The Story

                 The Story of the boats

 Kristine has wanted to live on a boat since highschool. However all dreams take time: time to plan, time to save and time to convince Kolby that it is a good idea!

 Trickster on stern tie at Pirates Cove

We bought out first boat in April 2007, a 1969 37′ Buchan for $18,500. Needless to say she was a bit….smelly? The engine ran (most of the time) and the sails were good (before the the main ripped in 30 knot winds while crossing the Straight of Georgia). It was love at first sight and promptly hauled her out to the boatyard at Shelter Island Marina, where they gave us a speech about the ‘land of forgotten dreams’. Of course, we disregarded said negatively and threw ourselves into the job. She was re-launched in October 2007; in seven months we had rebuilt the interior in a lovely cherry finish, replaced all the cushions, installed all new wiring, plumbing and, well pretty much everything. The learning curve was so steep at times, we slide backwards. A lot. She was christened Trickster and in the two years we lived on her she gave us more misadventures than any other.

Living on the Fraser River

Life on the Fraser River was frequently beautiful, but always tough. The showers were a 5 minute walk down the road and the Gulf Islands were an 8 hour trek up and down the river. We married in August 2008 on Gabriola Island – the most common question we were asked? “So, now that you are married, are you going to buy a house?” NOPE! Living on Trickster was wonderful  – boat life was for us – just not in the middle of nowhere. It was time to seek out the illusive Vancouver live-aboard spot.

Kristine shed a few tears when we said goodbye to Trickster. But we were comforted to know we had saved a classic boat from a sad death, and made some money from the upgrades.

 Georgia Dawn – our ‘in’ to living aboard in Vancouver.

In the fall of 2009 came a chance we couldn’t miss – a couple were looking to sell their 1983 35′ Spencer with live aboard shares in Vancouver’s only live aboard marina; Spruce Harbour Marina. Kristine had been on the waitlist for a spot in this marina for 9 years- her name was still 25th from the top. It was time to buy our way in. Georgia Dawn was one of the few affordable options that had come out of Spruce with live aboard shares available. She surveyed at $60,000…. but we paid several more for the premium of ‘jumping the line’. Living aboard in Vancouver on Georgia Dawn was a completely different experience. If felt like the world was at our fingertips! The showers were 5 seconds away, laundry is free and the Gulf Islands are just across the Straight! In many ways Georgia Dawn was an upgrade from Trickster. She had a new diesel engine that ran like a dream, and she took us to the top of Desolation Sound and safely home without a complaint. However her lines weren’t as pretty, she didn’t sail nearly so fast and she never felt like home.

3 years on 35′ boats and we were hooked. But was it crowded! Two cats and a dog! And two people! Looking around it was pretty clear we needed more space, if not for the current family members than the ones to come!

 Asunto on route to Gabriola Island

We are nothing if not quick to make a decision (impulsive is such an ugly word). So when we decided we wanted a bigger boat – we went and bought a bigger boat. At least that is how it would look to outsiders. We were just browsing – when a dealer showed us a 50′ 1996 Catalina Morgan. At first Kristine was like ‘a Catalina? No way!’ But the dealer persisted that she was the ultimate live aboard and with one look inside we were hooked. Kristine was hooked when she saw the bath tub, and everything came second. Imagine a bathtub on a sailboat! Unheard of! Asunto came home with us in February of 2010 for just $175,000. She truly is the boat we envisioned living on a raising a family when we started this adventure of boat life. Asunto and our wonderful life in Spruce Harbor wouldn’t have been possible with out the love and support from our parents. We can never thank them enough for (eventually) accepting our unorthodox way of life and for creating solutions for us to live our dream. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!