Ocean Breeze: Great Loop Date 10.16.2010: Who is OB?

I've had many questions from friends who have never seen the inside of OB and are wondering just how we are living in the confines of a boat. I went through OB and took pictures. This is how we are and will continue to live for the next 8 or 9 months:

Todd's (the Captain) command center...the lower station in the pilot house. When you see outside pictures of the boat, this is what is behind those large front windows. He uses his computer on the right as a back up to the charting program on our boat's GPS plotting program. He also watches the stock market on it...which makes me nervous when he's driving.

My (the First Mate) command center. I'm the hardware backup to the computerized chart plotting systems on the boat. I follow paper charts that are like road maps. I use the binoculars to look for daymarkers that are like road signs. I check mark the daymarkers on the chart when we pass them in the boat. That way if there is a system failure, there is a human backup to where we are.

The Upper Station...Todd drives from here when things are tense and he needs to see 360* around the boat. He also docks the boat from here. He has a 'rearview camera' mounted at the stern so he can actually see the stern if he has to back into a dock. I wish he'd use it!

This is what is behind Todd on the bridge (the Upper Station picture you just saw). That's our dinghy and dock box. Our bikes and our little BBQ grill are in the dock box. There's a little refrigerator on the right and a wet bar above it. Pretty cool for parties on the bridge.

Our salon or living room. When you see OB from the outside, it's the big windows along the side of the boat. The table can fold out and comfortably seat 6 people. If necessary we can squeeze 8 in. The TV is still the old version flat screen. We keep talking about putting in an LED but haven't done it yet.

This is my galley (kitchen). I have a double sink in the island where the TV is located. There are a lot of cabinets for storage. You can see the oven. It has a cutting board top with a stove under it. Between the stove and the refrigerator is a compactor. No dishwasher...I have very clean hands from washing them! Todd dries the dishes. I do cook fairly frequently. My refrigerator is not as big as what I have at home. I'm less likely to keep junk in it. Our soft drinks and beer are in the little refrigerator on the bridge. Now we also have a portable DC refrigerator/freezer on the back deck to replace our ice chest. It also has soft drinks and beer in it.

This is Charlie's bed. He's so used to his crate at home, we have found him sleeping in the master bathroom (head) many nights. I didn't take a picture of it but it just fits him. This is in front of my closet and storage drawers (behind the mirrored doors).

I hung a car hanging rod where the couch turns into a bunk (in our bedroom). Todd needed closet space and we both needed room to hank our foul weather gear. Under the bunk is more storage. I put a lot of our clothes in space bags and they are under that cushion. The baby gate in the background is for Charlie. That's how I keep him sequestered in the master stateroom (our bedroom and that's where this picture was taken).

This is our bed. It is queen sized. Remember the mattress event bringing the new innerspring mattress to the boat? That's the mattress and it is so very comfortable.

This is a shot looking down the lower hallway from the salon (living room) to our bedroom. The cabinet on the left has my combination washing machine/dryer. It is a front loader and can only handle 6 pounds of laundry at a time but it has been very handy. I've done all our laundry in it including our sheets and towels. There is a wall vac behind the sliding doors on the right. It doesn't pick up Charlie's hair very well, so I have a canister vac with a sweeper head that does an excellent job. I store it on that couch in our master bedroom way back in the corner where it can't be seen. The guest bathroom is on the right where you see the mirrored door.