About the Boat...

My dad was asking about how the boat was set up, so I sent him an email about it.  This post contains most of the same information.

A few details about the boat and life in the marina...

The grocery store is about a ten-minute walk and we often go together if we are getting heavy stuff. When we see one we will get one of those rolling shopping bags, so that will make it easier too. There is also a market for produce, so sometimes one of us will go one place and the other the other place so no one has to carry too much.  Since it is so close, we can take the carts from the marina with us if we have to get heavy stuff, which makes it much easier.

We are starting to find our way around the town as well. There is a historic part of town which is a little complicated, but it's built on a hill, so if worst comes to worst (i.e., I get lost) all I have to do is go downhill and I'll hit the water again.

The train station is literally 200 meters from the boat, behind the restaurants, so that couldn't be any closer. Weirdly enough, we've never heard a train, but we've seen them, so it is a working station!

The bus station is a 10-minute walk, just over the pedestrian bridge, so that's where we'll go to get Max's bus for school. One of us will go with him, of course. We will need to be sure to leave enough time in case the bridge is open for boats, but since they don't start opening the bridge until 8:00 I think it won't be a factor.

The boat is 40 feet long with three cabins and two heads. The second head is totally unnecessary but since the boat was a demo (built 2011) and had never been launched we didn't have a choice of layout. Frank and I have the V-berth and Max has the aft cabin on the starboard side if you are facing the bow. It's a little bigger than the port one, so the port one is for guests.

There is a frigerator which opens both from the front and the top; it's not all that large so that also encourages us to shop most days, cutting down on the heavy stuff.

There is a good-sized table in the salon. It folds out so six can fit around it and it's got a place in the middle for six glasses, bottles, and other dishes, etc.

There is about as much storage as you'd expect in a boat of this size, whatever that means! We've got a small closet with space to hang things and four shelves, plus two large drawers under the bed. We also have a cupboard with a shelf and a larger space. There is a little shelf on Frank's side running along the wall and the top of the cupboard is my dresser.

Max has a closet like ours with a seat in front of it. Under the seat is a compartment where his shoes go. There is space on top of the closet which functions like a dresser and he's also got a little shelf over his reading light. His bed is for two people, so there are two lights and lots of space, so all his many stuffed animals have a place to be. There is also a compartment at the aft end of his compartment where we've stored duffle bags and stuff we don't need to be accessible. The other aft cabin is set up the same way but a tiny bit smaller. There is also a little storage compartment under the mattresses on our bed where we keep an empty suitcase.

Other storage compartments are behind and under cushions in the salon, and I am ecstatic to report that we have empty space!

Max actually has a bit of wall in his room so he'll be able to decorate. He's got three portholes for ventilation and we've got a hatch. Oddly enough, the guest cabin only has two portholes. I have no idea why.

Equipment-wise, the boat has an autopilot, radar, a chart plotter, a GPS, plus the usual life-jackets, lines, and fenders. We also have a gangway, swim platform with ladder, deck and inside showers (all handheld), and two steering wheels. The motor is a 45-HP Volvo Penta, so it's pretty speedy. We also have a TV/DVD, radio/CD with the ability to connect an iPod for music. Am I forgetting anything?