Come along with Scott & Ally on their boating journey in Florida!
Tag: pnw boater
PNW boater is someone who lives and boats all throughout the Pacific Northwest. Our main body of water is the Puget Sound, that includes the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This is the channel that leads to the Pacific Ocean. The Puget Sound consists of many inlets, harbors as far south as Olympia all the way north to Camano Island.
We also have many lakes, including our largest which is Lake Washington. The PNW boater will quickly learn a lot about boating due to our climate changes and topography. The winds have the most impact and typically come from the north and northwest. But winds and weather can change quickly in the pacific northwest and boaters need to be on weather watch at all times.
Boaters in the PNW consist of fisherman, cruisers, sailors and research vessels, to name a few. We also have cruise ships and ferries. Because we have so many boaters in the PNW, we also have a lot of marinas throughout Puget Sound.
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.
Port of KingstonBlake IslandPort MadisonGig HarborGoing thru the Ballard LocksFisherman’s BayDeer HarborPort of La Conner
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.
Sunset at Elliott BayView of DT SeattleOverlooking Puget SoundDusk at Elliott BayMount RainierOlympic 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
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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.
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.Â
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!
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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
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)Â $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
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.
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
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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!
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
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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 YouTubechannel 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.
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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In my last post, I shared that we had looked at some apartments in Seattle and started to clear out clutter as we begin downsizing from our home. A lot has happened since that post!
Over the past few weeks, I have been purging everything in this house. Family photos and memorabilia have been divided up. Bedrooms and closets are completely cleared out and our kitchen has only the items left that we are keeping. As you know, we entertain A LOT and so we had over 36 plates, 40 wine glasses, 24 martini glasses and platters galore! Yes, we are having a garage sale this Saturday and anything we don’t sell, we’ll give away to Northwest Center.
Purging all of your belongings is emotional, whether we want to admit it or not. So many of the items we are getting rid of have great memories, but then I ask myself, “when was the last time you used it or looked at it?” That’s when you know it’s time to let it go.
Then I packed up the things we are keeping, but don’t anticipate to use over the next month. But just this week alone, I went to grab a platter or utensil, only to realize I packed it already. Some folks have asked me why we are already packing if our house isn’t listed yet. If you know me, you know I’m very organized and a planner. Since I’m not working right now, I want to take full advantage of my free time and do what we can.
Looking at more apartments in Seattle
The apartments we looked at last time were listed on www.apartments.com and they all had fabulous amenities, but the actual units were very stark and industrial. For us to move from a large home to an apartment, it’s character that’s important to us, versus size. These apartments also were very expensive – almost $3000/month! That’s because you are paying for huge gyms and theater rooms.
The other day I found two apartments on Craigslist and decided to check them out as they were different and much more affordable. Both are located in the Queen Anne neighborhood. These didn’t have any amenities, which explains their price. The first one we looked at was a townhome apartment. The bedrooms were downstairs and the living area was upstairs. It was definitely unique and had beautiful views of Elliott Bay, but in the end, it wasn’t for us.
The next unit that Scott and I looked at was a penthouse in a building that only had sixteen units. What I really liked about this unit, is how “homey” it felt. It has a very large master bedroom, large kitchen, fireplace and also great views. Unfortunately this unit won’t last long and we hope something similar to it comes available when we are ready.
Yes, the balcony is tiny, but we plan on spending all of our sunny days on the boat. Elliott Bay Marina is only five minutes away. So fingers crossed that we find this jewel again.
Meeting with Realtors
Now it’s time to interview realtors and find out what our options are. As you may or may not know, our home is one of a kind for our neighborhood. It’s open and perfect for entertaining, but what makes it very special is the view. Not only do we have views of Downtown Seattle and the Olympic Mountains, but we also can see the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. We will definitely miss the views, as they never get old.
With the views, you also get wildlife and lots of it!
Back to the realtors and listing our home. In this process we want to take our time to meet with different real estate professionals and see how they can best market our home. In addition to this task, we are also thinking about refinishing our floors and installing new carpet. This week I have been busy meeting with companies & getting quotes. Ugh. We are also going to work on the landscaping, so to say we have our hands full is an understatement.
Everyone is asking us “when when when?”. Since we are not in a rush to sell, we are going to take our time to decide what to do. I remodeled my first home myself and am considering doing some of this work. We’ll keep you posted and let you know when it’s finally for sale. Just know that we are closer today than we were a few months ago to finally making the move! Stay tuned for the next update.
Cheers, Scott and Ally
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Scott and I have been working on downsizing our home for the past year. You will recall that two years ago we were making preparations for me to move toBelize and we began removing clutter. That project is never ending.
Since I have not been working these past few months, we decided to take advantage of my time off and really concentrate on prepping the house and downsizing. Are we selling our house you ask? The answer is yes, but we don’t know when. Obviously, we want to take advantage of the market and so we are monitoring it carefully.
We’ve all read stories about couples selling everything they own to move onto a boat. In fact, just this week a young couple sold everything, bought a boat and two days later it sank. Unfortunately, they were not experienced sailors and the romance of the journey lead them down the wrong path. Scott and I plan on taking baby steps towards living on a boat, to make sure we can do it.
Moving to an Apartment or Condo
Before we decide to make the jump to a 50′ boat, we have decided to move to Downtown Seattle and live in an apartment or condo. This will really tell us if we can live in a very small space with limited storage. Not knowing what was out there, we toured four complexes a few weeks ago.
Ideally, we are looking for a two bedroom, two bath, but we did look at one bedrooms too. If you haven’t looked at apartments lately, it will be a shock. I haven’t lived in an apartment since 1990.
Queen Anne Neighborhood
The first one we looked at was way too small and not anything we would want to live in. Next we ventured to Expo on lower Queen Anne. Scott and I loved that it had all of the amenities and numerous restaurants below the apartment complex. They also had a fabulous roof top deck, so you could enjoy the outdoors during the summer.
Rooftop Deck on the Expo Apartments. Our marina is in the distance.View of the Space Needle from the rooftop deck of the Expo Apartments
Instead of doing “studio” apartments, the new thing now is “one bedroom suites”, which have a glass door enclosing the bedroom and a 3/4 wall separating it from the living room. This would be great for a single person, but not a married couple accustomed to living in a big house.
Instead of a studio, the one bedroom features a frosted door
The bedroom above, is directly across from the kitchen.
Kitchen for the one bedroom apartment
Scott and I were surprised that all of the apartments we looked at, offered full size amenities, such as washer, dryer, dishwashers and refrigerators.
Full size washer and dry in every unit
So did we find anything we liked? Actually, we did like the two bedroom, two bath unit at Expo. The key will be if these units are available when we are ready to move.
Kitchen in the two bedroom apartment at ExpoMaster bathroom in the two bedroom apartment at Expo
Ballard Neighborhood
From Queen Anne, we set out to view a new building in Ballard called Leva. The apartments in this building were very simple and it was obvious you would need to use your furniture to create the different living spaces.
Main living area for the two bedroom apartment at LevaRooftop deck at Leva featuring a fireplace & dining
Many people are reminding us that living in a 950 sq ft apartment is going to be a shock, but that is the point. It’s better to move to a very small space on land & see how we like it, before we invest in a boat.
Removing Clutter
First on my list is tackling my photo albums and family keepsakes. Since we don’t have children to pass them on to, I have been dividing everything up for other family members. Not only do I have over twenty photo albums of my own, but I had my parent’s and my grandparent’s albums. So I have been scanning photos for almost a month. As weird as this will sound to many, after I scan the photos, I throw away the albums. No need to keep them anymore, as they won’t fit on a boat. The photos I’ve kept to divvy up.
Next we have been dividing up our “stuff” into four (piles).
Keep & Store (we will get a storage unit)
Sell
Donate
Throw away
It’s amazing how much stuff one couple can accumulate over sixteen years. Some of it, we have never touched or seen in that amount of time. At the same time, we are “downsizing”, so we have to look at those items we do use regularly. For example, do we need 12 bath towels, 36 wine glasses & 5 sets of sheets if we’re living in an apartment?
Next we have been painting bedrooms and some common areas. Funny that two of the bedrooms were never painted, so now they look really good.
There’s a lot yet to do, but I am the type of person who wants to maximize my time and so this is what I’m tackling now since I have the time available.
Won’t you miss your house and view?
That’s the question everyone keeps asking us. Until you get to this stage, you can’t understand why we are doing this. Scott and I live in a four bedroom, three bath, three living room, two dining area, etc house and only use a fraction of it. While we will miss our amazing view, we are simply swapping it out for another great view.
So stay tuned for our next update! The next month will be full of big changes.
Cheers, Scott and Ally
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Yes, the balcony is tiny, but we plan on spending all of our sunny days on the boat. 
