Stephanie Dawn: "To live on a sailboat means to be free"

Four years ago, Stephanie Rassn and her fiance, Luis Goodier, decided to start living on their boat, Thumbsucker, Davidson 28 (8.5 meters). They do not leave work, they live in the city center; but what does it mean to live in such a special apartment?

The first question is almost obvious: why did you decide to live on a 8.5 meter long boat?

We, of course, did not begin to look at very small boats as liveaboard options! When we decided to buy a yacht, we did not have the experience of sailing and little money, which somewhat limited our choice. We came very close to buying a larger motorcycle racer who was very suitable for us. She was 35 feet long and beautiful inside, which was a big plus for us as intending to live, but looking back she wouldn’t be as nautical as Thumbsuck would seem, and we would never learn to swim, which was would be a shame We spend weeks negotiating and checking it out of the water, and even postpone a 15% deposit. In the final stages, we faced complications trying to insure it, and it all failed. When we realized that we needed to leave her, we went home, but it was the last boat of this size and price range that we could consider. We thought the last two years of planning, research, and conservation had failed.

In the afternoon we said our goodbyes to our dream of life, which we watched online, almost jokingly, on boats of the next size below 32 feet. We did not even think that you can live on a small boat. I remember that we clicked on the Thumbsucker ad and everyone was amazed that it was spacious and well laid out, she looked from the photos.

We drove to Auckland to see her the next day, and for 5 minutes on board we knew that she must be our yacht. We bought it in the afternoon. I would not say that a small boat does not have its (many, MANY) problems, but in retrospect I am so happy that all the larger, less suitable yachts we looked at did not work in the end.

You and your fiance are working full time. Is your free time completely devoted to thumbsucker?

Essentially, yes. When we do not swim Thumbsucker in the evenings and on weekends, we can usually be found in the process of grinding / painting / installation / modernization. The first few years on board were devoted to its redemption, but after we finished, we focused our efforts on improving the life on board. I ignored the work we did, but some of the big jobs were:

• Repeated water supply of water tanks, replacement of pump taps with electric
• Re-plumbing old head with a new electric
• Re-enable all lamps / electricians with LEDs
• Removing decks and cabin top back and repainting
• A new carpet (the old one had a terrible bad time suffering under the feet of sea water during the week on our first trip along the coast)
• New carpet (again, our old ones did not feel well on our shaken ride)
• Removing vinyl and terrible old glue from the ceiling, sanding back and painting
• Vinyl cleaning in our bedroom with a latex mattress (best solution / improvement ever)
• Tailoring custom sheets and duvet covers to match our odd-shaped mattress. (I would recommend not to try it yourself if you, like us, do not know how to sew, easily get discouraged and want to avoid raging sea soup with your spouse)
• New squabs - again this makes such a difference with the boat

We do all the usual maintenance, as well as such as antifoul, rotating the chassis, changing the engine oil, lubricating the shaft support, servicing the engine, etc. Currently we do not have a fridge or benches in the gallery, as our current project is a new kitchen fit-outside. The shell is also available only at the border! We look forward to the opportunity to cook things again, except for sandwiches.

What do you like in life on board?

A bunch of everything! I love the freedom to own my own house, without neighbors, without landlords, without a mortgage. I get a lot of satisfaction from making my own home improvements, as we like. I also think that we swim a lot more than if we lived in a house, there would always be some reason not to go down to the boat, I think.

Living on board means that at any time the weather is good, and we imagine the sails, we can be there, alone or with a bunch of friends, for an hour. During the summer, there is no real packing required for a long trip, we just throw off the mooring lines and go on a search within two weeks!

Another interesting aspect is to live in the city center for a small part of the cost. We live near multimillion-dollar residential buildings and have the same look and comfortable walk around the city or work. We also live in a rather geologically terrifying area, rather late to earthquakes, so I personally always feel beautiful, safe and comfortable in my small boat. Plus we get visits from penguins, dolphins and whales - it does not get much cooler!

Sometimes you miss the “regular house”?

Absolutely. I often dream of a day when I don’t need to share laundry / shower / ablution services (and one booking board) between a large community of people. There are nights when I fought to the house, storming 70 narrow winds and burning icy rain, carrying 40 thousand dry bags filled with a boat, and confidently knew that I did not sleep winking before dawn.

These are the times when I envy all my friends and family dreams in my homes, and I wonder that on earth I managed to do something so crazy! Sometimes it's just the little things; as if wishing that I could drink wine from a good glass instead of a heavy plastic vessel or stab myself in the face with eyeliner, trying to get ready to work in a rolling wave.

What are your preferred places for sailing?

Most of our sailing was in the Marlborough Sounds on the South Island and on the Coromandel Peninsula in the north. Some of my favorite adventures are:

Ship bay - one of the most beautiful cruising places in New Zealand

Ship bay - sea shelter, where the fish is so tamed that they come straight and eat from your hands

Ship's Bay - There is a short trip, which I like to do on the shore before the waterfall, which you can drink and under the shower.

Peachgrove and Coralie Bay on Great Mercury Island - both look like postcards with gorgeous white sand that squeaks between your fingers. We also noticed killer whales and humpbacks a couple of times there, which is always fun.

Southeast bay on the island of the mayor off the coast of Tauranga - the rocks are largely compressed with obsidian glass, so they are deep black and very bright / glossy in the sun. The water is deep, but so clear that you can see each shell on the seabed 14 meters down. Great swimming, but only if you are not against stingrays. Huge people live here who are accustomed to feeding with yachts - it is a little anxious when you jump for the first time on arrival, and the treasure of scary rays makes you life!

Our classic final question: what does it mean for you to swim?

For millennia, a sailing ship has had a tremendous impact on the development of civilization. Early tools and technologies that allowed us to use the wind and fly across the oceans suddenly dared us with the ability to travel long distances over the sea, feed ourselves and our communities with larger fish, trade with other continents, wage wars, map the earth, colonize distant countries and make fantastic scientific discoveries.

When I swim, I feel connected to this story. I am sailing in the same ocean, using the same winds and shelter on the same anchorages that Captain James Cook observed the transit of Mercury in 1769. Sailing was an instrumental element in the liberation of mankind. From living in one place, in order to survive all our life in caves, we become seafarers, explorers of the world. I think for me? absolutely means to be free.