Boating Blogs and the adventure of Boating Journey

April 24, 2018August 15, 2018

We sold our house!

We sold our house and we’re finally moving!

Finally, after weeks of living in slow motion, we sold our house! The past five weeks have been a journey that I don’t wish to go through again. As you recall, we listed our house on March 15th and immediately got an offer. But that buyer not only fell through, he disappeared in a matter of hours after the ink dried!

That didn’t help our situation and we sat on the market for over five weeks. Last weekend we were scheduled to do a sunset open house Friday night and then another on Sunday. On the Thursday before the open houses, we had a request to view the house. This couple stayed in the house for over an hour – that’s a good sign! They gave us a full price offer that day and once again, we cancelled the open houses. Luckily, they love the house and are very excited to move in.

With our looming deadline of May 9th for moving into the apartment, we’ve decided to take our chances and move before closing. Yes, it’s risky, but we are very confident that everything is aligned and that they won’t back out. That means, we’re moving in one week! Yikes. Now things are getting real.

Remember, we’re moving from a four bedroom house that has three living rooms and two offices to a 1100 sq ft two bedroom apartment! That means, we have to get rid of three couches, two dining sets, desks, chairs, etc. Luckily, my niece and nephew wanted the majority of the items, so we only had to sell or give away a few things – including our 370 bottle wine cellar! As you can see, we’ve been drinking away so we don’t have to move so many bottles!

Now it’s all about the logistics of moving everything out in a week. But luck strikes again and friends took the cellar and the huge dining set. I’m really glad that an old high school friend took the dining set & can continue it’s memories. We have entertained a lot with that set and it’s a bit surreal to see it broken down and ready for pickup.

What we don’t get rid of, we’ll donate to Goodwill. Tomorrow we have 1-800-GOT-JUNK coming to clean up old yard trash and junk from the garage.

We also lucked out that the new owners wanted the majority of our wall art! So glad they want it and will keep it. When you don’t have a lot of wall space, you can’t take much art with you.

Now we’re living the life of the books we’ve read

It’s crazy to think that four years ago I was reading books about other people selling their stuff and sailing away. Now here we are, though we’re simply sailing into a small apartment!

One thing I will say about this entire process is that it has been very cleansing. There’s something about getting rid of “stuff” and simplifying your life. Really, who needs to clean three bathrooms or have ten tubs of Christmas decorations? Obviously, we did at one time. 😉 Since I haven’t been working for the past few months, this process as certainly been easier as I have taken care of the packing and the moving details.

Coordinating a move

If you haven’t moved from a house to an apartment (lately or ever), it’s not as simple as you think these days. I have rented many apartments and just figured I would move when I wanted. Not so fast. This time around, Scott and I ordered a moving company. With that said, we had to work around their availability. Then we had to call the apartment complex and reserve our “move date and time” in order for them to shut down the elevator for us. Luckily, it seems to be working out on both ends.

We aren’t closing until May 21st, so this gives us plenty of time, to come back and clean the house and do some more yard work before they move in. Scott and I are hoping they are able to close early.

Boating life during our move

Last weekend it was gorgeous here in Seattle, so Scott and I spent Saturday cleaning the boat inside and out. We also took the dinghy motor back down and put it on the dinghy.

I was worried about mold or dirt, but really it looked pretty good. I checked the inside cabinets and water heater for any leaks and all looked great.

The cabin wasn’t too bad, we really just needed to wipe things down and vacuum.

Then on Sunday, we will tour the Clipper Around the World sail boats moored at Bell Harbor. Stay tuned for our next blog as we’ll share lots of photos and a tour of the inside. These sailors are truly courageous and inspiring!

Thank you for subscribing to our blog and for your support. Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Cheers, Scott & Ally

#KokomoSeattle #BoatingJourney

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

April 12, 2018August 15, 2018

Looking Forward to Boating Season!

We’re ready for boating season – are you?

I don’t know about you, but after weeks of cold, rainy weather we’re ready for boating season and some sunshine! Of course, with our boat still in dry dock after six weeks, we’re not missing much.

Next month, will be a full year that we have been boat owners and we certainly traveled a lot of places for first time boaters. That’s the great thing about mooring at Elliott Bay Marina, we’re close to so many great ports that are a day trip away.

Some of our favorite spots

In celebration of #ThrowbackThursday, I thought I would share some of our favorite destinations. These include Kingston, Gig Harbor & the San Juan Islands.

salmon bake indian reservation — Blake Island

mooring balls pnw bainbridge island — Port Madison

luxury charter yacht pnw locks — Going thru the Ballard Locks

The best view is still at home

Even if Scott and I don’t take the boat out, we love to spend the night at the marina. We are very lucky to have such a beautiful place to relax and entertain friends and family. This year, we plan on exploring more of Seattle on foot from the marina.

western sunset boating seattle — Dusk at Elliott Bay

holiday party marina — Olympic Mountains

Here’s to another great boating season! We look forward to sharing our journey with you this summer! We should be bringing Kokomo home in the next week or so, so stay tuned! Cheers, Scott and Ally

Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube

#BoatingJourney #KokomoSeattle

April 8, 2018April 12, 2018

Living in Slow Motion

We’re Living in Slow Motion Right Now

When Scott and I finally made the decision at the end of February to put our house on the market, when never thought we’d be living in slow motion. Soon after, we frantically started working on our home.

As we were painting rooms, replacing carpet, refinishing our floors and moving stuff into storage, we were also hauling out our boat Kokomo to get it ready for Spring. Houses here in the Seattle area have been selling at a RAPID pace. In fact, one of our neighbors sold their house in 30 hours! So we had no idea what to expect when we finally listed it. But all of our neighbors and people who have been to our home said it would sell FAST since we have one of the best views in Fairwood with lots of entertaining space and privacy.

Hearing of houses selling in just a day or two, we started packing and by the time we listed the house we had packed everything up but the bare necessities. We did all of this in just two weeks!

The house is in great condition and we just had it inspected for our own peace of mind. That came back great too.

Here’s our full listing with Brazen Group Properties: CLICK HERE

What just happened?

Back in March, I gave you all a quick update on the sale of our house. At the time, I didn’t think too much about everything that had actually happened. Now I feel compelled to share more of the details. Everyone I have told the story to, is as baffled & dumbfounded as us.

The facts:

We interviewed three agents and selected Ginny Morris, who I have known for 30+ years to list our house.
The house was listed on MLS in the evening on March 15th & we immediately had a showing appointment for 8am the next day (Friday) with the local Fairwood agent we interviewed, but did not select (how ironic).
That buyer gave us an over asking offer and $40k non refundable earnest money with no contingencies, cash offer. (too good to be true?)
The house went to “Pending” on the MLS and the buyer’s agent put a “SOLD” sign on our real estate sign on Sunday.
Monday, we never got the earnest money and the buyer disappeared and we never heard a thing. After numerous emails that week, our agent finally got a response from the buyer’s agent that said they didn’t know where the buyer was. We were out of luck and with no earnest money.
I looked up the buyer’s address on the contract and it was for a UPS store.

Do we feel we have been duped? We don’t know. I can’t imagine any realtor being so vindictive, especially in this small community. What would she have to gain? But if she was a good realtor, she would have screened this buyer first to see ensure he was a legitimate buyer. And don’t you think she would have at least called our agent the following day to apologize for things going so bad? It’s all so bizarre.

What’s even weirder about all of this, is that during the 23 days we have been on the market, not one person after this incident, has called for a showing. Baffling and weird. Scott and I are worried that the house has a black mark after going from Pending back to For Sale. You might be thinking it’s the price? While we felt our price was right on the money, we wondered if lowering the price would help draw new traffic. We are ready to move, so today we lowered the price by $15,000. Figures we run into a neighbor today and she said she thought our price was too low. Can’t win. Right now, we feel like we are living in slow motion compared to where we were a few weeks ago.

Can things move any slower?

Why all the talk about the house? Well, it’s part of the whole story as we are in the midst of downsizing our home, to live in an apartment. This is the stepping stone for us before moving onto a boat full time.

Now onto the boat! That’s what this blog is all about. We hauled out on March 7th and as I mentioned last week, Seaview Boatyard finally started working on it. Like I said earlier, we’re living in slow motion! They painted the bottom and the engines. Now we are waiting for new props and they are going to do a 10pt inspection.

Last week we also had the engines inspected and tuned up. You might remember we were having troubles finding a Mercruiser mechanic, but thankfully our good friend Ben, referred us to Paul at PB & J Mobile Marine in Everett. He came down on Monday, did the work and said things looked great.

The weather was gorgeous the day we went to the boat yard and the views were awesome! Definitely got us in the mood to go boating!

We also saw a sea otter crawling around the docks.

We finished the day enjoying cocktails on the deck overlooking Puget Sound. It was surprisingly warm for Seattle and a gorgeous evening.

The Weather Game

Tomorrow our nephew and his dad will be cleaning and waxing the boat for us. We are truly grateful for their help (and yes, we are paying them!) Everything should be done by this Friday, but then we have to wait for a good weather window to move the boat back to Elliott Bay Marina. Unfortunately, the boat yard isn’t open on weekends, so we need a nice day during the week. On top of this, I’m currently interviewing and hopefully this can all get handled before I (hopefully) get a job offer.

It’s ironic that we don’t have our boat moored at Elliott Bay Marina right now. While we were enjoying the beautiful sunset at Shilshole, M/Y Kogo moved onto the yacht dock right across from us. It’s the largest private yacht at 236′ to dock at Elliott Bay.

So stay tuned for the next “As Boating Journey Turns” episode. Who needs to watch soap operas when we are living one! We are certainly ready for boating season!

Thank you for subscribing and following us. Please also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter! We also would love your shares and retweets!

Lastly, thank you to our friends Matt & AJ for “buying us a drink” via our blog. This helps us support this blog and our journey. Cheers! Scott & Ally

April 2, 2018April 8, 2018

Haul Out Update

Our Haul Out Update on Kokomo

It’s been almost a month and we wanted to give everyone a quick update on our haul out. As you remember, we picked Seaview Boatyard during the Seattle Boat Show. They gave us a great deal, of 1/2 off our haul out with any bottom paint package, plus 20% off labor.

On March 7th, Seaview Boatyard hauled out our boat. They are painting the bottom with anti-fouling paint and cleaning/waxing the entire boat. They also are replacing the propellers and checking all of the seacocks and trim tabs.

Scott and I also asked them to have a Mercruiser mechanic come give the engines an inspection and give it a “Spring” tune-up so we are ready for summer!

Turns out, Seaview got really bogged down with so many customers taking advantage of their boat show special and so work was delayed on Kokomo. Finally, we called last week and they had started working on it. They removed the props and sent them to a shop in Mukilteo. We are still waiting for the quote to replace them. They have painted the bottom and we are waiting for an estimate for them to clean and wax the boat too. Might as well, since it’s out of the water.

What is a bummer, is we didn’t know it would take this long and the heaters haven’t been plugged in this entire time. So let’s hope there’s no mold or moisture throughout the cabin.

What does a haul out package cost?

If you are wondering what the cost is so far, here you go:

Bottom Paint Package (haul out, pressure wash & paint) $806
Haulout Special Discount at 50% off    <$155>
Anti-Fouling Paint 1.25 gallons Seahawk Sharkskin    $235
Pull Props Labor – 1 hour    $105
Boat Show Special Labor Discount at 20% off    <$21>
Misc environmental fees, taxes, etc    $173

Total so far $1142

In trying to find a Mercruiser mechanic, they had no luck. So we started making calls ourselves.

Last week, I called Monkey Fist, who is in our marina. They lost their Mercruiser mechanic in December. So then I called another company, Ballard Marine Service and he is just so busy, they don’t have mobile services anymore. We called another company and they were six weeks out. Great!

Finally, I posted on Facebook that I needed recommendations. One of my boating friends, Ben gave us a recommendation, Paul at PBJ in Everett. This mechanic is by referral only and lucky for us, he was available! He’s heading to the boat on Monday and will begin the work. He charges a travel fee, plus an hourly rate with parts.

Had we not found this guy, Lake Union Sea Ray offers Mercruiser work. They have a tune-up package for $750 per engine, which includes inspection and tune-up.

Don’t forget about the dinghy tune-up

So hopefully this week, we will have an update on our engines and props. Aside from our main engines, we also needed to get our dinghy engine tuned-up. This weekend, Scott replaced the gear fluid, engine oil and spark plug. Since it’s only a 5 HP, it only needed 6oz of oil. So funny!

Checking on our Dinghy

It’s been a month since we hauled out and tied up the dinghy in our slip. We decided we should go check on it. I had also notified the harbor master at Elliott Bay Marina that the boat was delayed and not to be alarmed with it being missing.

Luckily, the dinghy only had a little bit of water in it and since it’s so heavy, we couldn’t really tip it over to dump it.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous at the marina and would have been a great day to go boating. Yachts are starting to move in on the yacht dock too. We also met our new neighbors, Kelly and Randy who brought their beautiful sailboat over from New Hampshire. It’s been at Delta Marine for nine months, getting fixed up. Their boat is SV Godspeed behind Scott in the photo below.

To say that Scott and I are anxious for boating season is an understatement, especially when the weather is gorgeous. So stay tuned on our next update for Boating Journey.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Have a great week! Scott and Ally

March 20, 2018March 20, 2018

A Quick Update on Boating Journey

Here’s our update for Boating Journey

This is a quick update for everyone on what’s happening with our boat and house. Two weeks ago, we had the boat hauled out at Seaview Boatyard and they have not yet begun working on it. That could work in our favor with our housing schedule. I just want to make sure we get it back before opening day of boating season.

Update on selling our House

For the past two weeks, Scott and I have worked feverishly on our home and making it look great. We had the carpets replaced, floors refinished, packed up almost all of our personal belongings and had the landscaping done. Our house looks amazing now!

Last Monday, we had the professional photos taken and we officially went on the market with Brazen Group Properties last Thursday, March 15th.

Here’s the link to our listing: CLICK HERE

Long story short, we thought we had an offer and we went “Pending”. Unfortunately that buyer didn’t come through, so after just a few days, we are back on the market! We are having an open house this weekend and hope to get this all settled soon.

Our apartment is being held until May 1st and we measured the entire unit last Sunday. Trying to find smaller furniture has been a bit of a challenge, but I did find some things at West Elm and at IKEA.

It was gloomy last Sunday, but the view was still awesome from our living room. Let’s hope this doesn’t all fall through and we lose this!

So that’s all we know as of today! Stay tuned for our next update and hopefully new chapter in this adventure. Cheers, Scott & Ally

#KokomoSeattle #BoatingJourney

March 13, 2018March 13, 2018

Looking for an Apartment in Seattle

This weekend we went looking for an apartment in Seattle

So much has happened since Scott and I went looking for an apartment this past weekend! We had our floors refinished last Thursday – Saturday, so we spent the weekend in Bellevue.

Friday, we toured seven apartments, all mostly on Queen Anne and Belltown. Apartments aren’t what they used to be anymore. As we looked at each one, we considered the location, the view, the amenities, the price, the size and the configuration. Friday we looked at some really unique units, but unfortunately none of them fit our exact needs.

Looking at Lake Union Apartments

Saturday, we decided to change tactics and look at apartments in the Amazon district and overlooking Lake Union. While we prefer a western view, we have that view from our marina at Elliott Bay. Two of the apartment complexes we looked at were at South Lake Union and were very nice. But they overlooked the base of the Space Needle and all of the cranes. One of the units, had a gourmet kitchen including a wine fridge.

One thing I do recommend when looking at so many apartments, is to not only take a lot of photos, but take a walk thru video slowly! Unfortunately the video of our apartment was too fast. This way you can revisit all of the units you looked at later.

We found our new home!

Scott and I hadn’t really planned on finding our new home this weekend, but we did. Just like when we bought our boat, we knew it was the right one. Ironically, the complex is called Leeward. It’s ironic, because we love the Leeward Islands.

The complex is brand new and barely occupied, so we are the first tenants in our unit. We looked at about seven units, until we picked this particular one. There were a few that had better views, but we didn’t like the kitchen set up. It’s very common in Seattle to feature a kitchen along one wall and have one big open space. That’s just not for us. Here’s an example:

Finally, we found a corner unit, with a balcony and a fantastic kitchen! We need to take better photos, so more will come later.

Yes, our unit has a nice view of the city and lake, but the best views are from their roof top deck, which we will be sure to utilize often! I can already see us enjoying a glass of wine and lounging by the fire pit.

Fantastic Amenities

Most of the apartment communities in Seattle have great amenities AND they love dogs! At our complex, their doggy run is actually on the rooftop.

Half of the entire second floor is one huge amenity room that is over 100 yards long. Here they have created an “outdoor feel” space for tenants to enjoy during the winter. They have bocce ball, ping pong, full kitchen, darts, picnic tables, stage, kegerator and much more. We’re excited to meet new friends and mingle!

Why did we sign so fast you’re wondering? Well, they had some awesome move-in deals, that we just couldn’t pass up. They are holding our unit for the next 60 days, with no price increase – that’s unusual in Seattle!

What’s next?

Well, now that the house is completely updated and ready, it goes on the market this Thursday! We have listed it with the Brazen Group Luxury Real Estate and our open house is this weekend! Everything is happening so fast and we are really excited.

Also, we hauled the boat out last week, but we have not yet heard back from the boat yard regarding any mechanical work estimates. So we will keep you posted there too. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to stay updated!

Thanks for following us! Cheers, Scott and Ally

March 8, 2018

Hauling Out Our Boat

Hauling Out Your Boat for the First Time

For any new boater, hauling out your boat for the first time is nerve racking to say the least. Scott and I had met with Seaview Boatyard at the Seattle Boat Show in January and took advantage of their “boat show special”, which was 1/2 off the haul out and 20% off labor. When you are talking $110/hour for labor, 20% is a big savings.

We scheduled our haul out a month ago, not knowing what the weather window would give us. Thank God is was dry and sunny. We did have northerly winds at 10mph, which made the journey from Elliott Bay to Shilshole Marina a bit wet and choppy.

Our brother-in-law, Kurt joined us on the trip, as he is familiar with hauling out and the boatyard.

Prepping for the trip

Since we couldn’t take the dinghy, we had to remove it and secure it to the dock. Then I drove to Shilshole, dropped off our truck and Kurt drove us back to Elliott Bay.

The tricky part about this trip, is that we have a broken prop and we didn’t want any vibrations that can ruin our shaft. So we traveled at about 6 knots all the way there.

Arriving at Seaview Boatyard

It took us about 30 minutes to round the point and arrive to Seaview. They had told us to call the office if the sling wasn’t out, so that’s what we did. Soon, we noticed they were putting in another boat, so we waited about 10 minutes in the fairway. There was no traffic, so it was not a big deal.

After they put the sail boat in, they waved us in. We didn’t have any fenders out, since we were heading straight into the slings. But with the northerly winds and a broken prop, it became a bit challenging. As we approached the piling you see on the far right of the photo above, it became apparent to Kurt we might hit it. He was on a bow and quickly attempted to push us off. I was on the stern and didn’t get to the starboard corner in time before we hit it. Thankfully, it struck our toe rail and didn’t do any damage.

When you pull into the slip, they have you shut off your engines and they quickly secure the boat with the slings. Kurt shut off the power and we locked up the cabin. I was waiting for them to tell me to step onto the dock from the Port side, when he told us to get on the bow, climb over our railing and reach for the ladder (that was 10′ above the water) to get on the dock! Remember, I’m short and this was not an easy or non-terrifying feat for me. LOL.

Up and away Kokomo goes

The three of us got on the dock and they quickly brought up our boat and wheeled her to the hard. What a sight that was!

What do the props & stern drives look like?

A few months ago, someone on Facebook posted the photo below and I was terrified that is what Kokomo would look like!

Luckily, Kokomo looked surprisingly clean! We dock our boat on our Port side and 85% of the winds come from the north. This means that the current, winds & debris are coming at our Port side and simply collecting there. We think this is why our Port side stern drive looks much worse than the Starboard side.

We expected that our anodes would need to be replaced and sure enough, they do! What are we talking about??

From Google: “The way we counteract galvanic corrosion is to add a third metal into the circuit, one that is quicker than the other two to give up its electrons. This piece of metal is called a sacrificial anode, and most often it is zinc. In fact, most boaters refer to sacrificial anodes simply as zincs.”

The three of us then spent some time with Andy, the manager at Seaview to go over what we wanted to have done. This includes:

Pressure washing
New anti-fouling paint
Cleaning and waxing the entire boat
10 Point Inspection including the trim tabs, anodes, seacocks – but no engine
Replace both propellers
Replace the anodes

We are also having a Mercruiser mechanic inspect the stern drives and make sure we are in tip top condition for boating season. This should all take about two weeks or so. What will all this cost? Not sure yet, but we will be sure to let you know!

Yes, this is also the time we should be having our open house and getting ready to move into our new apartment. Crazy lives we are living right now!

Our Bayliner is 32′, but in this photo it looks like a huge yacht next to Scott!

We captured the entire journey on video, so that we could share this with you all too.

Stay tuned for our next update! Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel and share with other friends & boaters.

Thank you for following our journey! Cheers, Scott and Ally

March 5, 2018March 13, 2018

Keep up with us!

Keep up with what’s happening this week

The next few weeks are going to be very hectic for Scott and I as we get closer to putting our house on the market. We’ll do our best to keep everyone up on what’s happening here on our blog. As we mentioned last week, our lives are very crazy right now.

We have two big things happening:

Prepping & putting our house on the market
Hauling out the boat for paint & engine work

House Update

Last week we had all brand new carpets put in by Empire Carpets and they were fantastic! The team was efficient, friendly and did a great job. On top of that, the entire project was very affordable. If you are looking for fast and quality service, I highly recommend Empire today!

Later this week, we are having the floors refinished, so stay tuned for those photos and update.

When it comes to prepping our home to put it on the market, I have been really picky about everything. I want it to be pristine and perfect. So over the next week, we’ll refinish the floors, clean up the yard, deep clean the house and make it picture ready! Yesterday, we toured three homes and two of them were between $800k-$950k. I was shocked as to how grungy they were. I would be embarrassed if anyone came into our home with it looking the way these did. So hopefully, I do a good job on my own house.

Moving stuff to our storage unit

Now that we have our storage unit in downtown Seattle, we’ll be making many trips to it. Right now, it’s actually FULL of boat stuff, from carpets, to beds, to bedding, coolers, bbq…..you name it, it’s there! It will be nice when we get the boat in service and we can free up all that space. Check out our fun video from our second load to the unit:

We looked at a couple of apartments yesterday, because we had some spare time. One of them was about 560sq ft (YIKES), right above the viaduct (noisy!), expensive, but the views were amazing. Don’t worry, we’re not moving in there.

Bellevue Staycation

This week, we are celebrating our 15 year wedding anniversary AND having our floors refinished. Since we have to move out for three days, we’re staying at the Marriott Courtyard in Bellevue. We plan on touring about ten apartments on Friday and Saturday, as we want to lock in our new apartment in a week or so. Yes, things are happening fast!

Hauling Out

This Wednesday we are hauling out the boat to Seaview Boatyard. Thank God the weather is forecasted to be sunny at 51 degrees. Whew! We don’t have to go far, but we still will be moving with a broken prop. Scott and I will need to unhitch the dinghy and tie it up to the dock. The trip should take about 20 minutes, if all goes well.

Be sure to subscribe to both our blog and YouTube channel to follow the day’s events. We will also share our stories on Instagram and Facebook. So stay tuned and keep up with us! New adventures await.

Cheers,

Scott and Ally

February 26, 2018March 5, 2018

Our Crazy Lives

Our Crazy Lives Right Now

Things are moving at a very hectic pace, making our lives crazy! Now that we have officially decided to put the house on the market (still interviewing realtors though), we are now frantically getting things prepped!

Rooms are empty and things are getting packed. Our carpets are being replaced this week, which means everything (nick nacks, electronics, etc) need to be removed. We figure, since we’ll have to have the house staged a bit, might as well start packing that stuff! This is truly exhausting.

Then we are having our floors refinished next week, which means we have to leave the house for three days. Since it’s our 15 year wedding anniversary on Thursday, we’re venturing up to the Marriott in Bellevue for a staycation. Of course, I would have rather gone somewhere tropical, but this is more practical.

We had a garage sale last weekend and sold most of our big stuff, including our generator, freezer and some furniture. What we didn’t sell, we are donating to Northwest Center, which is now about ten boxes of stuff! After we sell the house and know where we are living, we will most likely have an estate sale for the big furniture.

Storage Unit

Moving out of a four bedroom home into a two bedroom condo, means we will have to rent a storage unit. The last time I needed to rent a storage unit was in 1999! Yesterday, we looked at two Public Storage facilities near the boat and Queen Anne. The first one we didn’t like as it was old and unheated. The second one we loved! Friendly, warm and newer. So we signed on the dotted line and secured our unit. Fun times!

All of the boat gear, including bedding, cushions, carpet, etc are all stored in our garage. Since we will need that space for other items, I am hauling all of that stuff and more belongings down to the unit today. I’m hoping I can do it in less than four trips!

House Listing

Everyone is anxious to know when we are going on the market. We want to make sure everything is in order and so it may not be until March 23rd or 30th. Again, we’re not in any rush and so we want to make sure everything is done properly and with thought.

I do wonder if the new owners will like the landscapers though? We certainly don’t need to get any Moss-Out when you have this guy chowing down on moss for hours!

Hauling Out

To add more chaos to our crazy lives, we are hauling out our boat Kokomo next Wednesday, March 7th! We are moving it to Shilshole, to Sea View Boatyard first thing in the morning. Hopefully we won’t have any troubles with our broken prop.

I will share with you all of the details and updates about that in our blog. We are having the bottom painted, the upper cleaned and waxed and some mechanical work being done.

Needless to say, our lives next month are going to be crazy! Add to that, I am interviewing with a few companies. Of course, I work best when I’m under pressure, so this is normal for me.

So stay tuned for more updates on our boating journey & adventure!

Cheers, Scott and Ally

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