since we were new boaters, we did not want to have to dock next to nice boats. We walked up and dock docks N and M and took photos of different slips. Most of the slips we ruled out due to the slip mates, like this beautiful tug from Ranger Tugs.

The marina had told us that even if the slips were empty, they would be occupied by summer. With that said, we took our chances and selected M95.

If you look really hard, you can see the Columbia Tower in the distance. It didn’t really occur to us at the time, that our bloat slip M95 was a quarter mile walk to the parking lot. Well, at least we get our exercise now. The other thing we didn’t realize at the time, was “how we had to get into the fairway” on our boat. Read all about that journey in this blog.

Eventually, we did get a slip mate (an aluminum fishing boat) about halfway through the summer. That was a funny story too!

Summer is over and now what?

Now that it’s winter time, many boats are gone. It’s like a ghost town at our end of the dock. In fact, our aluminum boat neighbor moved into a boat slip much closer to the parking lot a few weeks ago. I figure, we need the exercise and I still love the view of Seattle. It is definitely hard on our old golden retriever Mac as he can’t walk that far these days. Unfortunately, he is declining at a rapid pace and doesn’t spend any time on the boat these days.

We found out this week that the boats all decorate for Christmas and there is a contest for the best decorated boat. Of course plugging in a bunch of holiday lights freaks me out as you know from my previous blogs. So we’ll just put up a few to be festive. We are looking forward to the holiday party and meeting other boaters. Stay tuned for the photos of the event!

Cheers, Scott and Ally #KokomoSeattle

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November 6, 2017August 15, 2018

Boating Must Haves

It’s been six months – what are our boating must haves now?

When Scott and I started shopping for our boat, we were still trying to figure out what type of boat to buy. At that time, we didn’t really think too much about what we “had to have” on the boat, other than a few basics (head, bed, etc). Since we took possession of our Bayliner Ciera 3055, Kokomo in May 2017 we have slept on the boat 27 nights or almost a full month. This has certainly given us some perspective on life living aboard a boat.

Currently our plan is to sell this boat next Spring and upgrade to a larger boat. What size you ask? We haven’t decided that yet. Scott and I have talked about finally selling our home and moving onto a live aboard, but that’s a big jump. That boat would have to be at least 48′ for us to live on it.

Boat Must Haves

What we do know now that we have spent time on our current boat, are the things we wish we had. When you are home, you take for granted simple things such as using the toilet, washing dishes, getting a glass of water, etc. Think about the things you do the most at home and see if those are also important to you if you spent any time on a boat.

This Bayliner Ciera 3055 is perfect for a long weekend or short vacations, but it’s not designed to be lived on. I consider it an upgraded camping experience.

Toilet

First off, let’s address the topic of the toilet. Our boat has a brand new Thetford toilet, but it’s a manual hand pump and the first weekend we were on it, someone clogged it. After that, a rule was created, which was that no toilet paper can go in the toilet. This obviously is not a rule we like. Scott and I want the comforts of home, so a dependable toilet will be on the list.

At each boat show, we have talked to numerous sanitation suppliers. For toilets, your choices are a manual, electric or vacuum flush. Right now we are leaning towards an efficient vacuum flush toilet (one that doesn’t use too much water). Top brands on our list right now are VacuFlush and Lavac. Our toilet is a salt water toilet. This means that the water comes in from outside when you flush, so you don’t have to worry about using up your fresh water. However, a salt water toilet has more maintenance issues as salt water can calcify inside the plumbing and holding tank. Below is a head on a boat we saw at the boat show – comforts of home.

Water

The fresh water tank on Kokomo holds 30 gallons and the hot water heater holds 6 gallons. This is potable water, but ideally I would like a filter for the water too. Remember, our toilet is using seawater, so that is not a factor in our water usage. But you would be amazed as to how much water you go through when washing hands (often), doing dishes and filling up dog bowls. Kokomo has three fresh water faucets and we use them frequently. If we spend three days on the boat, we need to fill up our tank by the third day.

What’s the solution to this? Install a water maker. These systems use reverse osmosis to convert seawater to fresh water. They are a bit expensive, but definitely worth the price. When we fill up our fresh water tanks with water, we use a special anti-bacterial ZERO-G Hose. The fresh water input in located on the starboard side. Our boat is docked on the port side, so to do this, we have to hang over the edge with the hose to fill it. It’s a pain in the butt.

Having a water maker on board, gives us a number of benefits that also make life easier.

Shower

Our boat has a shower and the curtain does separate it from the toilet area, but honestly everything still would get wet. In addition, with only a 6 gallon hot water tank and a 30 gallon fresh water tank, we would run out of water pretty fast. Having a water maker on board with a larger hot water tank, would alleviate that issue. Looking at larger boats at shows, we also want a separate shower stall.

Ice Maker

At Elliott Bay Marina, we have a fully stocked store at the fuel dock. In fact, they have a great selection of wine and beer. However, the store is six docks away and it’s a long walk. Every time we stay on boat, we have to go get ice as our freezer is very small. Friends of ours converted their outdoor faucet in the cockpit to an ice maker. Who needs three sinks anyways. Great idea!

Comfortable Bed

Like I said earlier, our boat is perfect for a long weekend as it’s an upgraded camping trip. But it’s not meant to be lived on. At home we have an expensive mattress which is very comfortable. Moving on board we would definitely invest in a high quality comfortable mattress. There are many custom mattress companies out there. Then there is also a company called Froli Sleep Systems. They make a unique spring type of foundation that goes under your mattress for support and circulation. You would use this system in addition to a high quality mattress.

Oven

Lastly, we would have to have some type of oven on board. Many boats come with a microwave / convection oven combo. Ideally, since I love to cook, I would love to have a stand alone oven. Here are some dream ovens we have seen on boats.

I could live on this boat! This is bigger than my kitchen at home!

Of course, we will not be able to have any of these galleys or ovens in our price range, but a girl can dream! What will the galley most likely look like? Probably like these below.

If you have any “must haves” not on this list, please share with us. Just like a home, we can always add items, but it would be great to find one with everything we want.

Stay tuned for our next blog about philanthropic boating organizations. Cheers, Scott and Ally #BoatingJourney

September 19, 2017

Boats Afloat Show 2017

Boats Afloat Show 2017 on Lake Union

Scott and I attend the Boats Afloat Show each year. Seattle has two main boat shows, one in January and the other in September. The January show is held at the convention with a floating show on Lake Union. Then in September, they do just the floating show. This is a great show, because the weather is normally nice and you get to tour some larger vessels, typically 45′ and up.

Now that we have owned our Bayliner Ciera 3055, Kokomo for five months, we feel comfortable making the next step. Remember, the main reason we bought THIS boat was to make sure we liked boating and sleeping on it. We are hoping to find a larger boat that we might be able to live on, come spring time. While at the Boats Afloat Show, we looked for boats and features that would work for us.

Check out the SeaRay 48′ Sundancer

The Sea Ray Sundancer is not set up for a liveaboard. However, we were curious to see how this “weekender” was set up in comparison to our Bayliner 3055.

The cockpit and deck is very roomy. What was really cool about this model, is the captain’s seat swivels towards the other seats on deck, so everyone can mingle.

The beam (the width of the boat) is just under 15′. To compare, our boat is about 11′.

With the extra 4′, it is much roomier inside the cabin, than on our boat (of course, this boat is also 48′ long).

Our boat for comparison:

I did love the size of the galley and all of its’ counter space. I mean, I guess you really could live on this if you wanted to. In addition, it had a two burner stove tope with a microwave / oven combo.

The main stateroom was in the V-Berth and very roomy for two people.

The main head had a separate shower stall which is nice. Having a separate shower stall keeps the rest of the head dry.

In the aft berth, the Sea Ray Sundancer has two full size beds.

Overall, this was a very nice “weekender” as we call it. It would certainly be much more comfortable than our current boat, but we didn’t pay $515,000 for our boat!

Scott and I walked the entire show. We ran into our broker, Eddie from NW Yachts and he had some recommendations for us too look at. Of course, this will have to wait until next spring! Did I mention that my job was eliminated in August and now I’m job hunting? Oh yeah, that too.

Dream Yachts

Not really seeing anything that we liked, Scott and I were about to head home when we stumbled upon M/Y Gal Sal, a 1998 NorthCoast Custom Yacht for $939k. This yacht is moored at our marina, Elliott Bay Marina on G Dock. We walk by it every time we go to the fuel dock. Now we have our chance to take a peek at what she looks like on the inside! Trust me, she did not disappoint us!

I think we could live on this boat, what do you think? It’s hard to see in the photo below, but right next to Scott is the dining room with six chairs. The opening on the left is the pass through to the galley.

The oven on this yacht is bigger than mine at home!

I got so caught up in the beauty of this yacht, that I failed to take a lot of photos. But I did manage to get one of the main head with his and hers sinks!

If you needed to do engine work, there’s plenty of room!

From the helm, there was lots of visibility for the captain.

Modern Day Yachts

For kicks and giggles, we decided to tour the 2017 Presitige 750 which was about $3 million. The decor was modern and very sleek.

Here’s a funny story about our tour of this yacht – not really! I get that there are hundreds of people looking at boats and most of them are “looky loos”. However, the broker doesn’t know who is actually in the market to buy a yacht. After I took the photo below, Scott went into the galley and opened the fridge to look in. Within seconds the broker, who was standing where I took this photo, shouts “It’s a Fridge!!”

I looked at him and said, “why are you shouting that at him?” and his reply was that they didn’t want hundreds of people opening the fridge. Are you thinking what I am at this point? If that’s the case, why don’t you put a note on the fridge that says “Please don’t open”?! He was so rude, that if we were in the market, we certainly would not buy from this guy!

Yes, this foot belongs to the rude yacht broker

The yacht was very modern and sleek. We toured this yacht with our marina neighbors, who own a 75′ yacht. In their opinion, this modern look will be outdated in a few years. (Remember the yachts of the 1980’s and the disco lighting?).

Overall, it was interesting to visit a boat show as boat owners (finally!). The big Seattle Boat Show is this January and they will have two satellite shows, one on Lake Union and the other at Bell Harbor. At that show, they will have supply vendors showcasing their products, which will be a great resource for us. Stay tuned! Scott & Ally on Kokomo

January 30, 2017November 7, 2017

It’s a New Year with a Plan…..Finally!

Boat Buying Plan!

We finally have a boat buying plan! As we mentioned in our last blog after our trip to Annapolis in October, our boat plans changed slightly. We basically have always had two plans that we put together years ago:

Live on a catamaran and sail the Caribbean and Pacific when we retire. That plan is still on!
In order to save money, sell our home, our belongings and live on a boat in the PNW – that is now on hold.

We put the liveaboard idea on hold and have decided to make sure that both of us are comfortable spending lots of time on the water together. I have boating experience, but Scott does not. So we have decided to buy a weekend cabin cruiser this spring.

Okay, so now we have somewhat of a plan and off to the Seattle Boat Show we went this weekend. Buying a boat, is very much (in a weird way) like having kids and planning for it. For example, you need to have a spot to moor the boat, even before you buy one. It’s not like buying a house. There are certain steps you have to take, but we are still not sure of the order.

Boat Buying Process

Budget / Loan- well, we have a budget in mind, but if we decide to finance part of the boat, then it’s the bank that will determine what they will lend based on the age and make of the boat. Typically, lenders don’t “pre-approve” you, but instead, you find a boat and then go get the loan. (Odd.)
Moorage – you have to find a marina to store your boat once you buy it. We checked with 5 different marinas at the show and all but 2 of them had a wait list. Luckily, one marina said they would take care of us with no issues and to concentrate on finding the boat, rather the marina. That’s a nice option. Ideally, we want to be in Everett as it is closer to our family’s place on Camano Island. But they have an 8 month wait.
Boat – basically we are looking at two different styles, depending on what we think we will enjoy the most. We’ll look at the two styles later in this blog.
Training. It’s been over 17 years since I owned a boat and Scott has no experience. With that said, we can’t just go buy a boat and start driving it! We met with both the US Coast Guard and the US Power Squadrons yesterday. The USCG will do a training safety seminar in one day, for about $30/pp. But that doesn’t show you how to maneuver your boat, dock it, learn currents/wind, etc. USPS will do a very detailed training, along with a hands on training prior to buying your boat. This will be the route we take.
Timing – of course we want to be on the water come June 1st…..prime boating season. This means there will be no deals on boats and mooring will be at a premium. We’d like to do it sooner, but it won’t make sense based on our upcoming schedule.

What kind of boat?

So back to the boat. For the past six years we have traveled to boat shows all over including Miami and Annapolis. We have been set on a path looking for a liveaboard, which is not a weekend cabin cruiser. Talk about changing things up! The two styles we are looking at are:

Older Motoryacht 32′-38′ (1990-1999). Here we have a few options to consider. There are plenty of Bayliner MY out there (and yes, the Bayliner haters are going to make comments) and the fact remains that we won’t be crossing any oceans in this vessel and for the money you get a lot of boat that’s comfortable. Carver is another boat we are considering. The nice thing about the motoryacht style, is the salon is cozy and perfect for our dreary weather. It is also upstairs, so you can enjoy the view versus being down below at the water level. We plan on boating even when it’s not nice out. Our plan is to spend as many weekends we can on the boat, even if it’s in the marina, to get a feel for liveaboard life. The boat below is a 1997 Carver 320 Voyager.

The one thing to consider with a boat like this, is there is not a lot of space to sit on the stern for entertainment. There is up on the fly bridge….but you have to haul your “stuff” up there, like your glass of wine, cheese and crackers. 😉

“Weekenders” – these boats are great for enjoying with groups of people and spending most of your time outdoors. The downstairs cabin is simply for sleeping and cooking. These are not necessarily less expensive than a motoryacht. We looked at a 38′ SeaRay and it was over $100k! Below is a 1997 Sea Ray 330 Sundancer.

Lots of outdoor seating for everyone!

As you can see, we have to make a decision as to what type of boat will work best for us. Then go out and find it over the next four months! In the meantime, we’ll get our training done so we are ready!

I will be sure to share with you our step by step process in making this all work, so that other new boaters have a good resource.

Stay tuned……as the next blog, we could be new boat owners! Cheers, Scott & Ally