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Land yacht

Whether on sea or land, KAVU athlete and wild man Tyler Bradt, sails into the sunset with a smile. Work hard, play hard....this is the KAVU story of the land yacht

By KAVU

October 30^th, 2018

From Sea to land

The Dream began while circumnavigating the world about a 42 foot sailing vessel called the Wizard's Eye. I was anticipating the transition onto land but still didn't want to be locked into a single location. The freedom found while sailing was one of the aspects I enjoyed most about my time at sea.

The sailboat had taught me how simple it is to live "off the grid" and how fulfilling living simply can be.

The idea of the Wizard's Eye land yacht was born!

As the circumnavigation drew near to completion, the idea of a mobile living unit, completely self-contained became a "next adventure". And, like all goals and dreams, once the seed was planted it found a way to grow and blossom in ways I couldn't have never predicted.

In late 2016, I flew back to Seattle to celebrate with all the party people from the KAVU crew at their annual Christmas Extravaganza. On my way home, I started the land yacht journey by stopping by Iron Eagle Trailers in Portland and hitched up what would eventually become my home for the foreseeable future!

The sailing adventure had accumulated over 450 hours of footage and we've begun compiling all of those epic memories into a full length film. The film will require a tour and of course, the tour will require being operate in the spirit of life we've all come to embrace and define as KAVU! Taking this baby on the road will be the perfect home base to share the Wizard's Eye journey!

back in Montana

In the shelter of my Mom's Quonset garage, and with the help of my Dad, the magnitude of the project quickly became apparent.

While battling record low December temps in Montana, we set to work laying the foundation for the tiny house to come. But, this wasn't going to be just an average tiny house, we had a trick up our sleeve which would make this one stand out from the crowd.

cedar

The previous summer, Kalen (one of my good friends and founder of VOKE Tab), had lost his home in a devastating forest fire which swept through Roaring Lion Creek canyon. The fire had tragically destroyed dozens of homes but thankfully, Kalen and his family survived the raging forest fire. Unfortunately, thousands of acres of forest did not.

Within this forest was one of the only cedar stands in Bitterroot Valley; the place I grew up. That cedar stand was mostly on one of my father’s good friend's land who had also lost his home. We set to work trying to find a silver lining in this deeply unfortunate event by getting permission to salvage enough wood from the burned cedar grove to build the Wizard’s Eye land yacht.

blueprints

I transferred a drawing from a bar napkin to a piece of paper and with this as our only blueprint, dad and I set to work building. We began with framing in the floor and the walls of the house and, cutting down cedar trees to have them hauled to a near by mill to wait until spring.

We accomplished as much as we could before we both returned to Colombia to get the sailboat back on the water, up the coast of Central America and back to Mexico to complete her voyage.

Four or five months later, with more stories in the vault, the Wizard’s Eye sailed back up to the Berkovich shipyard where she had left four years previously.

The circumnavigation had come to an end and it was time to head back home, roll the land yacht out into the crisp, spring Montana air and attempt to finish what we started.

With spring quickly blossoming into summer, we tried to fit as much work between adventures as we could. We set the walls and hung roof joists, ripped plywood and sheathed the outside before wrapping the land yacht in a vapor barrier. We wired and insulated then wired some more.

With the help of a great friends, we continued to find the keys to unlocking each step in the processes. It turns out Jeff Shapiro is as skilled with a hammer and a ladder as he is in the mountains.... and Dan McKay not only kayaks, but also runs a glass company in Bozeman called Lake Glass. My brother in law, Brett happens to manage a metal roofing and siding business called Bridger Steel, and my brother Jody is an aeronautical engineer.... well over-qualified for helping design and implement the wiring. These individuals, and many others, came together to help us build our vision.

We then pulled back the tarp and uncovered our most prized aspect of the tiny house, the cedar we had milled ourselves into siding for the interior and exterior of the house.

Dad, who has such an amazing perspective and appreciation for wood, devised a plan and organized the wood into A, B and C and piles.... then strategically and artfully selected them to get cut, go through the planer, and get screwed onto the side of the house. We worked diligently and managed to side the entire house that summer despite my gallivanting from one adventure to the next.

When the Fall turned to Winter, I headed south to Chile, reconnecting with my paddling which, I had been missing for so long. All the while, without my knowledge... dad was still heading over the house every day, building the bathroom and cutting and placing cedar for the interior siding. When I came back in Spring, I couldn’t believe the progress!

We we’re turning the corner toward the home stretch of completing the dream!

The interior siding, floors, kitchen, and the bar was mostly accomplished by dad as I returned to the sail boat to bring her to the Northwest. We celebrated life, the completion of the tiny house, the circumnavigation, and KAVU’s 25 year anniversary at the same time as Dad and I made a timely entrance into the San Juan islands. With the Wizard’s Eye sea yacht finally parked in the San Juans' for a little while, we drove back to Montana to put the finishing touches on the land yacht in anticipation to "set her sails".

We screwed in the bar, and wired the lights, installed the propane heater, and gave her one last coat of stain.

Placing the final window.... my mother's beautiful stainless art piece.... to the door was the final touch. Only thing left was to screw on load equalizers and sway bars before hitching up our land yacht..... almost two years since she arrived in Montana on that cold December day in 2016.

here we go!

Dad and I we’re excited... and maybe a little bit anxious, to take her out for her maiden voyage to the scales to get her weighed before her first journey to White Salmon, Washington. One of my closest friends, Lane Jacobs had kindly entertained the idea of the Wizard’s Eye land yacht being parked in his lower driveway which, also just so happens to be the most beautiful lower driveway in the gorge.... overlooking both the Columbia River and Mount Hood!

Luckily, the test drive went smoothly. She weighed in at 8,700 pounds bringing to an end a year long debate of whether she'd be deemed fit for the road. Mom set to work on a couple last minute projects upholstering the bed, while my buddy Todd built some beautiful and unique cabinet doors from some “hippy wood” I brought back from the Selway River.

In true fashion, after one last "all night work effort" on everyone’s part, the Wizard’s Eye land yacht finally set sail for White Salmon, Washington..... one of the West Coast's meccas for adventure of all sorts.

On arrival to White Salmon there was one last hurtle to jump.

Lane and I spent three days in the excavator building a stone wall and flattening out a zone for the tiny house. It then all came down to one last feat of hauling her up the driveway and into position at a place I've always dreamed of living.

Since arriving in White Salmon, the skies have provided us with hours of soaring paragliders, the mountain bike trails have been in pristine condition and recently, the rains have brought the rivers up to good flows... opening up their class V sections.

I cant imagine a better anchorage for the time being but, we’re hoping that by the coming summer, she will be setting sail again for the Wizard’s Eye KAVU film tour!

The journey of the land yacht has just begun!

Wizard's Eye

Tyler Bradt

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Footnotes

Tyler Bradt is one of the OG athletes on the KAVU crew. His smile and laugh are contagious and his adventurous spirit inspirational. Follow his adventures WorldWide!

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FootNotes

Tyler Bradt is one of the OG athletes on the KAVU crew. His smile and laugh are contagious and his adventurous spirit inspirational. Follow his adventures WorldWide!

Havasupai 2025

Land yacht

Whether on sea or land, KAVU athlete and wild man Tyler Bradt, sails into the sunset with a smile. Work hard, play hard....this is the KAVU story of the land yacht

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