S/V Astrologer has a mighty crew of two. One with major experience and the other…not so much. You’ll see what I mean.
The Captain
Name: Chris Dabney (Also known as “Jason” in the I Heart column.)
Age: 37
Sign: Pisces (Symbol = Fish)
Born: Santa Barbara, California
Raised: Montecito, California
Occupation: Commercial Salmon and Lobster Fisherman
Ocean Experience:
– Since before he could walk.
– Lifelong surfer.
– Commercial salmon fishing in Alaska.
– Commercial lobster fishing in California.
– Spends more time on the water than on land.
Fun Facts:
– Has two webbed toes.
– Rumored to have been a marine mammal in past life.
The Other Captain
Name: Megan Waldrep
Age: 36
Sign: Capricorn (Symbol = Sea Goat)
Born: Lawton, Oklahoma
Raised: Charleston, South Carolina; Honolulu, Hawaii; Heidelberg, Germany; Augusta, Georgia.
Occupation: Writer
Ocean Experience:
– Fishing with Grandfather in Charleston Harbor as a kid.
– Booze cruises in my twenties.
Fun Facts:
– Former fashion designer for 10 years.
– Never in a million years dreamed of cruising on a sailboat.
The Boat
S/V Astrologer is a 1969 Cal 34 sailboat.
The “34” means she is thirty-four feet long and ten feet wide.
S/V means “sailing vessel”, One of the bajillion terms I’ve learned living on a sailboat.
Chris bought her in Seattle, Washington in 2014 and sailed her to Bellingham, about 90 miles north of the city.
He immediately put her “on the hard” (pause for laughter), which means he put on in the boatyard so he could get to work.
This all happened about a year before we met.
Turns out, he’d been working on this baby consistently for a year installing all new electrical, new oven, compostable toilet, new water tank and hose, new diesel stove, stereo system, and a bunch of other stuff that has upgraded our boat life significantly.
It wasn’t until I visited other boats that I realized how much he had done.
Me: “Holy crap, the boat next to us has to fill their water by dragging the hose inside the cabin! Then they have to lift the mattress in the vberth just to get to the tank. What a pain in the ass!”
Him: “Um, yeah. We had to do that until I installed the plumbing. I used something called a ‘deck fill fitting’. That’s why we can fill the water tank from the deck.”
Me: “Oh. So…you, like, fixed everything.”
Him: “Um….Yeah.”
But I will add before I stepped aboard this lovely ship, she was a straight-up bachelor pad – Tools everywhere, bed permanently unmade, and everything spilling out of drawers and cabinets.
(Sorry, Chris. But seriously…)
She definitely needed a woman’s touch.
So, Astrologer and I had a little girl time and bonded with a makeover.
Soon, our boat became a home.
Here’s what her insides look like:
The Dinghy
In addition to all this, Chris built a dinghy (pause for laughter).
It took me about a year to not giggle every time he said the word, “dinghy”. Yes, I have the humor of a Fifteen-year-old boy.
Her name is Pisces and she took over 200 hours to build. Ain’t she a beaut?
You can sail her, too!
Pisces is a PT Eleven nesting dinghy by Russel Brown.
Chris likes to downplay his skills by saying, “It was easy to build. It comes in a kit!”
But trust me, you need some darn good boat building skills to even begin to know what to do.
Home Sweet Home
Astrologer has been our home for 2 years now and I absolutely love living on a sailboat.
I do have to admit sometimes I miss indoor plumbing, hot showers, refrigeration, and a large closet.
Or any closet, for that matter.
And, sure, I get a little seasick here and there…
But having our home on the open ocean is a joy I’ve never known.
Because, as corny as it sounds…
No matter where we travel, we’re always home.
Follow our adventures on Instagram!
