The Boat

Since relatively few people opt to live aboard a boat for months at a time, it occurred to me that you might not understand what our life in Victoria is like. Here are some pictures I took of the boat, most of them back in August, to give you some sense of our space. 

1. This picture is from ten days ago when we were at Portland Island: the boat at anchor. The boat is 38 feet long with a 60-foot mast. The canvas enclosure at the stern gives us an extra room; on warm days we can sit, cook, and eat dinner out there. Not so much now, though.

2. This is the binnacle, looking from inside the boat on the stairs — a passage called the companionway. The binnacle is where we control the boat; it's where the wheel is, plus the various instruments for tracking wind, speed, and location. The canvas encloses this space. In the background you can see the outboard motor (on the left) and the barbeque (on the right). The area around the binnacle is called the cockpit and is the source of many, many jokes.

3. These are the companionway stairs, from which I took the previous picture. In the background, to the left, you see the entrance to the back berth, which is where we sleep. I'm not going to post a picture of that because it's usually kinda messy and all my everything is scattered everywhere. The door on the right is to the head, another picture I'm not going to post — who posts a picture of a bathroom?

 4. Turning around on the companionway stairs, you see the galley, or kitchen to the less nautical among us. The freezer is inside the cabinetry directly under the towel; the fridge is also in the cabinetry, immediately next to the freezer.

4a. Just took this picture to make to make the galley make more sense (sorry it's so dark: the sky is very overcast today). Here you see the fridge and stove, plus our kitchen storage. Vegetables keep really well in the space between the fridge compartment and the boat wall; currently we have a cucumber, some potatoes, and half a head of cauliflower there, plus some leftover wine for cooking. (I know: leftover wine?!?)

5. Viewed from the galley, this is the settee and would be the dining area if we raised the table (which is beneath the front-most cushions right now). If you've ever been in an RV, you understand this configuration. Two people could sleep here if necessary. The big silver pole is our mast — well, actually it's not; it's a compression post, which connects the mast to the keel, dispersing the weight of the mast from the deck to the keel (it's called a deck-stepped mast, if you're interested). You can see that the aisle is rather narrow; the boat is twelve feet wide on the outside at its widest point (its beam), which is roughly at the frosted-glass back splash in the galley. You can probably get a sense of space from that.

6. Also viewed from the galley, this is the seating area, where we tend to eat lately and where we sit to read and write. The large breaker board on the left side of the picture is where we control our lights, heat, and power; you can also see the VHF radio, for weather and communications on the water. Supposedly one person could sleep on the seating area if we raised the table top, but it would have to be a short, thin person who slept like a rock.

7. This is the settee viewed from behind the compression post. The focus in this image isn't sharp, but you may be able to perceive the curve of the boat. The settee is a good place to lounge, read, or watch "TV" (DVDs on the laptop). It's also not completely uncomfortable if you fall asleep there, IMO.

8. Turning around from the previous picture, you see into the forward cabin. It's a V-berth, which means the sleeping space, intended for two, forms a V from head to feet, pointing at the bow of the boat. It's really tiny. We tidied since I took this picture (because Zak was coming), but it often looks like this; B refers to it as our garage because it's where we store things we don't need often, including canned and packaged groceries and dirty laundry.

9. This is the chart table viewed from behind the compression post. I'm sitting here as I type this blog entry. There was a lot of sunlight when I took the picture, which accounts for the over-exposure — sorry. What's also changed since this picture was taken is the artwork, which we replaced with a triptych of owls to remind us of home

9a. The owls. I'm the one at the top, apparently.

10. Another view of the companionway stairs, to give you a sense of width and space. Also, you can see the barometer (the round, clock-like object in the right third of the image), which has become my little mechanical friend over the last few months.

11. After all this work, I am le tired, so I'm going back to bed. Ha ha. We've now added my Newfoundland quilt to the pile: nights are COLD!

I hope this post has helped you understand (and my future self remember) a little about the boat on which we live. Next I'll have to write about the marina here in Victoria — but that's a post for another day. Cheers!