Mystic Our floating home

Mystic, has become our second home. We live aboard this 35 foot long, 10 foot wide floating respite from everyday life. Many of the Loopers we meet are what's called "all in", which means that they've sold their homes and belongings and moved onto the waterway full time.  We still have an anchor securely set on land back in Minnesota.

Mystic at Knife River, MN

Mystic at Turner Marine, Mobile, Alabama

Just like our house in Stillwater, Mystic is a classic. The house was built in 1871, the boat in 1966. Both have hardwood floors and beautiful lines. Our house has 2,400 square feet of living space. Mystic has about 350. Our house has a fireplace, Mystic has a coal stove. The biggest difference in our lifestyle aboard Mystic compared to our home is space. On our floating home, space is limited!

Our home in Minnesota

Mystic has room to sleep six, however, when loaded up with all of our live aboard gear she's more of a mini home for two. Our v-berth and two quarter berths are used for storage. Our main cabin settee table converts into a double bed. We use this for sleeping which means that we have to make our bed each night and stow it each morning. It takes about 5 minutes to do this. First, we have to lower the table top. Next we stack two layers of boat cushions on the bottom and add two layers of mattress toppers before putting the sheets on. We have been using three blankets; a heating blanket, a fleece blanket made by our friend Jayme Mikla and a beautiful quilt made by our friend Jerri Mitchell. It may seem silly to live this way but in doing so we are able to air out our bed each day. Living on the water we have condensation issues, so sleeping in the main cabin helps manage the moisture that is generated by our body heat.

Beth blogging at our table/bed

Mystic's Galley

Quarter berths on either side of steps

Fish eye view of Mystic's main cabin
Kitchen on the starboard side,
settee on the port. We make the settee into our bed.

View from the V-Berth facing aft

View from cockpit looking forward

Empty V-Berth

Composting Toilet in V-Berth

V-Berth with mattress cover

V-Berth made up for sleeping

Living in tight quarters is not as difficult as it would seem. We continue to find ways to store our belongings and make good use of the space we have. We are learning to get by with less. It's a simple life. We like that a lot!