Living In A Boatyard - Our First Two Weeks On Our Liveaboard

When we bought our 40' Heritage East early October, it was stored in a boatyard on the west coast of Florida. While the owners stayed onboard her for a few days to get their personal items off of her, Tom and I headed back to Texas to get our things from storage. We didn't have much left after we sold or donated the majority of our belongings, but we did keep a few things like kitchenware, pictures, and a few more personal items which all fit in a 5x5 storage area. We stayed in Texas a little over a week to enjoy some family birthdays and relax before another long trek driving back to Florida. Instead of renting a UHaul, a friend offered to drive our things to us, using his long enclosed trailer. We took him up on it, since paying him would be easier on us than driving a UHaul ourselves.

On our way back to Florida, we stopped in Pensacola in Florida's panhandle, so we could spend some time at the beach. The whole time we were looking at boats in Florida, we did not go to one beach! And we had never been to the Emerald Coast before, so we spent 2 nights there before heading back to the boat. It was so pretty there, with the white sand beaches and blue green water. It made me excited about living in the Florida area. We took our time driving back and spent one more night on the road. That last morning, we both got up and had butterflies in our stomach. Everything was actually coming together and here we are, about to see the boat again, our new home. I had butterflies just thinking about crawling up a ladder in order to board her. I'm scared of heights.
 
Our 1986 40' Heritage East, next to our car, in a boatyard.
 
So now, after 2 weeks of living on her in a boatyard, we are still overcome with emotion. Last night, while siting on the sundeck IN A BOATYARD, we are still so excited about taking this big step of living on a boat! If we enjoy it this much, living here, just imagine how much more we are going to enjoy it when in the water!
 
Now here are the things we've learned about living on a boat, and being in a boat yard:
 
  • This boatyard is amazing! It's a community in and of itself! At least 40+ boats belong to "snowbirds" who live up north and come spend the winter on their boat. A lot of them cruise down to Marathon, FL in the Keys and others stay in the SW Florida region. They start showing up about now through December, spend a few weeks on the boat getting it ready to cruise, and then set sail. I'm learning so much, just from the few that I've met so far and will incorporate their info into another post.
  • And because of the community vibe here, we already see the politics going on. And we're learning about the contractors too who do work here.
  • Everybody we've met so far have been very nice! Always willing to lend a helping hand, or give you some experienced advice.
  • I've overcome my fear of heights, and concurring that daily trek up and down a 12 foot ladder, sometimes multiple times a day, is very satisfying.
    •  
  • We have a 2 page list of To Do projects. Only a few are critical to do now, before we can splash into the water and start cruising. Those few things are in the process of getting done (ordering paint and waiting for delivery, generator head at the machine shop getting diagnosed, and waiting for a mechanic to trouble shoot an AC he has for us). In the meantime, we are knocking off some other things on the list.
  • Your To Do list is never done! When you cross off one, you add two on to it.
  • Crossing off something on the To Do list is very satisfying. And even though there are always projects to work on, it is all worth doing. Even when living in a boat yard.
  • Leilani is adjusting very well! She waits at the sundeck opening for Tom to get down the ladder some, and goes right up to him when he is ready to carry her down the ladder. For those that know Leilani, she rarely comes up to you to pet her. She always backs away, even to Tom & I.
     
Our 9 year old ShihTzu, Leilani
  • We moved on to the boat with a lot of the old owner's stuff still onboard. They took their clothes and some items, but left all the kitchenware, a lot of items for the boat like cleaning tools (boat hook, life jackets, back up parts, repair kits for fiberglass, etc), furniture, old towels and shirts for working on projects, a fold-up bike, manuals for the boat, DVDs, VHS, books, etc. It felts like we were walking into someone else's home and started living there. All of our things are now in a storage building down the street from the boatyard, until we can get in the water to make it easier to move boxes onto the boat. So we are gradually refitting her. That's the same as remodeling to make it your own. That is normally what is done when you move on to a boat, because most people leave some of these things onboard for the new owners.
  • This boat is like living in a condo. It has a 15 foot beam, so our bedroom (aft stateroom0 is 15 x 10. The salon (living room) is about 13 x 10. The galley & dinette is small, like a small apartment, but Tom has the sundeck set up to cook on too. The VIP stateroom is small with bunk beds, but it is adequate for short stays for guests.
  • My favorite room is the sundeck! We are trying to make it our little oasis.
 

Before and after of the sundeck

 
The sunckeck
  
 
  • We haven't been to the beach in this area yet! We are about 8 miles away from Gasparilla Island which is a quaint beach community. I can't wait to go there! Hopefully sometime this week.
  • We haven't been on the water yet either, and we're just chomping at the bit to get on it. Tom's planning on taking the dingy out and go navigate the canal that were in and cruise it to the lock that you have to go through We met a guy at the yard who will take the dingy to go launch and go with us. We have a trailer with the dingy, that it's on in the yard, and no trailer hitch to tow it. We're hoping to do that tomorrow, if our friend can get away from his boat projects that he's working on. Even when we were in Pensacola, we went for a dolphin watching cruise.
  • We're hoping to only be in the boatyard for a few months. We're paid up through November and we're hoping to be out then. But we hear how 1 month can turn in to 3 months very easily. Our next door neighbor had planned to be in the yard 2 months, and in December it'll be 1 year! Lord, I pray we don't have that type of luck.
  • Even though we're having fun working on the boat, I do miss my friends and family.
I could go on and on, but I'll close this post for now. I'll go into more detail of the projects we're doing and the people that we're meeting in another post. What are we going to work on today? Or can I talk Tom into going to the beach?
 

Comments

  1. Great post. Thank you. My wife and I are two years behind you.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Keith! Check out my other posts about our buying process. Six different posts because of the hurricanes affecting us. Start early getting rid of your stuff. It took me 1.5 months just to go through our office. Good luck to you, and subscribe if you want to follow along.

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  2. WOW Nan, you are describing exactly what Chris and I hope to experience some day. We have a 5 year plan, and will need to live-aboard somewhere until my retirement date, so that will probably make it a bit longer before we're cruising full-time; but we will live-aboard. Looking forward to following your story!

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    1. Thanks Diane! Please subscribe to follow along. We've had a great time even in the planning process. We learned a lot by following cruising boards too. Good luck!

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  3. We have just moved aboard a week ago. So you have a week on us. We are in the water but have been working on engine maintenance and clean out of old unneeded items left by previous owner. But one thing for sure the To-do list always has something waiting to do. And it is always satisfying to check one off and finding some
    thing else to add. Best of luck to you Ronda

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  4. Thanks Ronda! Best of luck to you too.

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  5. Hey friends - KAHUNAS...LOL, you know what those are and you have the big ones for sure! Just kidding...I am so excited for you and Tom. This is a huge social, demographic and environmental change, but I think you two might just pull it off! We have cousins in Tampa and of course the Bayles' home in Holiday...so we're looking forward to seeing yall when we come that way! Good luck with everything..I'm going to live vicariously through you for awhile! God Bless you and the sea!

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