s/v Kaleo

Tuesday, December 07th, 2010 / Christie & Matt

We had some down time while staying warm today and thought we’d share an inside tour of our little floating home. Kaleo has a salon (living/dining room), galley (kitchen), head (bathroom with hot water shower), v-berth and quarter berth (bedrooms) although our quarter berth has been converted into our garage, navigation station (home office), and a cockpit and deck (patios). There are several book nooks on board with the main one being tucked behind the fold-down salon table. Kaleo also has a ton of storage space in virtually every nook and cranny of the hull which helps keep the living spaces more organized. Ah, and there’s our trusty infirmary (Adventure Medical Marine 1000) tucked above our closet if needed. We even have a water car (dinghy) that resides on deck when we’re not using it. Welcome to our humble abode.

Entrance view of the salon and galley from the companionway (front door)

Inside the salon with hallway to the head and v-berth

The galley with refrigerator in the countertop cabinet on left and a pantry in the countertop cabinet on right

The v-berth

View of the galley, navigation station and companionway from the salon

Category: Cruising, Galley, Head, Inspiration Tags: Cruising, Galley, Head, Inspiration 3 Comments

Water Pump Weekend

Sunday, April 04th, 2010 / Christie & Matt

This Saturday we wrapped up the fresh water system refit that has been ongoing since last summer. Matt installed the fresh water pump and accumulator tank, which now supplies water to the recently installed galley double sink and bathroom sink and shower.

We also managed to wash and scrub the entire deck, cleaning it of winter grime and dirt. Scrubbing 34 feet of boat deck took the better part of the morning but Kaleo shined like she hasn’t in a long time. Christie finished the to-do list by installing one of her Valentine’s Day presents, a new stainless throttle handle.

All this work was capped off by a great sail in Galveston Bay, where we saw Captain Kidd, a two-masted schooner. The sail also reminded us of how well the Aloha 34 is designed as she balanced herself (stayed on a course without any input from us) on the tack out and back in. The sail was capped off by the best slip-parking job to date, if only they all went that smoothly there would be a few less scratches on the hull.

On Sunday, we spent the afternoon at Christie’s grandmother’s house celebrating the most important date in history, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Everyday we thank Him for our talents, abilities and the desire to pursue this dream.

Category: Galley, Galveston Bay, Head, Plumbing, Refit, Sailing Tags: Galley, Galveston Bay, Head, Plumbing, Refit, Sailing Leave a Comment

If Only They Could All Look Like This

Saturday, October 10th, 2009 / Christie & Matt

It’s official. Today marks the LEAST amount of money we’ve spent at West Marine to date. That’s right, the decimal is in the right place … we spend a whopping $0.39 on 4 fasteners for the shower install.

Category: Cruising, Head, Plumbing, Refit Tags: Cruising, Head, Plumbing, Refit Leave a Comment

Sailors Like To Be Clean Too

Saturday, October 10th, 2009 / Christie & Matt

We spent the weekend getting a few new parts installed for liveaboard necessities. For some reason the former owner removed the shower system, but no worries Matt was able to install a more space and water efficient design that works perfectly for us.

Category: Cruising, Head, Plumbing, Refit Tags: Cruising, Head, Plumbing, Refit Leave a Comment

Electric head install complete

Saturday, September 26th, 2009 / Christie & Matt

This weekend’s refitting included Matt running wire from the breaker panel to the flush pump to power our new electric head.

Category: Head, Lavac, Plumbing, Refit Tags: Head, Lavac, Plumbing, Refit One Comment

Productive & Fun Labor Day Wknd

Sunday, September 06th, 2009 / Christie & Matt

Deciding where to mount the manual back-up pump.
Installing the waste hose.Helping our marina neighbor load up his dinghy to be repaired.
Family stopped by for a fun visit and brought BBQ lunch for the crew.

Category: Family, Head, Lavac, Plumbing, Refit Tags: Family, Head, Lavac, Plumbing, Refit Leave a Comment

Labor of Love

Saturday, September 05th, 2009 / Christie & Matt

We spent this Labor Day weekend with one of our 1st major refit projects aboard Kaleo. September is dedicated to all things plumbing so we started with upgrading our manual-only toilet to an electric / manual back-up, Lavac. The 1st step was to have the holding tanks pumped out and rinsed followed by removing the old toilet. The greatest challenge was engineering a hose run that involved an electric pump, a manual back-up pump and a downhill run to the tank – all within the confines of the space below the v-berth.

We’re happy to report that with the help of Christie’s dad, Craig, the install was a success within “plan a” and without any sacrifices. We now have the convenience of an electric head with a manual back-up in case of power failure.

Category: Family, Head, Lavac, Plumbing, Refit Tags: Family, Head, Lavac, Plumbing, Refit Leave a Comment

Visiting the Fam

Saturday, August 29th, 2009 / Christie & Matt

Our Seattle weekend continued as we started Saturday with a visit to Pike Place for breakfast at The Crumpet Shop and to pick up some flowers to bring to Matt’s mom.
We then hit the road for a 5-hour road trip to Coeur d’ Alene to visit the family and celebrate Ken’s birthday.
Before heading out for Ken’s birthday dinner, he and Matt reviewed the test companionway doors and talked through their final design. We’ll leave the materials and plans in his good hands to be built. He even offered to build us an overlay for the bathroom countertop from some scrap granite he’s collected. It means a lot to us to have his craftsmanship aboard.
The boys taking a break while dad takes Jeff’s new bike out for a spin.