A Guided Tour
Posted Under: Funny, Living Aboard
I have just updated the ‘S/Y Milestone’ page (found on the link bar at the top of this page) with a guided tour of Miley, and a list of her particulars. I enjoyed writing the tour so much that I felt it deserved a blog post of its own to try and give it some more coverage… so, please join me for a guided tour of our beautiful Miley.
Starting from her bow, we find Milestone’s large anchor locker in the forepeak. The forepeak contains an unusually large double berth, which can be made into two single berths if needed by removing the insert. An Eberspacher vent is located under this insert, making for a toasty forepeak. Four lockers are found either side of the berth, which along with the two full-height hanging lockers provide ample storage space for clothes, shoes and books. Despite this, jelly still manages to leave her clothes scattered around the boat. A large mirror is fixed on the bulkhead next to the forepeak door; however, James doesn’t tend to look in mirrors, so if you see remnants of last night’s curry in his beard it’s probably best to tell him. Or not.
Walking through into the mid-cabin, we find a bunkbed on the port side. We’ve currently removed the top bunk cushion to use this as a brilliant worksurface for the galley. When entertaining we remove the top bunk entirely to enable the bottom bunk to be used as a sofa. Lying against the hull next to the bunk are six cupboards, in addition to the large storage space under the bunk itself, all of which James has managed to fill with obscure tools that jelly keeps trying to throw away.
Opposite the bunks on the starboard side we first find the heads, then galley. The heads contain a Lavac sea-toilet, renowned amongst liveaboards for its robustness, reliability and resistance to blockages over the newer Jabsco design (except when James…). Above the Lavac is a large cupboard which contains all of our toiletries, shower kit, toilet rolls, First Aid kit etc. and next to it is a small stainless handbasin with pull-out shower head attachment.
Aft of the heads we find the galley, comprising of a Plastimo Neptune 2000 2-burner/oven/grill cooker, large worksurface (in addition to the top bunk worksurface), large cupboard above the cooker, storage areas behind the cooker, stainless sink, and large cupboard under the sink. The second Eberspacher outlet is situated in this area, as is the gas alarm control box. Yes, we have farted in the sensor to try and set it off; no, we haven’t succeeded yet.
jelly in the galley
Moving further aft we walk up a step (which is also full of tools) and find ourselves in the saloon area. On the port side is the internal helm and seat. The seat lid opens to reveal a massive fridge box, the bottom of which jelly can’t reach; it is rumoured to be where James keeps his beer…
Aft of the internal helm, still on the port side, we find the forward-facing chart table, seat, and plenty more cupboards and storage areas. The VHF is mounted next to the chart table, and there is also a teak binocular holder and teak pen rack. The chart table itself opens to reveal ample storage space for charts, pilot guides and BB guns.
Aft again of the chart table is a shelf and hanging locker ideal for oilies, through which access to a very large locker under the cockpit seats is gained.
On the starboard side of the saloon we find a U-shaped seating area capable of seating 4-6 people, or more, depending on how drunk and lacking of personal space you feel. The table lowers and this area converts into a double berth. The third Eberspacher outlet is also found here, keeping our feet nice and warm whilst sitting round the table. In total the saloon can seat 6-8 for drinks and socialising, making use of the internal helm (best seat on the boat, Biggles is often found here) and chart table seats. There is masses of storage around the U-shaped seating area, both under the seats themselves and in the cupboards against the hull next to it. There is also access to the second large locker under the st’b'd cockpit seats.
From here, we take two steps up and open the door - yes, no climbing out of hatches and falling down companionways (well we still manage that bit) on this fine vessel - and find ourselves out in the fresh air, in the beautifully-polished-by-jelly cockpit. The mizzen is above us, at a sensible height not likely to take off any heads. The cockpit has loads of seats, two big lockers, gas locker (no we don’t leave keys in it), bits of angled floor to aid winching, and a leather-covered wheel.
Moving aft again, we find ourselves - SPLASH! Hahaha!
Reader Comments
Hello Jelly,
I’m enjoying reading your posts. They are very entertaining. My husband and I are thinking of getting a CV34, if we find one at a reasonable price that is. We live in the Mediterranean and have been considering getting one from the UK. But we’re a bit terrorised of sailing down a boat which we are not familiar with in waters which we are also not familiar with.
I wanted to ask you what the headroom is as we’ve founded reported slightly differently on different adverts and my hubbie is 6′1” tall.
Keep it up.
Hi Stephanie! Thanks for your comment - great to hear you are enjoying our blog.
The CV34 is such a great boat… we love Miley more and more every day. Everybody who comes aboard always comment on how homely she is.
I’m sure you have already had a look around the web at brokers, but when we were looking for Miley we came across quite a lot of CV34s already out in the Med’ - especially in Greece. You may already know this, or this might not be the case anymore, but I thought it worth mentioning - although with the exchange rate the Med’ ones work out a lot more expensive if your money is in £s. CV34s in the UK tend to go for £18,000-£30,000 depending on their condition - a huge variance!
Headroom does vary slightly between CV34s, as they are all fitted out differently so have slight variations. Ours is… *gets tape measure* 6ft at the shortest point in the saloon, but 6′ 3″ under the very large hatch in the saloon (which covers most of the area you stand in). It’s just under 6ft downstairs in the galley area.
I hope this has helped - please don’t hesitate to get in touch again if we can help with anything else, and I look forward to hearing how your quest goes - keep in touch!
Thanks for the information Jelly. The headroom is then something else I’ll add to the list of questions to ask. There are a few CV34s in the Med but not as many as I would wish. Fingers crossed……. I’ll let you know how it goes!
I promised I’d let you know how it goes. We gave up searching for a decently priced CV34 in the Med. There were few and they were either overpriced compared to UK prices, or in poor condition. So we got a Jeanneau Espace 1000. I have to say we’re happy with that too. It’s got good liveaboard space. Now it needs to be sailed from Spain to Malta. If anyone is willing to join in the trip and give a hand, they’re welcome.