May 23, 2010 was the day it all began; four artists, all formerly involved in building humanoid robots with a small, formerly promising robotics business in Dallas, TX took up residence on a WWII-era Navy minsweeper moored on Seattle's Lake Union. Actually, it all began several months earlier, when my partner, Gaedge Erikssen began to realize the growing philosophical disconnect between himself and the founder of the robotics company for which he was the director of hardware development. A difference in philosopies can usually be overlooked with a bit of workplace diplomacy, but when the contract payments contracted to the point that our electricity was shut off and we were making more money selling our $100 paintings in a bar, it became rather obvious that we'd do no worse in pursuit of our own dreams than we were in the pursuit of someone else's. We didn't act immediately, however. No, it wasn't until Gaedge proclaimed for the 999th time that our dogs were "so depressed in Dallas... they need a new adventure," that the ball started rolling. "You're projecting onto the dogs, Honey, they don't really give a shit where they are," I shot back peevishly, "if YOU'RE depressed and want a new adventure, let's DO something about it! We'll sell everything and go, just stop bitching about the dogs being bored!"
The next morning I awoke to find a dozen bankers boxes labelled and stacked neatly in the corner of the dining room... man, the ball was rolling now! We had 2 yard sales and an open house art sale over the next month, madly scrambling for enough cash to fund a couple of months of nomadic existence. After liquidating over 3/4 of our belongings and close to 100 of our artworks, we had scraped together enough money to pay our remaining bills and back rent, and were left with enough capital to underwrite a pretty decent adventure.
Both the car and the kayak strapped to the top were crammed so full of "as little as possible" that it took a few tries to close the trunk lid before we finally rolled out of Dallas on Easter Day. We didn't stop until we were well into New Mexico, and then spent the next several weeks meandering up the West Coast from the redwoods, in search of the elusive 'right vibe'. Ultimately, Seattle won our hearts, and we immediately set out to find an acceptable place to live as quickly as possible, since a month of deluxe Motel 6 accomodations (dogs stay free there, if you didn't know!) and our taste for seafood had significantly diminished our cash reserves!
Though we love Seattle, my faith that it was the right place for us was severely tested when we started driving the streets looking for places to rent. Unfortunately, it became readily apparent that my ultimate Northwest dream house (Craftsman style, cedar shingled, high ceilings, huge porch, towering trees, preferably with a view of the water) was not to be had for less than $3000 or so a month. What we COULD possibly have in our price range tended to be dismal 60's tract houses or sketchy split-levels, which Seattle has in great abundance. Having just come from a neighborhood of unique little Tudor cottages from the 1930's, I was a bit unnerved at the seemingly endless supply of variations on the Brady Bunch architectural theme!
One day, out of sheer frustration, I posted an ad on Craigslist in the Housing Wanted section seeking a temporary living/ working space. After I posted the ad, I replied to a message from our friend Nancy (who relocated from Dallas to Seattle last year) inquiring about the progress of our home search, ending by saying, "I just really want to live on a boat...Maybe I'll hang around the marina and see if someone will let us live on their yacht!"
The next day, we continued driving around Seattle, trying to discover the neighborhood with all the best architecture and cheapest rents, returning in the evening discouraged not to find it. Armed with a nice, stiff drink, I opened up my email to be greeted by "A very intriguing potential for your living/working space" in my inbox. What followed was a brief email, and a link to pictures of a 136-foot-long decommissioned Navy minesweeper built in 1944!!! To say I was beside myself would be a huge understatement! I immediately called our friend, former robot-building colleague and aspiring boat-builder, Katherine Batiste to tell her the news, in hopes of dissuading her from her plan of returning to the East Coast.
Soon, Katherine and her boyfriend Loren (also a friend and former Robotwerks* colleague) were on a Greyhound headed west, arriving in Seattle on May 19th. Katherine and Loren had stayed in Dallas with the Robotwerks for a couple of weeks after we left, until it became obvious that, with no new contracts coming in, there was nothing keeping them in Dallas either. Katherine, with the majority of her family on the East Coast, was anxious to return and simplify her life, closer to nature... Until Gaedge and I relentlessly updated our Facebook pages with pictures of our adventures here (tagging her in photos, so she'd be sure to see them!) Happily, Loren agreed with the wisdom of living in the Northwest, so after liquidating their own assets, and receiving a healthy commission for liquidating those of the Robotwerks, they were Seattle-bound!
All of us and the dogs crammed into a teensy room at a Motel 6 in Kirkland, heading off on day-trip adventures, anxiously waiting for Michale to give us a green light to move onto the minesweeper. Michale, a young entrepreneur in charge of a couple of businesses, as well as charitable foundations, has much to occupy his day, and frankly was surprised at our collective enthusiasm to live on a 66-year-old Navy ship. Though we were happily involved with our daily excursions, we were overjoyed to hear that we could move aboard on the 23rd of May! We arrived at the boat, the car which was already filled to capacity, now resembled a clown car with the addition of Katherine and Loren and their bags.
Michale's Uncle John and Aunt Ruth had lived on the boat for the past eight years, until deciding to buy a house in Snoqualmie (a town about 30 minutes away, whose Falls were featured in the opening sequence of Twin Peaks). They were busily moving their things off as we moved on, taking breaks to chat with us about the boat, helpfully pointing out the freezer full of crab legs they were leaving, and which steps were dangerous when you'd had too much to drink! Also moving to Snoqualmie was Larry, the grizzled definition of a salty old dog. While listening to his earnest stories of ghostly happenings on the ship, we all assumed that Larry was somehow related to John and Ruth; but as it turns out, they had several years earlier opened the boat to a group of homeless people who were living under the Ballard Bridge, next to which the boat is moored. The others in the group drifted away, but Larry just stuck around and eventually became the newest member of their family.
Though the four of us are pretty casual about housekeeping, John, Ruth and Larry had us soundly beat in the casualness department! The boat is definitely a project, with about 6,000 square feet of somewhat neglected (though rodent-free, thankfully!) liveable space yet to reclaim. We all jumped into renovating the galley/ mess area first, since none of us really care to cook or eat i
n a dingy kitchen! It took all four of us 2-and-a-half days to spackle, prime and paint that area, and Loren and Katherine took a couple of days getting their cabin up to par. Gaedge and I have the 'penthouse' of the ship, which includes the captains quarters, radio room, chart room and wheelhouse, which Michale recommended, since the stairs to this level are normal (as opposed to ladder-stairs), thus easier for the dogs to navigate. Our quarters are still very much a work in progress, though our 'Classic Yacht Cabin' theme is now readily apparent-- with only the minimum of squinting! The radio room now serves as my office, while Gaedge has set up shop in the wheelhouse, which will double as our studio when we retrieve our art supplies from storage in Dallas.
With around 4000 square feet of usable deck space, we have all thrown ourselves into creating container vegetable gardens, implementing salvaged materials we've found around the docks. A former shipping crate discarded next to a dumpster has become the radish bed; 5-gallon buckets of solvents were washed out and planted with tomatoes; 3 plastic barrels which once held soy sauce (!!!) were rolled home by Katherine and Loren from a nearby restaurant supplier,sawed in half, and now contain happy little beans sprouts... which hopefully will have at least a hint of soy sauce flavor!
Cousin Dawn provided the biggest boon to our budding endeavour, by taking us to get top soil, and allowing the bed of her truck to be completely loaded with loose dirt! (Thanks Dawn!!!!) Hopefully soon, the entire main deck will be brimming with vegetation, providing pedestrians on the Ballard Bridge a surprising patch of floating greenery to enjoy as they make their way across to the other side, while in the meantime just observing the simple, joyous life we are creating satisfies all of us more than artificial intelligence could ever comprehend.
*Robotwerks is a pseudonym
The next morning I awoke to find a dozen bankers boxes labelled and stacked neatly in the corner of the dining room... man, the ball was rolling now! We had 2 yard sales and an open house art sale over the next month, madly scrambling for enough cash to fund a couple of months of nomadic existence. After liquidating over 3/4 of our belongings and close to 100 of our artworks, we had scraped together enough money to pay our remaining bills and back rent, and were left with enough capital to underwrite a pretty decent adventure.
Both the car and the kayak strapped to the top were crammed so full of "as little as possible" that it took a few tries to close the trunk lid before we finally rolled out of Dallas on Easter Day. We didn't stop until we were well into New Mexico, and then spent the next several weeks meandering up the West Coast from the redwoods, in search of the elusive 'right vibe'. Ultimately, Seattle won our hearts, and we immediately set out to find an acceptable place to live as quickly as possible, since a month of deluxe Motel 6 accomodations (dogs stay free there, if you didn't know!) and our taste for seafood had significantly diminished our cash reserves!
Though we love Seattle, my faith that it was the right place for us was severely tested when we started driving the streets looking for places to rent. Unfortunately, it became readily apparent that my ultimate Northwest dream house (Craftsman style, cedar shingled, high ceilings, huge porch, towering trees, preferably with a view of the water) was not to be had for less than $3000 or so a month. What we COULD possibly have in our price range tended to be dismal 60's tract houses or sketchy split-levels, which Seattle has in great abundance. Having just come from a neighborhood of unique little Tudor cottages from the 1930's, I was a bit unnerved at the seemingly endless supply of variations on the Brady Bunch architectural theme!
One day, out of sheer frustration, I posted an ad on Craigslist in the Housing Wanted section seeking a temporary living/ working space. After I posted the ad, I replied to a message from our friend Nancy (who relocated from Dallas to Seattle last year) inquiring about the progress of our home search, ending by saying, "I just really want to live on a boat...Maybe I'll hang around the marina and see if someone will let us live on their yacht!"
The next day, we continued driving around Seattle, trying to discover the neighborhood with all the best architecture and cheapest rents, returning in the evening discouraged not to find it. Armed with a nice, stiff drink, I opened up my email to be greeted by "A very intriguing potential for your living/working space" in my inbox. What followed was a brief email, and a link to pictures of a 136-foot-long decommissioned Navy minesweeper built in 1944!!! To say I was beside myself would be a huge understatement! I immediately called our friend, former robot-building colleague and aspiring boat-builder, Katherine Batiste to tell her the news, in hopes of dissuading her from her plan of returning to the East Coast.
Soon, Katherine and her boyfriend Loren (also a friend and former Robotwerks* colleague) were on a Greyhound headed west, arriving in Seattle on May 19th. Katherine and Loren had stayed in Dallas with the Robotwerks for a couple of weeks after we left, until it became obvious that, with no new contracts coming in, there was nothing keeping them in Dallas either. Katherine, with the majority of her family on the East Coast, was anxious to return and simplify her life, closer to nature... Until Gaedge and I relentlessly updated our Facebook pages with pictures of our adventures here (tagging her in photos, so she'd be sure to see them!) Happily, Loren agreed with the wisdom of living in the Northwest, so after liquidating their own assets, and receiving a healthy commission for liquidating those of the Robotwerks, they were Seattle-bound!
All of us and the dogs crammed into a teensy room at a Motel 6 in Kirkland, heading off on day-trip adventures, anxiously waiting for Michale to give us a green light to move onto the minesweeper. Michale, a young entrepreneur in charge of a couple of businesses, as well as charitable foundations, has much to occupy his day, and frankly was surprised at our collective enthusiasm to live on a 66-year-old Navy ship. Though we were happily involved with our daily excursions, we were overjoyed to hear that we could move aboard on the 23rd of May! We arrived at the boat, the car which was already filled to capacity, now resembled a clown car with the addition of Katherine and Loren and their bags.
Michale's Uncle John and Aunt Ruth had lived on the boat for the past eight years, until deciding to buy a house in Snoqualmie (a town about 30 minutes away, whose Falls were featured in the opening sequence of Twin Peaks). They were busily moving their things off as we moved on, taking breaks to chat with us about the boat, helpfully pointing out the freezer full of crab legs they were leaving, and which steps were dangerous when you'd had too much to drink! Also moving to Snoqualmie was Larry, the grizzled definition of a salty old dog. While listening to his earnest stories of ghostly happenings on the ship, we all assumed that Larry was somehow related to John and Ruth; but as it turns out, they had several years earlier opened the boat to a group of homeless people who were living under the Ballard Bridge, next to which the boat is moored. The others in the group drifted away, but Larry just stuck around and eventually became the newest member of their family.
Though the four of us are pretty casual about housekeeping, John, Ruth and Larry had us soundly beat in the casualness department! The boat is definitely a project, with about 6,000 square feet of somewhat neglected (though rodent-free, thankfully!) liveable space yet to reclaim. We all jumped into renovating the galley/ mess area first, since none of us really care to cook or eat i
n a dingy kitchen! It took all four of us 2-and-a-half days to spackle, prime and paint that area, and Loren and Katherine took a couple of days getting their cabin up to par. Gaedge and I have the 'penthouse' of the ship, which includes the captains quarters, radio room, chart room and wheelhouse, which Michale recommended, since the stairs to this level are normal (as opposed to ladder-stairs), thus easier for the dogs to navigate. Our quarters are still very much a work in progress, though our 'Classic Yacht Cabin' theme is now readily apparent-- with only the minimum of squinting! The radio room now serves as my office, while Gaedge has set up shop in the wheelhouse, which will double as our studio when we retrieve our art supplies from storage in Dallas.With around 4000 square feet of usable deck space, we have all thrown ourselves into creating container vegetable gardens, implementing salvaged materials we've found around the docks. A former shipping crate discarded next to a dumpster has become the radish bed; 5-gallon buckets of solvents were washed out and planted with tomatoes; 3 plastic barrels which once held soy sauce (!!!) were rolled home by Katherine and Loren from a nearby restaurant supplier,sawed in half, and now contain happy little beans sprouts... which hopefully will have at least a hint of soy sauce flavor!
Cousin Dawn provided the biggest boon to our budding endeavour, by taking us to get top soil, and allowing the bed of her truck to be completely loaded with loose dirt! (Thanks Dawn!!!!) Hopefully soon, the entire main deck will be brimming with vegetation, providing pedestrians on the Ballard Bridge a surprising patch of floating greenery to enjoy as they make their way across to the other side, while in the meantime just observing the simple, joyous life we are creating satisfies all of us more than artificial intelligence could ever comprehend.
*Robotwerks is a pseudonym
