My name is Charlotte, sometimes known as Ms Lottie, occasionally as The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady. This is my blog, where you'll find me writing a lot about my quilting and textile arts and a little about my family's life in a small seaside town in New Zealand. Haere mai!

Thursday, May 15, 2014

The boat tour. Welcome aboard!

Warning - this is a picture heavy post. 


 Lots of people are pestering me for more pictures of our new home.  And I am nothing if not obliging!  The picture above is Cerego berthed at the boatyard dock.  That's my husband beside her, so you can get an idea of scale.  She is a wooden boat, built in 1943 for the Australian Navy and was meant to be used as a mine sweeper.  She is 20.1 metres long, which is about 66 feet.  The rust is not from her structural bolts - don't worry!


When you climb up the left (port) side you are on this long narrow walkway.  And then you walk around the back (aft - I'm going to be all nautical jargon soon!) and then...


you hit the back deck.  Nothing very exciting here, except a ladder and a hatch.  Ladder leads to top deck, I'll take you up there soon, hatch leads....


down to a storage type locker.  Large, dark and dingy.  It has water storage barrels and other junk in it at present.


When you walk in through the back door, you see the main cabin, which is in the picture above and below.  Above, in the corner with the rubbish bag, is probably where my sewing table will be set up.  You can see the doorway that leads forward to the galley and wheelhouse.


The picture bove is the other end of the same room.  The glass door leads in from the back deck.  The white door is the side door and there is a matching one on the other side.  There is also a matching couch on the other side.  The hatch in the floor is how you get below to.....


the yucky and really rough cabin that will be bunk rooms and play room for the kids.  At the front of this cabin is the door leading to the engine room, you can see that below. 


The areas below decks are where the work really needs to be done.  Panelling and painting and walls and bunks and portholes and light prisms.


So come back up out of the kid's room into the main cabin and walk forward to the galley.  This is the nice part of the boat.  There is a microwave, electric oven, gas hob, decent sized fridge-freezer and, best of all, a good-sized pantry.  The photo below is looking back toward the main cabin.


Carrying on forward toward the wheelhouse, you pass a little narrow (and steep) staircase.


If you head down this staircase (almost a ladder really) you get to the forward cabin.  Another area that needs major work.


This icky looking bunk will go and be rebuilt in a more efficient way.  Lots of painting etc again.


If you turn around, the photo above shows what the back of the cabin looks like - usually without the silly lad making faces!


Above is the wheelhouse.  It all looks 'proper' up here, like what you expect a boat to look like.


What a about a bathroom?  No, we don't have to hose off with saltwater!  Down the other side of the boat (starboard) is a little cupboard cabin.  Internally this sits between the galley and the main cabin.


And inside this little cabin is an almost full sized shower and toilet.  Yay!  If you've ever used a standard boat toilet, you'll know why this is big deal.


Back out onto the back deck, now head up that ladder.


And you reach the top deck.  The photo above is looking back toward the ladder.  This will eventually have a handrail around the sides, and Hubby has plans to put the spa pool up here.....yes, I said spa pool!  We have a little plug in portable one that he thinks we need.  I'm not so sure.


Right at the front of the top deck, you look over and down and you get a grand view of the anchor chains and winch.  You're standing on top of the wheelhouse.

So, I hope you enjoyed the tour.  I'll write more soon about why we are embarking on this adventure.

10 comments:

  1. Wow - lots of work to do but looks fantastic - FJ is soo jealous :-)

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  2. Holy smoke! This does sound & look interesting!

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  3. It's going to be awesome! Best of luck!

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  4. You'll be able to just chug over to Tasmania and visit now! Seriously though, do you get just a little tremor of fear when you think about quilting and accommodating your stash?

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  5. Hello Charlotte,

    That is certainly a well built boat. Good luck with it.

    Happy days.
    Bev.

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  6. Complete awesomeness girly!! Once you're done, I'm sending my boys over to holiday with their cousins, haha!

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  7. It will definitely be fun to hear about your adventures. I really hope you will have space to sew and that you will still be able to create. I am unclear on whether you will be cruising around or if you will just live on the boat and commute to your job, the kids schools, errands during the day?

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  8. Wow, that will be such an adventure, I'm sure your kids will absolutely love it! Look forward to seeing the progress photos.
    I also think once you are used to 'shed-dwelling' it's not so different from living in a boat - thinking of clever use of space and not having a lot of unnecessary 'stuff'! Best of luck, Bridget

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  9. Most interesting! I can reassure you and Tanya. We lived on a 38' yacht for six years and loved in. I collected stash at every port. Gradually as food supplies were used, more and more of the pantry lockers had stash stashed! Also carried two sewing machines. You'll have such fun!

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  10. What an adventure you are planning. I can't wait to hear more.

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