The wild messages of people recognizing put $1 sailboat from around the country continue to pour in. (There’s more, but those haven’t been confirmed so I didn’t want to share until they are.) The sailing community is such a cool group of people. We’re happy to be a small part of that! The engine is still giving us a little bit of a push back but we have fun working on it together so can’t complain about that. Follow @living.devito.loca .....#sailboatrefit #sailboatproject #sailingadventures #sailboatrenovation #sailboatrestoration #catalina36 #catalina
If you saw our post yesterday, you saw Unless was fairly close to sinking when we first bought it (of course we didn’t know this) but thankfully a bottom cleaning saved us. Matt went to mess with a fitting in the bow a few days ago, and it disintegrated in his hand. Turns out, it was a nylon fitting that wasn’t meant to be submerged in sea water, except it had been for a year due to the weight of the growth on the bottom of the boat. When we had the bottom cleaned shortly after buying it, the boat rose from the water 4”! We put a wood plug in it until we could properly fix it, and that’s what we spent our Eclipse Day doing under the hot SC sun. Here’s a half day’s worth of work in about 30 seconds 😊 We’re a step closer to finally moving the boat to our own town! Right now we’re still making the 50 minute drive to get out here. Can’t wait to get it to our home marina so we can work on it more often. Follow @living.devito.loca for more $1 sailboat content!......#catalina36 #catalina #sailboatrefit #sailboatrenovation #sailboatrestoration #sailingadventures #onedollarsailboat #sailingcouple #sailingartstudio
Our boat had the incorrect heat exchanger and all the hoses were showing age, so it’s time to replace the whole cooling system. The countdown to moving the boat for the first time is officially on! Follow @living.devito.loca for part 2......#catalina36 #sailboatproject #sailboatrenovation #sailboatrestoration #sailingadventures #sailingartstudio #sailboatrefit #catalina #catalinaproject #boatwork
In all seriousness, we knew exactly what we were getting into with this boat. Yes- we knew it would cost a decent chunk of change. Yes- we know we can buy a “newer/nicer” boat for around the same cost as fixing this one up. And yes- we know the amount of work it will take. We chose to invest in this one because: -of its story -we LOVE working on big projects together -we get to build a completely custom cabin suited exactly to our needs and specifications. We plan to work on this boat over the next couple of years, use it as a sailing art studio until we can live/travel aboard full time. Follow @living.devito.loca to watch our $1 sailboat project unfold!.....#sailboatproject #catalina #catalina36 #sailboatrestoration #sailboatrenovation #sailingartstudio #onedollarsailboat #sailing
The weather was warm enough to scrub off over a year’s worth of grime and SV Unless is looking a lot less derelict after 🙌🏼 Kayla is allergic to many things (including most soaps) so we didn’t use boat wash this time around- just a pressurized nozzle, deck brushes and some elbow grease. Obviously it’s not perfectly clean just yet but it’s not too shabby considering we didn’t use soap. (We’ll wash it again this week when we remember to bring gloves for Kayla.) Follow @living.devito.loca to watch as we turn a $1 sailboat into our sailing art studio/future home!.....#sailboatproject #catalina36 #catalina #sailboatrestoration #sailboatrenovation #sailingadventures #sailingartstudio
I’ve always dreamt of painting the sea for a living. I do that now, but I do so inside a studio BY the sea. While it is certainly beautiful and I feel so very grateful, I also long for a life traveling and painting the scenes in front of me. Enter: the chance to own a $1 sailboat. We were floored when we won this 1989 Catalina 36 for $1. We always knew it would require time, money and work, but we love working on big projects together (especially when they involve sailboats.) Follow @living.devito.loca to watch our progress as we turn this derelict sailboat into my future sailing art studio (and maybe even future home!) Interested in my art? All sales made on my website go directly toward our boat project fund. Comment SITE and I’ll DM ya the link!
How to get a boat for CHEAP or FREE: •Check Facebook Marketplace for inexpensive or free sailboats. Sailboats aren’t in huge demand, so sometimes people give them away for free or cheap if you’ll come haul them off or float them away. •Call your local marinas to see when they hold auctions. •Check your state’s vessel salvage laws. In our state, you can apply for a title if a boat has been abandoned for more than 90 days. It’s actually very common to find boats (nearly always sailboats) abandoned, free-floating after breaking from anchor, etc. If you put in the effort to save it, it could be yours. (Always find out your local laws before attempting to salvage a boat.) •You can also befriend your local dockmaster. Sometimes people who don’t use their boats are tired of paying the slip fees and would love a way out. Let the dockmaster know you’re interested in buying an inexpensive sailboat. They might just be able to hook you up! (Info coming directly from a dockhand at our local marina.) •Check local boat yards. Sometimes people don’t pay after work is done •Some people don’t believe you can buy a sailboat for cheap, but for those of us who live on the coast, and especially those of us who sail, we know how plausible it actually is. Sailing is a lost art on many of our younger generations. It’s not as desirable as it used to be, but that just means those of us who do appreciate the beauty of sailing can find great deals. We won our 1989 Catalina 36 at auction for $1 because our marina sued the previous owner for back-owed slip fees. A magistrate court then held an auction that began at $1. We were the only bidder because for some reason, our marina doesn’t advertise the auctions. They don’t care what the boats sell for, as long as they’re gone and they get the slip space back or someone to start paying on the slip again. Remember, all boats require work and can be expensive if you don’t know how to do the work yourself. That does
Our $1 sailboat turned out to be FAMOUS… BUT ALSO we were able to track down the owners who made it such (they had modified it extensively, spent 3 years circumnavigating the globe and got it featured in several international publications!) We’ve been in contact with them… in fact, Matt talks to the husband on the phone several times a week, for sometimes an hour or two at a time! 😭❤️ The couple is nearly 80 now but they’re super happy we’re continuing on the legacy and are fixing her up! Would you believe me if I told you this story gets EVEN WILDER? Because it does 😅 So much so, that this entire story sounds made up to me 🤣 Absolutely unreal. Follow @living.devito.loca for the wild story behind this $1 boat and watch us bring her back to life for our future home and traveling art studio......#catalina #boatproject #onedollarsailboat #catalina36 #sailboatrenovation #sailboatrestoration #catalinaproject #sailingadventures #beaufortsc
$1 sailboat saga continues! Checkout how gross Unless was 🤢 Thankfully we’ve got her on the mend. #sailboatrestoration #catalina #catalinaproject #projectboat
