Finally, boatdwellers

The last week or two have astonished us with their unpleasantness.  As Matt remarked, if we had known how hard it was going to be, there’s no way we would have embarked on it.  To be fair, it’s only been a couple of weeks of horribleness, exacerbated by the fact that Matt was still working full time.  Now we’re on board and the packing up/dump-runs/cleaning etc are behind us, we both have a spring in our step again.  Coffee on deck is a fabulous way to watch the world wake up.  I absolutely love it.

We had a whopper of a garage sale last weekend, about which I was unaccountably anxious.  We got up ridiculously early and were glad we did, as the first punters arrived when it was still dark.  Matt & I had decided on a “get rid of it at any price” approach, and we had a lot of good stuff.  As a result, people were unable to carry all the stuff they wanted to buy and would create their own personal mountains, before tallying up, handing over the cash and backing up their cars to load it all in.  It was surprisingly fun, finding new homes for things, especially when you could see people were really happy with their finds.  Tilly and Sasha has tables of stuff they sold too, and made about $40 each.  Tilly has added hers to the money she’s been given by Nana and is saving up for an iPad.  She’s at the $100 mark already, little ripper!

We also had friends and neighbours come to add their support, and bring coffee and muffins, which was very much appreciated and made the whole thing much more enjoyable (we had no kitchen or fridge for a couple of days at the end, so sustenance was pretty haphazard).

We made a good amount from the garage sale – enough, possibly, to live on for a month, if we’re frugal.  We packed up the remainder of stuff and shipped it all off to the charity shop, then set to cleaning up the house.  It feels so good to have all that in the rear-view mirror.

Our first night on board was a little disorganised.  We’ve moved SO much stuff onto the boat but haven’t yet had a chance to stow it all.  We’re not actually sure we will be able to stow it all – maybe we need a mini boat garage sale?!  We have crates and crates all over the aft deck, and the cockpit is claustrophobically packed with more crates and bags and stuff that can’t sit out in the dew.  It’s not very nice.  But we had to just make space in the cabins so we had somewhere to sleep for the last couple of nights, whilst we cleaned the house up.  At one point we even had our old double mattress (which we’ve replaced now we’ve enlarged the aft bunk) out on deck.  We have definitely been lowering the tone of the marina.

To add to the challenges of moving on board, Matt has been repairing the galley sink, which leaked.  He got part one of the process done a few weeks ago, but hadn’t had a chance to get to part two.  So anything needing water – washing-up, cleaning – meant schlepping up and down the companionway with buckets to the pontoon.  There was also no door to the heads, as that had been removed for repairs (the louvres had originally been installed so anyone passing had a perfect view down the slats at the user of the toilet/shower!).

This could have made life quite tricky.  However, the marina had fortuitously just opened a new floating amenities block on our main pontoon arm.  It’s very ritzy and includes a sundeck with a barbie and coffee machine and a dozen very luxurious ensuite bathrooms.  It is going to be extra for marina patrons to join this special club, but for the first week, it’s FREE! So for the last couple of nights we have been making full use of the barbie and outdoor kitchen for dinner, and using the lovely bathrooms too.

Let’s just say we’re very very grateful for this fabulous new facility! It’s been a lifesaver.

Matt got stuck into the sink when he finished everything else last night, and we now have an operational galley! Woohoo!  The man deserves an award.  He got up in the dark again this morning to put on his uniform and head off to work – for three more days.  Then he too will be free and our year-long holiday can begin.