Since November , the hubs and I have been haunt with a remodeling project … in Mexico … while design our nuptials … and even entertaining over the vacation . On top of all that , we actually stayed reasonable !
I had mentioneda few weeks agothat we were vivify a cottage in Baja . We managed to get a parcel with nothing more than a surf shack , an outdoor kitchen , and a fire pit on it , and had spent most of December fixing up our flat . It ’s still very much a work in progress , especially since we ’re place to reprocess and repurpose as much as potential , but I remember it would be fun to bring you along on our off - power system journey as we set out to make a home in Mexico .
Last March , we started drive down to a minuscule breaker spot about four hours south of the California boundary line . Within a couple hours of the edge are tourist towns like Rosarito and Ensenada with highrise hotels and gated gringo communities , but push another couple hour to the south and suddenly you ’re in The Real Mexico . A place where English is scarce , where pesos are more common than dollars , and where most Americans are afraid to travel through .
But in this same place is a paradise that ’s easily attainable within a day ’s drive , but still remote enough to feel like you ’re in a different earth . This property is the Boat Ranch , and the minute we first fall into the pace of liveliness here , we fell in love with all the things that scared away most other people .
Down at the Ranch , there ’s no net . No television . No phone help . Not even a source of index ( until we eventually set up up a solar panel , anyway ) . It ’s basically just glorify camping , but when we ’re at the Ranch , we feel at home . It does n’t count that our base is miles from a major road , or that the town on that major road is only a mile encompassing .
There ’s a peacefulness to that rustic retreat that we now call ours , and perhaps we ’ll modernize it down the line ( especially if we desire to pass more time there and still be able-bodied to work remotely ) … but for now , it ’s perfect .
On our prop sits a palapa of sort , built with pontoon and an retrousse dory . Does n’t this look like the most serene spot to string up a couple of hammocks ?
Our humble abode is a two - cabin gravy holder with a French door and a skylight . It ’s just enough space to log Z’s and relax , and that ’s all we want — because at the Ranch , it ’s all about out-of-door support .
I call her the “ Dream Boat . ”
And here , the mettle of our home — the kitchen . Or at least , the start of a kitchen . We have a sink with run piddle , but we ’ll be putting in our own propane cooking stove and a duad of Weber grill to outfit the place .
In front of our cottage is a palapa for open-air dining …
… Which look out over the fire pit and the beach .
By our judgement , no one had fill this cottage for a span of age . This front cabin will become our sit down field and also a guest room for friends .
Whoever last here last seemed to have just blame up and left , leaving behind relics of booze and second and bobs .
In the forepeak of the one-time sauceboat was a berth , wrapped in plastic and reeking of mildew like it had been maroon at sea for some time .
We could notwaitto clean house and give everything out …
… Including what looked to be a decades - old foam mattress , where we notice a tiny mouse skeleton nestled in one of the “ egg ” nooks .
Despite donning mitt and mask to carry off the science experiments that had accumulated inside the boat , it was such a breath of clean air to shed start the Gallic door and see that unobstructed ocean view from our pad .
And surprisingly , the front cabin clean up well .
There were in spades trouble spots after years of neglect , particularly rotting wood that needed to be worked over .
The entry way was also on the verge of collapse , so one of our first projects was reinforce it with planks of wood . ( I could only opine getting up in the centre of the night and fall through the storey ! )
After rend off the bamboo reeds that had covered the bulwark , we happen that part of it was closely worn through from geezerhood of water system and termite damage . And who knows how many leaks we ’ll unwrap with the next few rainstorms …
As I plugged away in the seance room , there was Will plugging away in the bedchamber . What was he doing back there ?
After disassembling the control board below the berth , vacuuming out the nooks and crannies , and building a sturdy platform for our layer , the bedroom looked to be in decorous physique .
Of of course , there were still areas in need of advance , but those are the projection that we ’ll harness with each trip-up down . Once we emptied the gravy holder , it looked a hundred time better and we felt much more confident about the refurbishment . We ended up hiring a local declarer ( actually an American who has survive in Baja for over 30 years ) and he ’ll handle the rest of the ill-gotten work while we ’re gone — power washing , sanding , house painting and sealing the whole shebang from top to bottom .
You may wonder why we ’re unhinged enough to take on this variety of fixer - upper for what ’s imagine to be a seaboard pickup , and one that ’s in another land no less .
And to that , we ’ll suffice with this …
… And this .
We ’re livingla buena vida .
