Living in a Tent Onboard During Construction? I THINK NOT!!

My family has a saying, “I knew it would happen one day. I just didn’t know today would be the day.”

When we bought our sailboat Kiva we knew the day would come that we would be doing some major work to the cockpit and cabin roof. Last summer, we realized that it needed to happen sooner rather than later. The cabin structure is constructed out of plywood and fiberglass, but it had been sealed up for ten years when we bought the boat. Ten years of continuous cycles of moisture, freezing in the winter and heating in the summer caused rot in the plywood and beams. Combined with leaks around the foot of both masts which was never sealed correctly, means we must replace parts of the cabin.

I will be honest…this scares the s#&t out of me! I have never done fiberglass work and I am terrible at visualizing how a 3-dimensional project will come together. Imagine “deer in the headlines” look! That’s me! Fortunately, Neal is excellent at design. So with some luck, we will be able to rock this project!

In the meantime, we quickly realized that living through this construction will be impossible, especially with a young child. Our option was to live on another boat or pitch a tent on the front deck. It didn’t take long to make that decision! Neal seems to have a knack for finding mostly abandoned boats that have huge potential. We are pleased to introduce you to Wayfinder, our 25 foot Northern sailboat which was built in Ajax, Ontario in the early 1980’s. This little sloop has been an amazing teacher for our family.

Neal taught me how to sail, at least the basics. We pushed our comfort zone, skills and ability to work as a team with each trip that we took. We grew stronger as a family. Decker experienced his first sailing trip and is growing to love it more each time we go out. For the first time in fourteen years, Neal and I didn’t spend all of Spring, Summer and Fall only fixing our boat; and rarely traveling. Instead we traveled and had fun!

We also realized that we were not ready to on this major project at that time. We needed time to plan it and have a financial plan in place. This project will have definite costs associated with it. We will need to lift the boat in/out of the water for removal, maintenance and storage for both masts which need to come down to replace the cabin structure underneath. We will need to buy materials to replace the lumber and fiberglass; and potentially hire a professional fiberglass expert to give guidance since we have never done this before.

Are we going to do most of the work ourselves? ALWAYS!

Are we nervous? YES!

Is this work required? YES!

Will you join our adventures via YouTube and this blog? WE HOPE SO!!

We will talk again soon!

Melanie, Neal, Decker and Bella the Guard Dog

P.S. In case you are wondering, Decker and Bella were being spoiled by grandparents for the three days it took for Neal and I to bring Wayfinder home.