There’s always a lot going on in spring. Not only is it a busy time in the garden, but it’s also the start of whitewater season, a great window for local surf (before the northwest swells stop rolling through), and a beautiful time of year for road trips up north (for snowboarding, hiking, climbing, camping, mountain biking… and whatever other gear we can fit on our roof). All this basically means we haven’t seen our bungalow since January.
I was feening for a Baja fix. And our garage was starting to look like an American Pickers dream: mismatched chairs stacked to the ceiling, side tables scored from curbsides, vintage odds and ends collected from places we couldn’t remember. That pile of “stuff,” as Mike Wolfe would say, was destined for the Boat Ranch and we had to get it out before we ended up on Hoarders too.
We decided to make a trip south for my birthday, and were fired up to find we were the only ones at the Ranch that weekend.
Ahh, home sweet home.
Offshore winds all day long and shoulder-high waves with no one on them. Except the two of us.
So, what’s changed since last time?
Well, I can tell you what hasn’t changed… and that’s this glorious view every time we throw open the doors to greet the day.
But what did change was the palapa you see, which we finally refurbished with fresh palm fronds.
I spent a good part of the afternoon doing a bit of “yard work” around the Ranch, sawing off palm fronds for our palapa and decorating the fence that divides our property from the one next door. Something about palms just makes me feel at home.
Outside, we added a few personal touches around the boat that make me smile every time I see them.
For the last few trips, we’d been afraid to open the garage next to our boat. The garage belonged to whoever lived in our boat before us, but like the boat, it was abandoned years ago and became a catch-all for anything and everything that moved in and out of the Ranch. Generations of relics resided in that garage… some good, most bad.
Will spent the entire day peeking under the dusty tarps and pulling everything out from under the cobwebs. It was at once fascinating and scary. To our amazement, we found some perfectly working oil lamps… a set of charcoal Weber grills (three of them?!)… a glass table… a bamboo loveseat that just needed a good pair of cushions… and random pieces of plywood and planks that we saved for future projects.
After inspecting the Webers, we found them to be in decent shape and decided to keep the red one as our cooking grill. On the other two, we removed the legs and will be turning them into our fire pits — one for a small bonfire and one for our Dutch oven.
We found a battered longboard and windsurfing board that looked like bygones from the 80s, and used them to flank the ends of our surfboard rack (which needs just a few finishing touches on our next trip).
Inside the boat, our bedroom is beginning to look like a real bedroom — warm and cozy. Some of my best nights of sleep were spent in that bed… If it weren’t for the beach right outside the door, I’d probably never get up. It’s like being on vacation in your own home.
Will built some shelves beside the bed, and by the next couple of trips, we’ll have curtains sewn, wood repainted, and pictures hung.
In the sitting room, we added a pair of rugs (isn’t it great how a rug can instantly transform a space?) and a newly built bench (soon to be painted and outfitted with cushions).
We also hung some shelves and hooks and cannot wait to put things in their place. (It’s looking a bit chaotic here while we figure out how to organize.)
So, progress is moving along. We’re loving every moment of turning this house (er, boat?) into a home. It’s far from perfect but we adore everything about it, even the cracked and peeling interior and the little leaks we’ve yet to find. We adore the comfort it brings and the promise of adventure every time we’re here. I’m excited to head back down next month!