Throwback: Chautauqua the sailboat

This boat -- a Catalina 22 -- was my primary residence from the time I moved to Seattle (summer 2003) until when I moved in the Pink Palace (a nickname for a house) with some friends (fall 2005). 

My clothes lived in the v-berth, I slept in the aft berth (or in the cockpit during nice weather), the port berth was for food storage and the starboard berth was used as a couch.  Shoes were stored behind the short ladder down below.  The table folded out, I cooked using my feather-weigh camping stove (or the grill on the back of the boat), the head didn't work (I lived at the marina shown below which had bathrooms available and showers for $0.25 for 2 minutes), the running water worked with a foot pump but I always washed my dishes on the dock (the seagulls were constantly stealing my silverware from my dirty dishes bin, which was often kept in the cockpit).  I had a tiny black and white television, DVD player and a subscription to Netflix through the mail.  I also had a laptop and the marina had wireless internet, which was a novelty back then even though you couldn't do much beyond emailing, if I remember correctly.  The blue velour shades attached with Velcro.

I often took the boat out on calm mornings by myself to see the seals who lived on the other side of the breakwater.  But mostly I would sail with friends after work.  This is how Joshua learned to sail -- along with being happily thrown onto Center for Wooden Boat's vessels for events and races.

 

The boat constantly leaked from the windows until I gave up caulking them and used regular ol' duck tape.  I ended up paying less for my boat home than my used little Toyota Honda ($5000) and only invested in hauling it out for a few days to paint the bottom, a roll of duck tape and some varnish for the hatch boards.  I still ended up selling it for slightly more than I paid for it, which is a complete rarity in the sailing world.  Rent at the marina was a slight $300 per month plus $5 in electricity.  No wonder I always felt richer than all the other AmeriCorps*VISTAs.  With my view of the Olympic Mountains, it was one of the best places I ever lived.  Even better once I figured out how to get my space heater to work.