Making Mohini Home

The autumn of 2023 was an unseasonably hot and humid one on Mexico's Pacific coast. Even during a normal year, the reasons why tourism in Puerto Vallarta shuts down from May-October can be summed up as follows: Steam bath and hurricanes. We expected to contend with heat, but didn't quite comprehend, until we experienced it, the intensity of even half an hour spent working in the uninsulated hull of a catamaran exposed to direct sunlight. We were constantly drenched with sweat and even Mohini's sun cover in combination with insulated sunscreens on every window and a portable air conditioner that we desperately moved around with us as we worked did very little in the face of such extreme conditions.

Fortunately, we had anticipated that Mohini would need some work before we could move onto her and had preemptively rented a condo a short distance from the marina, which we ended up keeping for 8 weeks. Thankfully, it was air-conditioned, so we had some reprieve from the heat and humidity as needed, and were also able to take advantage of Paradise Village's pools and hospitality suite. Nevertheless, my main memories of the first few weeks working on Mohini involve sweat dripping in my eyes and the constant realization that neither inside nor outside was a better option. It seemed I had never been and never again would be fresh or cool in my life.

Climate conditions aside, Nico and I were full of energy and enthusiasm as we juggled settling the kids into their new Spanish Waldorf school, the realities of full-time remote work, reconnecting with Puerto Vallarta's warm Jewish community, and tackling all the must-dos on Mohini that would make her livable, functional and, of course, homey. When Nico arrived in Grenada, he had been surprised to discover that Mohini had been sitting for most of a year (something that was not disclosed by the selling agent at the time of purchase), meaning there was even more work to do than we'd anticipated. Fortunately, neither of us shy away from a challenge and we're lucky to have complementary skill sets when it comes to hands-on tasks, such as fixing up a catamaran. We put the kids to work, too, and they were great helpers!

One of the first jobs was to net Mohini's bow so that the kids could safely have the run of the deck. Another was to empty out the previous owner's belongings, many of which we were able to donate to local families after Hurricane Lidia hit on October 10, 2023. Nico is our systems man (electrical, plumbing, engines, and rigging), while I am the resident family interior designer and contractor.

Here are some before, during, and after shots of our early progress painting, installing flooring and tiles, getting the bedrooms clean and cozy, finishing some custom reupholstery, and generally giving every inch of the boat a good scrub. Mohini will always be a work in progress, but the initial transformation was the most dramatic!

Before:

During:

After:

Everything about owning a boat is a labour of love and we've discovered that, much like having kids, the only thing that stays the same about it is that nothing ever stays the same. That being said, it is empowering to continually refine our DIY skills and take on new challenges, and by the end of October we felt ready enough to take the plunge and move onto Mohini full time. We gathered the remaining belongings from our small storage locker, bid farewell to our air-conditioned condo, and began adjusting to life on the water.

To learn more about our first few months on Mohini, read our post called: Life On the Water.