Overview of Utopia’s Living Quarters
- sondrawinter
- 16h
- 4 min read
After three years of blog posts, we realized that we have not really provided an overview of the living space onboard Utopia, so this week, we’d like to provide a virtual tour of our tiny home, complete with non-sailor translations.
Utopia is a 2006 Caliber 40 LRC SE. Caliber Yachts were designed by Michael McCreary and constructed in Clearwater, Florida. The “LRC SE” stands for Long Range Cruiser, Simple Elegance. Construction of the Caliber 40 LRC’s ran from about 1995 to 2010. Utopia is a 2006 model, and we are her third owners.
Here is an overview of these rooms:
Main Salon
This is the main part of the cabin and serves as our living room.
Settees (couches) line each side of the salon are long enough to sleep on. One of the settees can be converted into something similar to a full-size, or extra-large twin bed.
A bulkhead-mounted table folds away when extra space is needed, however we typically keep it down to act as our dining table, or a workbench, or something to lean on when the boat is heeling over while underway. Shelving behind the settees holds books, snacks and electronic equipment.
Galley
Between the salon and the companionway (entrance into the cabin) is the galley. It is a tight, L-shaped area to provide a little bit of protection during rough seas but making it a challenge to have more than one person preparing a meal. To help create meals, we have a two-burner stove and an oven, fueled by propane, that have the ability to stay level while the boat is underway. A microwave is also available for heating food and liquids. Our refrigerator and freezer are top loading units with the doors set in the counters.
Which brings us to the counter space challenge. Since the fridge doors are actually part of the counter space, and the dish storage a cabinet above the fridge, it is best to be organized when cooking. Imagine having your food prep area scattered with the items to make a meal when you realize that all of that stuff needs to be moved to access the fridge or to get another item out of the cabinet.
Navigator’s Station
A small nook next to the galley on the port side (left side when looking at the bow (front) of the boat) serves as the Navigator Station. This is a small, dedicated space for charts and electronics. “Electronics” are actually a bunch of circuit breakers that control everything on the boat, plus a few screens to read about battery conditions, power usage, and other fun data.
Forward Stateroom
The forward stateroom is our master bedroom (this is the bedroom closer to the front of the boat). The bed is a pullman berth, meaning it is up against the hull (wall) of the boat. It is similar in size to a queen bed, sort of. It may be a queen size around where your chest is, but there is a notch for the mast in line with where the pillows are, then the foot area narrows in to less than a twin bed size.
Some Calibers have a vanity table in this stateroom, and we are very happy that this boat had a cabinet installed instead. The vanity mirror is still in place but we have the added benefit of three shelves of storage available to us where a seat would have been installed. In addition to the vanity cabinet, there is a “closet” for hanging a few items and lots of storage under the berth.
Forward Head
Adjacent to the forward stateroom is the forward head (the bathroom towards the front of the boat). This is our master bath and has a separate shower stall (a.k.a. a dry head). The toilet utilizes a vacuum flush. Gaskets are installed under the seat and lid and a hand pump is used to create a vacuum. It works wonderfully!
Aft Stateroom
We call this room the quarter berth. If you want to stay with us, this is where you would sleep. It is accessed from a door next to the companionway stairs, and is situated under starboard (right) side of the cockpit seating. Caliber literature advertises this room as being well-ventilated and spacious, but I would have to disagree on this point. The bed could accommodate a couple who is okay with very close quarters. Ventilation will consist of a fan, and maybe a portlight if it is not raining. Most of the time this room acts as our garage or maybe a storage shed. We promise to move all of the stuff out of it should you be willing to stay on Utopia overnight. Then, I suppose the salon settee is an option if you don’t wish to sleep in a cave…
Aft Head
A lot of boats only have one head (bathroom), but the Caliber 40 series boats have two toilets to clean! The location of the aft head (the bathroom towards the back of the boat) is very convenient with it being situated right at the bottom of the companionway. When we are underway, this is the head that we use, as reaching the forward head can be an obstacle course and and exercise in balance. It is utilizes a standard marine hand pump to move the contents to the holding tank. We also use this room to hang wet items. The sink facet extends out to convert into a shower. This is called a “wet head” meaning it does not have a separate shower stall, so we need to place the towels into the cabinet before showering. This showerhead is mostly just used for cleaning gear with fresh water. Oh, the aft head has two entrance doors, one from the “foyer” and one from the Aft Stateroom.
Before we purchased the boat, someone made a video tour of Utopia. and posted it to his YouTube channel. The interior tour begins at 5:55 into the video.
Stay tuned for upcoming blog posts about living fulltime aboard while cruising. Also we will eventually get back into posting videos on our YouTube channel.
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