Which Boat?

If you have looked at our Short List page you know we have a fondness for heavy displacement vessels with full or modified full keels. We would love to be looking at 40 - 45 foot sailboats, but we won't be able to afford to purchase or maintain one of that size. That is why we listed several sailboats in the 27 - 34 foot range that provide most of the must-haves on our list.

Island Packet

Headroom: Mike is 6'3" so headroom is his top requirement. Brenda at 5'5" probably isn't too worried about headroom.

Heavy Displacement: We sail with wrinkles in our sails. Speed is not a top priority.

Low Draft: We plan on sailing the west coast of Florida, Orange Beach/Gulf Shores and Key West to start which means a 4' draft would be ideal.

Classic Lines: Our common sense tells us to stick with a simple, tried and true production run cruiser such as the Island Packet 31 / 32. Simple systems, much less bright work to maintain, readily available and completely suitable to our intended cruise.

Our eyes and hearts are drawn to the beautiful classic lines of the Baba 30 / 35. Older boats, older systems, much more bright work, fewer available and yet perfect for our intended cruise. If you aren't familiar with the Baba line, check them out. Look at the pictures and tell me your heart doesn't go pitter-patter.

 

Baba

 

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Met with the realtor

Well....we did it...we met with a realtor. Fortunately a long-time friend of ours is a realtor and someone we trust whole-heartedly. He came out, took a tour and then we talked. He recommended that we put ceramic tile in all the bathrooms. We already had this on our to-do list. He wants us to put "realtor beige" carpeting throughout the rest of the house. We had hoped to put in a carpet allowance so that the new owners could pick the color and type that they wanted. We are talking about LOTS of square feet. But no, buyers in this price range want it already done when they visit. Fortunately he said that we did not need to worry about the roof. Although it is 15 years old, it is still in very good shape! There were a few other little things. He said the main goal was to have all positives on their walk-throughs and nothing that they could put on the negative side.

So...we parked the boat under her awning, picked out tile and carpet, and set to work. Mike has all the bathrooms tiled and Brenda has grouted them. While Mike was working on the tile, Brenda worked on cleaning out closets. Do you know how much "stuff" can be stuffed into a closet after 15 years? Too much!

We are also getting some excess stuff out for sale on Craigslist and eBay. Got to pay for all these new upgrades somehow.

 

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The 5 Bathroom Question

So who was the moron that built a house with five bathrooms? Oh, that would be me.

 

Instead of enjoying our sailboat during this beautiful fall Wisconsin weather, we are inside tiling bathroom floors. I enjoy building and remodeling, but for some reason I've never liked painting or brickwork. Well now I can add tiling to that list. According to our friend and realtor we need to replace the linoleum in all of our bathrooms with tile. That seems easy to do until you realize that the aforementioned moron put five bathrooms in the house when he built it 15 years ago. Who needs 5 bathrooms? Actually Brenda argued for a sixth bathroom in the basement. Five is silly, six is crazy talk.

If we want to sell the house for the price we want we will need to listen to our realtor and tile away. Brenda had the smallest bathroom tiled professionally a couple of years ago along with the mud room, kitchen and breakfast nook. I'm still not over the sticker shock from that little project. So now I am spending my time on my hands and knees bonding with these lovely new tiles. Three bathrooms down Mike, only the master bathroom to go.

No sailing this weekend, but one step closer to our sabbatical.

Mike

 

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Have you heard any good SCUTTLEBUTT?

A large butt (cask or barrel) was scuttled (holed) so the sailors could get water to drink. This was the only place on board the sailors could sneak in a few words to each other while on duty. Thus the term "scuttlebutt" was born.

"Did ya hear......"

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Sailor Lingo - Scuttlebutt

So did the term "scuttlebutt" come from sailing lore?

 

Here is a hint.

 

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