10 Years Building a Wooden Sailboat for Life on the Water - Retired Couple Shares Experience + Tour

Sombrio is a 33’ wooden sailboat that was lovingly built by Ian (a.k.a. KIM) over the course of 10 years with mostly reclaimed lumber that he collected and milled himself, including Douglas fir, red cedar, and yew wood. The boat has been a huge part of Ian and Sandi’s lives: the now-retired couple lived aboard the boat for 7 years, they summer cruised the Gulf Islands for several decades (and still do!), and they also did a massive 2-year trip to the South Pacific from August 2017- August 2019.

The boat has a galley kitchen with a gimbal and methyl hydrate stove, a 12-volt fridge, plenty of counter space, and a safety belt to make cooking safer when the boat is underway. The saloon has a sofa with a table for lounging and dining and lots of storage for books and non-perishable food. Moving forward, there’s a head, storage locker, and a cozy v-berth with porthole windows and a hatch for ventilation.

Sombrio is an Oceania model, designed by Al Mason and built with the carvel planking method. The boat has a 26 hp, 3 cylinder Isuzu diesel engine with 50 gallons of fuel, for electricity it can use shore power as well as 2 x 100 Watt solar panels, for water there is 50 gallons of freshwater storage below deck, extra jerry cans on deck, and a saltwater pump for non-potable purposes, and for heat, there’s a big wood stove in the galley.

This is a beautiful boat, built and used by lovely people and we’re so happy to be sharing their boat life experience with you.

Special thank you to Simon from Finding Simon for filming the interview, tour, and some of the b-roll! You can follow his sailboat-building adventure on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/c/findingsimon

Thanks for watching!

Mat & Danielle

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CREDITS
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Music & Song Credits:
All music in this video was composed, performed, and recorded by Mat of Exploring Alternatives.

Editing Credits:
Mat and Danielle from Exploring Alternatives

Filming Credits:
Simon Stiles from Finding Simon
https://www.youtube.com/c/findingsimon
and
Mat and Danielle from Exploring Alternatives

Photo Credits:
Additional photos and videos provided by Sandi and Ian

#boatlife #livingonasailboat #sailboattour