This was supposed to be week 1…it’s day 1. Turns out, there’s plenty to say already. Unsurprisingly I guess, as we knew we were in for a busy, expensive and challenging (with a never ending job list) time living aboard. Did we expect it all this soon? Perhaps not, but I suppose we should have. I suppose in some ways, the start will be the most challenging as we adapt to the boat, walking 5 mins to use the ‘facilities’, and permanently having a baby either attached to us or, within a fingertip’s reach.

The sail up went well! Perhaps Pete needs to tell you more about that, as Ocean and I packed up our Air BNB and awaited Zula’s arrival on Saturday evening. We floated (haha get it) the idea of taking Ocean aboard for the voyage. Mainly because, my stubborn self desperately wanted to be aboard for her maiden voyage (but was also too stubborn to leave Ocean for multiple days) and I thought, hey, he’s going to be living on the boat so why not? But quickly, over a practical and logical discussion, (and reassurance for me that I would get plenty of time sailing in the future, duh), I realised that it made perfect sense for us two to remain behind to pack up our stuff, drop Pete at the airport, and be there to catch the ropes when the boys arrived on Saturday. They left around 10am on Friday morning from Tauranga Marina, and rounded the corner in Marsden Cove at about 6.50pm on Saturday night. The trip had been mostly smooth, one crew member sadly lost his sea legs early in the evening and shared the vegetarian lasagne I had prepared for the boys with the fish. And he’s no fair weather sailor, so I’m picking the boys weren’t exaggerating when they said it got a wee bit rough. (Probably best the 9 month old wasn’t aboard!) As the wind picked up to near 40 knots, the decision was made to pull into Cook’s Beach for a few hours until 1am, when it looked like the worst of it would be gone. They set off again and I know Pete was grateful to have two experienced, eager sailors on board to show him a thing or two with navigating the wind. That’s the thing about the sailing community, what goes around comes around. Most people are willing to lend a hand in one way or another because they know that sure enough, they may well be the next in line for a spare pair of hands. (Immense thank you to both lads for helping us out). 

It had all been a bit rushed. We were scheduled to leave our Air BNB on 25/2/24 and between ‘Covid catch up’ weddings (two weekends in Wellington) cyclones, and aiming for a weekend voyage, we were pushing it to make the timing work. We had one weekend where ideally, it would all happen. And somehow, it did. 

So Saturday night was a celebratory one (as much as a knackered crew could celebrate with a 6am flight the next morning). Pete and I have both described this feeling as surreal. Together, we’ve floated (ha) the idea of living on a yacht since we first met. And prior to meeting each other, it was a dream of both of ours. (Something we are VERY grateful for as with this unique, tight-spaced, expensive, and testing living style, it’s not something either of us would fancy having to convince our partner to do!) We started seriously making a plan not long after Ocean was born. They do say having kids gives you an altered perspective on life and well, ‘they’ are right. We lived in a beautiful spot at Rarangi Beach in Blenheim, and while we loved the house and lifestyle of this stunning region, we both felt the desire for more. Put it this way, if we didn’t make a change we would have kept living the same way, and while that was great, why not try something different? It might be even better. And we can always go back! (Ha, don’t think we’ll be going back…)

So here we are, North Islanders again (yay warmer water) swimming at the beach for extended periods of time (well, ish, with the baby) surfing in boardies, and soaking up the few and far between days of sunshine we’ve had in between the severe weather events. Hmmm….It hasn’t put us off though. We feel like we’re in the right place. 

And we have ZULA! Surreal. Looking around, after scrolling through all her pictures on Trade me, I cannot believe she is here and we own her. It’s been a massive learning experience purchasing a boat like this (ha that’s just the beginning, they scoff) but we are so ready for the challenge and learning that will come. Ocean is at an amazing interactive, giggling, and oh so curious age, he is loving it so far too.

That doesn’t mean it’s been all smooth sailing settling in though…spending the first two days sorting through all the ‘stuff that might come in handy’ left on board, and cleaning as many corners as we can find to a satisfactory level for now, has had both Pete and I (not to mention Ocean!) feeling rather unsettled. We are both very organised, tidy, and ‘everything has a place’ kind of people, so having stuff strewn everywhere is currently taking the glamour out of the situation. 

Ocean is crawling, pulling himself up, and wanting to walk with our hands everywhere. This is great! But a new challenge for boat living as we’re carrying him a lot more and lacking areas to put him down to play safely. Time to get the baby nets up around the boat!

One new challenge of boat life that I did not foresee is simply leaving to go out. I say ‘simply’ but my point is actually that it is suddenly less simple. It’s a given that leaving the house takes longer when you’ve got a baby, but the transferring of gear for the day from bedroom to saloon, saloon to cock pit, cock pit to side of boat, side of boat to the berth, to then walk up to the truck in the carpark, adds a fews steps to the routine to say the least! ‘Nimble’ is a word that comes to mind when I think of the best way to be on a boat. We’ve decided that with our new active lifestyle on the boat, aforementioned transferring of gear, toilet walks and also bending and stooping in and out of small spaces (and that’s with the ample space we have in our 44ft), we won’t be needed those gym memberships we considered after all!        

So first up, the water stopped working for the lads on the trip, leaving them parched for about 12 hours. They think there was a mix up with switching over the water tanks thus leaving the first one empty and burning out the pump trying to pump an empty tank. Bugger. $379 later for a new pump which I got in Whangarei the day after moving into the boat. The feeling of ‘and so it begins’ felt so relevant. The ‘it’ being the spending and the fixing. ‘Bring Out Another Thousand’ as we all know being the official definition of boat. One thing we have on our side though is Pete and his fascinatingly long list of skills. He seems to have a bit of knowledge on every topic, especially when it comes to boats, and frankly, there is no one else I would feel safer with on a boat. Sure, there’s a bit of the ‘sailing’ part to learn but that’ll be the fun part! (We hope).

So speaking of sailing, when will the first trip be? Well, with Pete working a full time job for now and weekend commitments aside, sailing with have to be squeezed in wherever we can make it happen. Our goal is to get out as much as possible, learn all that we can, and get this boat (and us!) up to off shore standard! Ocean needs to be a little bit older before we can consider our first off shore trip, but he’s working on that just fine. This week, he’ll be 10 months old. Another ‘surreal’ moment for both his mum and dad in this tale. 

We look forward to the first sail together as a little boat family and seeing how we can handle Zula, just the two of us (with the wee one in amongst the action on the front pack).

Fortunately, we’ve owned three boats together and already spent many a boat launch being ‘that couple’ at the ramp. Thus, we’ve identified the importance of clear, calm, and kind communication (hooray) so I have high hopes for our ability to work awesomely as a team. But, we will see. The first sail together has yet to happen so I’ll let you know. 

It’s calm and beautiful weather at the moment which is being welcomed and cherished by all of Northland after the chaotic few weeks of weather. Tomorrow afternoon we are planning to do a wee trip out with the boat. Doesn’t look like much wind, but it will be great to get her out and moving. Pete readied her tonight while I was putting Ocean to bed. So I’ll let you know how that goes too! 

Other than sailing, we are so excited to be up in Northland where our other hobbies of surfing, diving, spearfishing, and being at the beach can absolutely thrive. We’ve been here 5 weeks and had a number of great surfs, and time at the beach. Life is feeling pretty exciting right now and we are especially grateful to be able to bring our little boy up in nature, sun, surf, sand and of course, sailing on Zula! Come along for the ride. ❤ 

Pete, Ellie, and Baby Ocean.