Welcome aboard valkyrie
How does a family of 4 live on a 56' boat?
We are back!
We are back in New England, more specifically, Buzzards Bay, MA. We have been at Fleet Marina for about a month now. We have had a ton of fun reuniting with our friends and family! Dinners out, parties on board, trips to Vermont, and the fun keeps coming. Not everything has been all sunshine and rosy, I will get into that in more detail later, in the meantime know that we are still sharing life on board Valkyrie and we hope you continue to stop by the website & YouTube and follow along! (4/18/24)
We are cruising..
We are 7 days in! It has been a great adventure so far. One day, we hit 6-foot waves head-on and another with up to 8-foot following seas, rolling and pitching Valkyrie around enough to make our coffee table slide!
Sunrise to sunset, we have had several long days of cruising. Now that we have reached Chincoteague, VA we can relax a little bit. We are going to hang out here for a few days.
In the meantime, check out the daily blogs posted here, and our videos on our YouTube page!
There is limited space to store seasonal items. Using these vacuum seal bags is extremely helpful. Our beach towels and flybridge sofa pillows are safe from the damp conditions that could cause mold when stored in the flybridge. I should also mentioned the space savings! Everything gets shrunk down and some to less than half its size. We also use these bags for blankets, coats & clothes that need to be stored onboard or in our off-boat storage unit.
We had an amazing Summer at West Island. We were able to spend many weekends cruising and exploring onboard Valkyrie. Including Martha’s Vineyard, Marion, Onset, and more. Unfortunately due to an unforeseen medical issue I was not able to type up any updates or edit any videos to share with you. I am slowly on the mend so once I have time to, I will update you on our summer adventures. For now, I invite you to follow along on our Winter Cruise 2023-2024.
The New England Summer Boat Season is officially underway. Many marinas contract boaters from May 1 – October 31 or like us May 15 – October 15. After a short transient stay in Sandwich, MA we are now back for year #3 at West Island Marina. Memorial day weekend weather was cool and windy. Valkyrie stayed at the dock but many ventured out on the water. Food, drinks and a lot of laughs were to be had this weekend.
Today, May 30, 2023 I uploaded March & April 2023 update. I have been experiencing a lot of wifi issues along with planning a few huge life events in May, there has been a long delay in uploading files, photos, and writing. Please keep checking in on our YouTube channel for new videos (I’m working on them, I promise!) as well as keep following along on FaceBook and returning here to our website for the latest and greatest.
During the winter months, Mark’s work slows down so he is able to focus on some boat projects. One of those boat projects: Project Soft Floor is in full swing. Jordan better not need to come home from school anytime soon because her room is in shambles. (January 23, 2023)
I will put together a video of that project once it is complete.
Most boat projects are not necessarily planned, for example when we get a clogged toilet! This not-so-pleasant task had Mark in the engine room of all places! Why? Watch and check it out! I promise there was no poop involved in the making of that video!
We have had some winter weather events here at the marina. Wind is always a concern for us. Wind speed and direction have a huge impact on how we tie lines, secure bumpers, AND how much we are going to get pushed/rolled around AND how loud our lines are going to creak which will keep us up all night. Unfortunately our isinglass is starting to tear so we have to figure out how to take preventative measures against the winds to make sure it does not get worse.
Check out the two videos below that discuss our winter weather and how we prepared for it and how we are enduring it.
Stay tuned…I had a beautiful walk along Chapaquoit Beach that I want to share with you!
It is a brand new year and we are so excited to see what 2023 has in store for us. Some of the things we are looking forward to in 2023 is celebrating Jordan’s college graduation, Mark and my 25th wedding anniversary, and anticipation is building to see where Haleigh’s career path will take her.
This winter we are in Falmouth and we have prepped Valkyrie the best we can to endure whatever Mother Nature throws at us.
You can find the details in the latest update by clicking above but the quick of it is:
1. Taped up the vents in the engine room.
2. Put the engine block heaters on a timer so at least one is on every 4-hours.
3. Plugged in 4 electric heaters. One in each stateroom and one in the salon. Hopefully they can keep up with and not trip too many breakers.
4. Winterized all outdoor water spigots including the anchor wash and the three water sources in the cockpit.
We have already had some frost & thin ice coating the cove this winter. December 5, 2022. It rattles the nerves to think how cold is it going to get in January & February. Time will tell.
We have some River Otters that are living here in the area. Three have been spotted on several occasions and I was able to get a video of them. Check it out on our YouTube Page.
October 22, 2022 we leave our Summer home and cruise across Buzzards Bay to Fiddlers Cove Marina our home for the Winter. It was a beautiful day to be cruising. Enjoy the video!
We got KICKED out of our Marina! Thankfully! With the winds predicted to be 45 +mph we had to go! Our new home for the week (9/30-10/6/22); Popes Island Marina. That means a new view for us for a few days.
Recently (August 2022) we have had large, enormous schools of bait fish swimming in the West Island Marina waters. Fun to look at? Sure. Do I get startled once in a while when I hear them jump and splash? Yes.
What eats these bait fish, besides bigger fish? Birds! Seagulls! These schools of fish have drawn the attention of seagulls near and far. They are crowding the docks and shitting all over them. Walking the docks and dodging bird shit is now officially deemed a new exercise in health & fitness!
How do we decorate seasonally and for the holidays?
Maybe not the best photos to demonstrate BUT, space is an issue and I think you will get the idea. Our sofa pillowcases change with the season/holiday. They are easy to store and festive. Throw blankets for the sofa, table clothes for the coffee table and main salon table can be found in multiple motifs and as juvenile, as it can seem, window clings take no space to store, are cheap enough to throw out, and they add an element of whimsy! Nothing is keeping me from having a Christmas Tree! We just make it fit!
Everything is multi-purpose!
The salon table is a work station for me; a homework station for the college kid; our supper table; my craft space, and an ironing table!
The master bedroom is also a craft room. The salon can be a bedroom; the galley is also a navigational station and Jordan’s state room is also the laundry room! Lucky her!
Instead of mowing a lawn...we wash
Our mind is constantly thinking...."Water"
Household chores are A LOT different on boat!
What is worse?
Cleaning a gutter on a house
- or -
Cleaning a nasty chain locker?
Sometimes you need to be a contortionist!
When it comes to fixing things Mark has to be very limber and squinch his body into unusual spaces!
Stay Tuned & I will tell you how important that white post is!!
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