What Have We Done?
By Judy Koetiz
A Great Harbour owner writes about the transition from life ashore to living aboard
How did two people born and raised in Montana decide to completely change their lifestyle and live aboard a boat? My husband, Gene, and I are still pondering that question.
In 1973, we moved to the DC area, about an hour from the Chesapeake Bay. We dreamed of one day buying a houseboat, which seemed like the perfect way to enjoy the Chesapeake. It took us almost 20 years to achieve that dream. Little things like two boys, house purchases and college educations made the reality come a little slower than we thought.
In 1992, we finally bought a Holiday Mansion houseboat, and spent most every weekend exploring the Bay. Family and friends would often ask if we ever thought about living on the boat. "No Way" I said. I couldn’t even think about giving up my house and all my stuff – things Gene referred to as "fru-fru." And anyway, our boat was not set up for long-term living.
But as the years went by and retirement loomed on the horizon, Gene kept bringing up the subject of actually living on the water. I was still dubious, but a two-week vacation on the boat, down the Chesapeake to Norfolk and through the Great Dismal Swamp really convinced me. I really liked getting up each day and heading to somewhere new, or exploring little waterside destinations. I slowly began to realize that my "fru-fru" wasn’t that important—being with Gene, enjoying our family, and having new experiences was what life was all about. Bottom line: life should be fun. Living aboard would allow us to see new places, meet new people and hopefully, I would get over being terrified in thunderstorms!
Our revised plan was to keep the houseboat for 10 years, and then to buy something bigger - probably used - retire, live aboard, and cruise the Great Loop. And so began the search for just the right boat. At the Annapolis Powerboat show we saw a cute looking little trawler called a Great Harbour 37. Taking a closer look, we really liked what we saw. Small diesels for economy, great living space, and the deciding factor—a shower that you could actually turn around in. Now that would be living large on a boat! For the next 2 years we continued to search, trying to find another boat that we liked better than the Great Harbor, and each year at the boat show we became more convinced that this was the boat we wanted.
And so, we "bit the bullet" and put a deposit down on a Great Harbor 37. We almost had to give up the dream when the stock market took a nose-dive. Each month we went through a "Yes we can---No we can’t" discussion. Finally we did some real soul searching and number crunching. Bottom line: we decided "life was short, we better cruise first," to paraphrase an old saying. We concluded that if the cruising budget got tight we would stay on the hook more, or I would start cutting hair on the docks! So we made the decision: buy new, and do it now.
We put a For Sale sign in the houseboat window in the fall and got a few bites. But by the following May it had not sold. We decided to try another tact and sell the house first, and pray the boat would sell in the summer. Incredibly, once we made the decision to go ahead with that plan, things got a little crazy--the house sold the next day--but they wanted us out in 30 days. We didn’t really have time to advertise an estate sale so we just stuck out some big signs on a Saturday, and people came out of the woodwork! They were buying faster than we could price things. Two weeks later we participated in a community yard sale, sold virtually everything that was left, found an apartment and moved, all in 30 days.
Did I mention that we also sold the houseboat during this time? No wonder it’s kind of a blur! Thinking back, we must have been ready to change, because it was not as difficult as I thought it would be. The kids are our biggest supporters, They are looking forward to boat visits, and we have made sure that the Great Harbor was big enough to accommodate visits from friends and family, especially granddaughters.
So here we are, living in a one-bedroom apartment, surrounded by huge fenders, fold-up bicycles and other assorted live-aboard things that we are accumulating in anticipation of a life afloat. For anyone contemplating moving to a liveaboard trawler, I would actually recommend a transitional move—it has allowed us to think about what we really need on board and get used to being comfortable, full time, in a much smaller space.
Waiting for the boat to be finished is the really hard part. It has given us time to reflect on the huge change in our lifestyle and about once a week to say "Lordy, Lordy, what have we done!" Then we laugh, and remind ourselves that we are off on a new adventure and this is only chapter one. Our plan is to pick up the boat in Florida and bring it up to Baltimore. We will then head south to warmer climates for the winter and start planning our Great Loop trip. I guess all those childhood winters in Montana were our motivation. Gene always said he never wanted to be where the temperature was less than his age. I guess at that rate we may be cruising the Amazon in a few years!!
By Judy Koetiz
A Great Harbour owner writes about the transition from life ashore to living aboard
How did two people born and raised in Montana decide to completely change their lifestyle and live aboard a boat? My husband, Gene, and I are still pondering that question.
In 1973, we moved to the DC area, about an hour from the Chesapeake Bay. We dreamed of one day buying a houseboat, which seemed like the perfect way to enjoy the Chesapeake. It took us almost 20 years to achieve that dream. Little things like two boys, house purchases and college educations made the reality come a little slower than we thought.
In 1992, we finally bought a Holiday Mansion houseboat, and spent most every weekend exploring the Bay. Family and friends would often ask if we ever thought about living on the boat. "No Way" I said. I couldn’t even think about giving up my house and all my stuff – things Gene referred to as "fru-fru." And anyway, our boat was not set up for long-term living.
But as the years went by and retirement loomed on the horizon, Gene kept bringing up the subject of actually living on the water. I was still dubious, but a two-week vacation on the boat, down the Chesapeake to Norfolk and through the Great Dismal Swamp really convinced me. I really liked getting up each day and heading to somewhere new, or exploring little waterside destinations. I slowly began to realize that my "fru-fru" wasn’t that important—being with Gene, enjoying our family, and having new experiences was what life was all about. Bottom line: life should be fun. Living aboard would allow us to see new places, meet new people and hopefully, I would get over being terrified in thunderstorms!
Our revised plan was to keep the houseboat for 10 years, and then to buy something bigger - probably used - retire, live aboard, and cruise the Great Loop. And so began the search for just the right boat. At the Annapolis Powerboat show we saw a cute looking little trawler called a Great Harbour 37. Taking a closer look, we really liked what we saw. Small diesels for economy, great living space, and the deciding factor—a shower that you could actually turn around in. Now that would be living large on a boat! For the next 2 years we continued to search, trying to find another boat that we liked better than the Great Harbor, and each year at the boat show we became more convinced that this was the boat we wanted.
And so, we "bit the bullet" and put a deposit down on a Great Harbor 37. We almost had to give up the dream when the stock market took a nose-dive. Each month we went through a "Yes we can---No we can’t" discussion. Finally we did some real soul searching and number crunching. Bottom line: we decided "life was short, we better cruise first," to paraphrase an old saying. We concluded that if the cruising budget got tight we would stay on the hook more, or I would start cutting hair on the docks! So we made the decision: buy new, and do it now.
We put a For Sale sign in the houseboat window in the fall and got a few bites. But by the following May it had not sold. We decided to try another tact and sell the house first, and pray the boat would sell in the summer. Incredibly, once we made the decision to go ahead with that plan, things got a little crazy--the house sold the next day--but they wanted us out in 30 days. We didn’t really have time to advertise an estate sale so we just stuck out some big signs on a Saturday, and people came out of the woodwork! They were buying faster than we could price things. Two weeks later we participated in a community yard sale, sold virtually everything that was left, found an apartment and moved, all in 30 days.
Did I mention that we also sold the houseboat during this time? No wonder it’s kind of a blur! Thinking back, we must have been ready to change, because it was not as difficult as I thought it would be. The kids are our biggest supporters, They are looking forward to boat visits, and we have made sure that the Great Harbor was big enough to accommodate visits from friends and family, especially granddaughters.
So here we are, living in a one-bedroom apartment, surrounded by huge fenders, fold-up bicycles and other assorted live-aboard things that we are accumulating in anticipation of a life afloat. For anyone contemplating moving to a liveaboard trawler, I would actually recommend a transitional move—it has allowed us to think about what we really need on board and get used to being comfortable, full time, in a much smaller space.
Waiting for the boat to be finished is the really hard part. It has given us time to reflect on the huge change in our lifestyle and about once a week to say "Lordy, Lordy, what have we done!" Then we laugh, and remind ourselves that we are off on a new adventure and this is only chapter one. Our plan is to pick up the boat in Florida and bring it up to Baltimore. We will then head south to warmer climates for the winter and start planning our Great Loop trip. I guess all those childhood winters in Montana were our motivation. Gene always said he never wanted to be where the temperature was less than his age. I guess at that rate we may be cruising the Amazon in a few years!!
