This feels a little like a school report. Hopefully it won’t say “must try harder” or “Adam would do much better at school if he spent less time looking out of the window watching the boys play football.”
We have now lived on board for two years and have experienced a wide variety of conditions. Having down-sized from a large six bedroom house, we were a little apprehensive about whether the reduced space would work for us. That said, even when we had the big house, when the kids weren’t there, 75% of it remained unused!
So we first moved on board in September 2015 and at the time I was in a role that required a lot of travel. Shortly after moving in, we had a lot of electrical work done (Electrical panel). This couldn’t be done with us on board and so Maria had to move from a 6 bedroom house to a small 3 bedroom apartment (the boat) to a one bedroom motorhome in the space of six weeks.
She must have wondered what she had done wrong as she sat on an autumn night alone in the motorhome with the wind and rain howling, having inadvertently joined the traveller community. All of this while I was stuck in a posh hotel overlooking the harbour bridge and opera house in the heat of an Australian summer !
It has been said that if you can survive the first winter on the boat, you will be fine, and this is how it proved for us. The wooden pontoons can be lethal when there is ice but the marina provide grit that you can use, if you remember. If you don’t remember, you certainly do next time! This is particularly a problem when you are wearing work shoes, which always have limited grip it seems, and this generally seems to mean that you perform some kind of duck-like walk in order to negotiate the treacherous pontoon. You can get some spikes that go around your shoes and offer more grip but where is the fun in that? And you know you would forget you had them on and walk on your beautiful teak decks 😦 .
The cold of the winter is not an issue on a modern fully equipped boat although I have lost track of the times I have been told that we must get cold in the winter. On Mariadz, we have reverse cycle air conditioning units, but had an eberspacher diesel heater on our last boat, and with extra electric heaters you can be toasty warm but you do need to keep an eye on your electricity/diesel usage which can result in an eye-watering bill. It can get worse with a diesel heater if you don’t realise how much fuel you are using and suck the “gunk” from the bottom of the tank and as one liveaboard near us did. This had the dual effect of killing the diesel heater and requiring a tank clean. Definitely something you don’t need. The key for us is not to let the cold in and this is helped by our cockpit tent which effectively gives us double glazing at the door. This insulates us from the outside very effectively, especially as we generally have to leave the companionway open (with a curtain to retain the heat) so that the cats can go for a wander if they want. It was that or another cat flap! We also have a backdrop, dropping down from the spray hood dividing the cockpit into three rooms, which gives us an entrance hall or porch. This stops a sharp Northerly wind coming straight into the boat when someone, or a cat, comes in.
Condensation and damp can also be a problem on a boat particularly in the winter when you don’t want to let the cold air in to ventilate the boat. We use a Meaco DD8L Dehumidifier
Who wants to get into a cold, wet-feeling bed? Certainly not Maria, and so we have heated blankets on the bed which are individually controlled on each side. This makes the bed nice and toasty when you get in rather than giving you a cold shock and then requiring a bed-warming wriggle. Although I may be missing a trick here around the bed-warming wriggle…. The other potential issue can be getting into the bed when the blankets have been on as the cats love a bit of warmth and with the size of Bonnie and Clyde, there sometimes isn’t room for the two of us as well.
As liveaboards, one of the other questions asked of us is how do you survive in such a small space (without throttling each other!). Recognising that Mariadz is quite big by boat standards for a couple, this has not been an issue (yet 😉 ). Like all couples, we will occasionally bicker but it generally doesn’t last long and we genuinely enjoy each other’s company so we were close together even in the house 99% of the time so there isn’t much difference in the smaller space. One regret is around the size of the galley, Maria and I have traditionally cooked our special meals at the weekend together but it is really only big enough for one at a time. At least it isn’t like you are locked away in a room somewhere though but you can’t fit in there together.
Entertainment is exactly as before, we have a QuickSAT QS65 Satellite System
So despite all of the work on the boat and having to move out, we survived our first winter and then you get your reward because the summer was glorious. I was working locally and around a lot more, so we were able to enjoy lovely, balmy summer evenings on deck, enjoying the view and maybe a small glass of something chilled. Dinner can also be served on deck so you really get downtime in the evening, not even mentioning the difference in a sailing weekend which I have discussed before (Liveaboard vs Weekend sailing).
It was also wonderful when working from home to be able to sit up in the cockpit while you work although it can be a little distracting with the hustle and bustle of a busy marina. The background noise (“is that a seagull I can hear?”) can also be distracting for conference calls so outside working has to be done sparingly.
Of course the fact that we are both still in the U.K. and working, or at least looking for work, means we have to have storage for work clothes as well as our normal wear. Maria has assured me on numerous occasions that her clothes will “fold down to nothing”, particularly when a “Next” bag turns up or we are out and Maria sees some clothes she likes. :). So clearly we won’t have any problems when we eventually leave. However right now we also have a lot of work clothes. At the moment, Maria and I share the available wardrobe and drawer space on Mariadz. To the uninitiated this means I have one wardrobe (ish…) and Maria has the rest – and some space in our storage area too 🙂 . Clearly this will all change when we cast off to start our trip and we are both looking forward to that.
We found the second cycle of seasons relatively easy to cope with because we knew what to expect. In fact the summer has been particularly pleasant with Maria working from home (albeit working very hard) and me either job hunting or doing some maintenance on the boat which will be useful experience for when we start our travels and can’t afford or can’t find other people to do the work. The disadvantage has been that our plans have been delayed a little since I need to earn some money so we can finish everything we need on the boat and Italy as well as having some savings before we go.
So from our perspective, the move to a floating life has been easy and enjoyable and the only thing we really miss from having a house was the ability to have a bath or hot tub. Again that will be solved when we travel by going to places where the water is warm, and clearly with no sharks around! In the interim the occasional hotel stay should keep Maria happy.
We also forced this change on our two cats and it has been interesting to see how they have adjusted. 
Bonnie and Clyde have always been treated like any other (spoiled!) moggies. We were told by our first lovely vet that we should allow them to be cats rather than ornaments around the home that never ventured outside. When we had the house, they would both like to go out a lot and explore. There was many a night when I would be walking round the village at midnight trying to call quietly to find Bonnie, who was hiding in her usual haunt before trotting happily behind me, following me home. They have always acted more like dogs than cats!
When we moved to the boat we were happy for them to keep going out despite the risk that they could fall in the marina. And they have fallen in regularly! Despite what most people think, cats are very good swimmers and can swim around for ages as long as the water is not too cold. Thankfully, the cats are generally very good at getting themselves out of the water and back onto the pontoon. To help with this we have cloth covered fenders at water level so that they can climb back up if they fall in near to the boat. We have had a couple of occasions where they have been further away and have struggled to get out and this has meant some additional fenders being placed strategically around the marina to provide an exit. So far so good. Although it is quite a sight when you see one of the cats coming onto the boat like a drowned rat with their usually thick fur stuck to their bodies making them look really small. In these situations, the worst is yet to come because we generally take advantage of them being wet already and get them in the shower to clean them up and get them warm. So they get two soakings if they fall in which doesn’t make them happy. So unhappy in fact that the only way I can get them into the shower is to carry them in, which means wearing thick protective gear – namely a very thick bathrobe. Otherwise they would rip me to shreds to try and get out. The other key is to have the shower quite hot, I used to have it at a normal temperature but found a little warmer is more comfortable for the cats and I can’t feel the difference through the bathrobe anyway.
But apart from the risks of water, the cats have been very happy. 
In fact the smaller 
space means that they are closer and more affectionate than when we had a big house. They also don’t seem to struggle when we are at sea although if the weather isn’t great, they like to be in the cockpit sitting close to us. All in all though, we think the cats enjoy living on board.
So two years in and still a couple of years before we will be able to leave on our travels. 
But the good ship Mariadz is generally a happy place for all crew members all year round. Long may it continue.
We needed to replace all of the taps as part of the initial fit out. We decided to go with good quality domestic taps and found ones for the bathroom that had a “water saving” feature, which was as simple as a stop when the tap was half open! Still every little helps. At the same time we changed the plugs to push in which again stopped any problems with lost plugs or disconnected chains. Unfortunately it was only much later that we discovered that these had been fitted without PTFE tape and we unknowingly had a leak from the sink waste which was responsible for some of the water in our bilges. Now corrected, this area is bone dry and doesn’t contribute any more water below the floorboards.
, which whilst expensive, 
sucks air into the showerhead to make the best of the water power. We found a noticeable difference when using this compared to a standard shower head. Apparently the water comes out as bubbles which explode on your skin…..if you believe the marketing. 🙂 but it does seem more powerful than the old basic head.
In the short term I had to put some string around this area to act as a door handle, potentially a sub-optimal solution to the problem as Maria very clearly and robustly pointed out. The replacement parts are made by Southco and this is an exact match for the broken part. Originally I tried to order these through EC Smith but due to some confusion and despite almost fortnightly reminders, these still hadn’t been ordered three months after my request. In the end I spoke to a very helpful lady at Zycology who had the part I needed in stock and got it to me within a couple of days. Fitting was easy and it was nice for Maria to be able to have a shower without the risk of being locked in there by the broken door mechanism – not much of a risk but it would have been hilarious for a few seconds before I was punished. You have to get your fun where you can.
This was another idea we loved from the Moody 49 Mornin’ Gorgeous and I am sure they didn’t mind us stealing it. These are wall mounted and you often see them in pubs and clubs. It means that soap is always available, even when healed, with no soap bars lying in wait on the floor for the unsuspecting to fall over.
There are numerous blogs on how this has been addressed, particularly on the outside but in the forepeak we have some cupboards with retaining catches. These were either broken or extremely rusted. It was difficult finding where to source these. Our Moody was internally fitted out out by Princess Yachts and having found the shower handle at surmised that other parts may have come from the same manufacturer. They also had the catches. This items were supplied by EC smith from stock. They arrived quickly and I set about fitting them. How difficult can it be to remove one and replace it with a new one…. one of the things I have discovered on boats is that even the simple ten minute jobs can bite you and this was no different. 
The catches were very different although they did the same thing, in fact the Southco catches are very professional and robust, looking a much more quality part than the original. With these catches, the mechanism fits on the door and there is a bar that it hooks onto on the frame. The bar on the Moody is angled because of the angle of the curved door and the one supplied is a right angle. Hmmm. Let’s just see how they fit together. Reading the instructions, it is clear that the catch is designed for a 90 degree door to frame angle. By trial and error, I work out that the right angled bar is just too long because of the extra angle of our cupboards. If I can file down the protruding part it will still hold the mechanism but when the catch is opened it will clear the bar and the cupboard will open. I discovered this the hard way by closing the cupboard and then being unable to open it, fortunately I had only put a retaining screw in and so I could shift the bar to the side to free up the cupboard. Otherwise, it may have been a case of “sorry dear, I crow-barred the door of the cupboard to get at the contents”. Boat jobs have a habit of catching you out like that. Fortunately, our friends on Valentine had an angle grinder I could use to file down the six retaining bars, otherwise I would have been hand filing the stainless – that would have been fun! With the bars down to half of their size, I fitted them again, and after getting the offsets right on the door and frame, it worked perfectly. Putting on the other five will be a proverbial piece of cake….of course not 😦 . Some of the screws wee so rusted that the screw dissolved when I tried to unscrew them. Fortunately, after much very careful effort, I was able to get all of the old bars off and throw away the rusty screws. Fitting was fine, with some minor adjustments needed to make sure that each catch fitted how it should. And we were done, a ten minute job had taken a shade over two hours! No surprises there then.
check, even though we know we will be replacing it in the next year or so. This would make sure we were safe in the interim. At the back end of August, this was performed and as expected a few things came up which need rectification but nothing that was a safety issue (so lots of amber and no reds). The check was very thorough and the written report backed up that we were safe enough for the moment and also identified some of the changes that they would recommend when we go for the full refit.
, I was able to unjam these, 
although I did also need to take the headlining down in the saloon to access the bolts under the organiser, some of which were on a bit tight. Having freed these, it did make me think that we have more work to do with the rig and we will discuss replacing the clutches and organisers as part of the rig refresh over the next few years. There were also a number of other easy fixes i could do myself such as tightening up the lines across the gates. That was also being redone as we extended our pushpit.
Maria gently pulled Mariadz out of her berth to head towards the lock and Mark from Motion took a pic for us. Shortly after the picture was taken we noticed that the satellite dish was still up, just ahead of the mast! Better get that in before we go too far down the river!
Progress is slow and there are very few other boats out. We are 
against tide and wind and we travel down the wallet quite slowly (for us). I’m not too worried since we will arrive at the Spitway at the bottom of Gunfleet sands after low tide as expected and it does give us a chance to get some good shots of boats coming the other way with the wind and tide.
the opportunity to see seals bathing on the mud. Today there are relatively few, we have seen nearly a hundred before but there was a nice group gathered for a coffee morning and chat. Soon after this we see an ocean rowing boat. We later discover that this is team Kung Fu Cha Cha who are intending to be the only Chinese team in the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic 
Challenge this year. They seemed to be doing pretty well on their warm up run up the crouch and the AIS track showed good speed :). We will definitely be following this team in the upcoming race.
and we will need to be careful, no cutting the corners today! Maria realises that she will have to come in and as she passes between the entrance poles, she will have to turn hard to starboard and then let the wind push Mariadz onto the pontoon controlling her with the bow thruster and using the engine to line her up with the hammerhead. Maria is a little apprehensive in the twenty knot wind but she handles the boat well and I am confident that we will do fine if we communicate well. On the final approach into the marina, the water is shallow and the alarm goes off. For one second we are thinking we may run into the mud at the entrance and be stuck for some time waiting to be floated off by the tide – you know every man and his dog would have chosen that time to come into the marina – and you don’t want to be the gnome greeting everyone at the entrance! There are no such concerns as Maria negotiates the last of the approach and puts the wheel hard to starboard before starting to take the speed off the boat. A bit of straightening up with the bow thruster and minor adjustment to line up with the hammerhead and we drift gently into position. I step off and we are tied quite quickly. A little after lunchtime but Maria gets her afternoon moored or tied up….lucky girl.
The E/F pontoon hammerhead is our usual and favoured berth at Burnham but the pontoon feels shorter than we remember, we are therefore overhanging on both sides so we will need to think carefully about how we tie up. I catch up with Bruce who explains that another similar sized boat will come in the next day and could we make this easier by moving forward when they come in before returning to our normal position afterwards. We absolutely understand the issues with manoeuvring in the tight spaces and we offer to give them a hand when they arrive. Our friend Lisa has also come to stay for the weekend so the cats will get spoilt too.
This takes several hours but by the end of it Mariadz is looking beautiful for all of ten minutes! This is an issue at Burnham. The marina is very nice, we have met some great people there and the carnival weekend is always excellent but there is an issue with birds – not Essex girls but Hitchcock level birds. They look lovely as they fly around and at one stage we saw thirty starlings on the spreaders and standing rigging of one boat which made it look like a Christmas tree. 
However, these birds seem to eat a lot of red and black berries…..so shortly after I have finished the deck, it looks like Prince’s mythical Purple Rain has happened. I have cleaned the windows and I am not doing that again, so we will put up with it until the end of the weekend when I clean Mariadz down after our journey.
I am there to take lines if needed but she comes to lie so gently against the pontoon that we have all day to get her tied off. Maria can then start the engine of Mariadz and we can put her back to her old position with stern coming out as far as the boats on the long pontoon and the bow slightly overhanging the next entrance. We have a nice chat and later a few drinks with the crew of Sweet Surrender before coming back to Mariadz for a gorgeous home made fish pie, prepared by Maria but with top quality ingredients sourced (or sauced) by Adam. It’s going to be a long weekend so an early night is called for but not before Maria asks whether I can get the satellite dish setup so she can record some programmes over the weekend. Now in a domestic setup, a clever engineer, works out where to point the dish when the system is setup and you never need to think about it. On a boat or motorhome, every time you move you need to reposition the dish, and in a boat you need to make sure you are tied well or the dish will move and lose the signal. On one of our trips to a motorhome show, Maria had decided to get rid of the old standard dish and replaced it with a 
Just before we go there is a little excitement as one of the ocean rowing teams, not our Chinese friends, is brought in by the RNLI. There is a little concern at how bad it is out there but Mariadz can take it so hopefully we wont be needing the RNLI services later.
concerned that this may push us onto the bowsprit of Sweet Surrender but we have agreed to spring off from the bow which take us away at 30 degrees from the pontoon. All the fenders are in place and we have a little help from our new friends. This was a little fortunate as I hadn’t moved the bow spring far enough back onto the pontoon but we were able to pause the manoeuvre, move the line and start again. We come off fine so although not exactly text book, everything is good. Maria then takes Mariadz astern and with a hard starboard turn we are through the exit and into the river. This gives me the opportunity to stow the fenders on the mast pulpits (granny bars) again. Unfortunately our departure coincides with a yacht race down the Crouch so Maria slows down and we follow the race down river. There is some minor concern as the racers approach their turn and we momentarily think that the course may return directly back down the river and straight at us but they pass on our port side presenting some good photo opportunities.
As we came out of the Crouch we saw the only other sailing boat that we would see all day coming back in under ominous black clouds. At this stage, even with much reduced sail, we are flying along at 8.5knots with the wind on the beam. Soon we will be turning towards the Wallet and over the Spitway, which this time has lots of water over it. As we turn, I take advantage of the change in the wind angle to take in the headsail, the other two are easy to get in if we need to and those clouds could be accompanied by even more wind. To be fair the reduced sail didn’t harm our speed much and we still bumbled along at a good seven knots for the whole journey but it gave us piece of mind. First though the Wallet, which is affectionately called “vomit alley” was incredibly rolly, with waves going across our beam but at least the tide and wind were in the same direction.
completely empty, there must have been real concerns over the weather because normally the river is busy at this time. We head up but lose a bit of time because of the variability of the wind, we are not too bothered and by this time Maria has put the roast dinner in the oven so it will be ready when we arrive in Ipswich.
Mariadz 