Okay, so pictures of the soon to be Grace O’Malley (named after a famous Irish woman pirate). She is currently on the Oregon side in a marina, as we try to get the engines running to bring her home. I think I am going to like living in this boat. There’s a major amount of work to be done yet. I may not be able to move in until April. After life in the trailer, this seems spacious. Fortunately, the head (bathroom) is one of the areas where we are going to need to redo the walls. That means we can build out a useable shower. I am truly tired of tiny bathrooms. The plan is to find and fix the leaks, repair the walls, and put something down on the floors. The wood work up front will also need work, but that can be done while we live in it. We also need to get the wiring sorted out and get the generator running. Lots of stuff to be done, I know. When I was out there on Sunday, it was an amazing thing to walk around in the boat, watch the fishermen come in and look at the other boats in the water. I can imagine sitting out front, under the cover at the table, and doing my morning journaling. I know how small spaces fill up fast, once you start moving in. And the dogs and cats will make it livelier yet. I can’t wait to start coming home to this.

My soon to be home

Looking out at the front of the boat

Seating area forward

Looking out at the galley

This is the bedroom area

The engine room

Side of the boat

As I think I’ve mentioned before, I’m planning to move to Vancouver come spring. The problem is that the boyfriend has his son, son’s girlfriend and 7 month old baby already at the house. He has property on the river, but the trailer there is occupied. So we have been looking for solutions. There are a couple of old houseboats on the place, in bad need of repair. They can’t be lived in as there are no arrangements for sewage.

Enter craigslist, where he found an ad for a 1969 Chris-craft Aqua Home. This is a 46′ houseboat, designed to be lived in on water. It has two 327 engines and can cruise if you want. This one needs work, so the price was right. We had to wait a bit, as there was an offer ahead of us. That guy bailed out and we are now the owners of the boat (or will be when we finish paying it off over the next few years). The first problem is to move it down to the moorage that Lon owns. He knows someone with a tug who can move it. (The engines work but it hasn’t been started for awhile. Seems safer to have someone move it across river from the Oregon to Washington side.) Once we have it in place, we’ll start interior repairs. It had water leak into the walls, so there is panelling to be replaced. As soon as we can make it liveable, I start moving in. I am already spending weekends in town and commuting the long drive to Hood River on days I need to work. I take the dogs with me. It will be easier when I get the cats moved over and all my stuff. I have so much to do that it is dizzying. I’m still happy over it. I won’t pretend that there haven’t been a few bumps along the way, in this new relationship. It’s hard to start over. Still, he makes me happy and I think I am going to like river life. I am going to try and get some pictures in the next couple of days to post, so stay tuned.