The grown ups reflections just over a year in. What do we really think??
After the comments we got last week from the kids Q&A we thought it was only right that Pete and I completed the same exercise for the record……..
What were your first thoughts about the idea to sell the house and move onto the boat?
PETE
I’d like to set the record straight on this one. I had the very sensible idea of buying a bigger boat that we would leave in the Caribbean and sail for 3-4 months a year when winter came to the North East of the US. Something around 45-50 feet long, maybe even a monohull! However, I was told that we should ‘go big or go home’ so we moved to an idea of a liveaboard boat that could take us around the world. A very different prospect in both boat and skills required!
Having said all that, Heather and I have never been ones to sit still or not challenge ourselves. And the very idea of travelling the world with our kids, giving them something we had both experienced from a young age was the objective – the boat just became the means to do it. I guess I just had to back my ability to sail my family safely around the world, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say that this has brought me significant anxiety at times.
HEATHER
We went through a phase a few years ago where we knew a number of people (close family and friends) who had worked hard their whole lives, saved their money and got ready to live out their bucket list, only to get diagnosed with something terrible and die soon after. We also felt that we had missed out on a few years of travelling with the kids due to Covid, and we really wanted to be able to experience some of the amazing places we had been to before they got too old and left home.
As we started doing some in depth research om the concept of moving onto a boat, we also did a proper expenditure review and were horrified at the amount of money our house was costing us, despite us both being employed full time in pretty well paid careers. Even with all the costs associated with the boat, we worked out that we could dramatically shift this way of living and travel all over the world for far less than it was costing us to be in the house.
Was there a moment that you thought it was pretty cool to be living on the boat?
PETE
Every time I open my window in the morning, walk out on deck at dawn and look around at these amazing places very few people get to see. In the Bahamas, we anchored off beaches that billionaires pay a lot of money to visit – 100 miles from anywhere but with everything we need to live independently for months at a time – proper Robinson Crusoe stuff. If there was one specific moment though, it would be mooring off the Pitons in St Lucia – these stunning ancient volcanic plugs rising 3000 feet into the sky above you, with the boat essentially nestled in a volcanic caldera.
HEATHER
Our backyard is different every day, usually the scenery is pretty epic. I need to sometimes stop myself and think that it is pretty unique to take our home wherever we go. Case in point, we often get tourist boats taking photos of us as they go past! :) We love travelling, but anyone will tell you that travelling gets tiring after a while, unpacking suitcases and being on the move. Here we get to take our home with us so we have all the comforts and yet all of the excitement of travelling as well!
What has been the worst moment this past year?
PETE
While the kids may mention rounding Cape Hatteras, or Hurricane Beryl, I’d say the fear of missing seeing my dad before he passed away. I am extremely thankful that I was able to get there in time, but sitting in Barbados airport, watching honeymooners celebrate their holidays while all I cared about was getting home was a low point.
HEATHER
The anticipation of Hurricane Beryl coming in was pretty bad. Pete was still in the US for the 24 hours before part of it, we watched boats streaming out of the anchorage headed south for Trinidad & Tobago, and we obviously couldn't go with them. We were watching the incoming weather forecast hourly to see if Beryl would shift further north, and thankfully it did, only 30 miles north, but enough that we didn't get the eye of the storm going over the top of us. I will forever be grateful to the friends we had around us who helped - we stayed on land in an apartment that a friend told us was available, and we had a another friend come on board to help make sure that as we re-anchored the boat was as dug in as she could be, and friends that stayed on their boat who videod every hur or so to share that LunaSea was sticking fast in the mud by her anchor..... Once Beryl actually hit however, it was far less scary than I had imagined, a lot of rain and wind (the anchorage saw 90 kn) for a few hours, and definitely helped by the landlord of the apartment we were in sitting in the rain chilling and caring more about his goats than whether he got wet.
What is the best part about your bedroom on the boat?
PETE
Air conditioning – it’s amazing Annabelle.
HEATHER
We have put a few more personal touches in and around the boat over the past few months, things we have collected as we have travelled, a few prints, etc to make it feel more homely and the addition of some plants round the boat has definitely helped! At the end of the day it is our home, not just our method of transport, so it has got to feel comfortable.
How was the first 6 months living on the boat?
PETE
The toughest part for me was balancing work. We are set up for off-grid living and I have super-fast internet that beats most home set ups, but I had to balance a very tricky work schedule with a set of sailing passages that had zero flexibility in them. The weather windows in November are really tight along the East coast, meaning you go when you can go. Predictably that collided with work sometimes. I have got better at organizing myself though, and I'm now very comfortable with the increased flying I have to do – it’s a small price to pay frankly.
HEATHER
The hardest part for me was the shift in balance as we decided that to do this journey, which was that something had to give in terms of career in the short term, and obviously Pete couldn't let the business he co-owns die obviously! Especially for me when we first moved onto the boat (although we were still in Annapolis at the time) and getting used to boat life, two full time jobs, online school and being stuck in a marina as our refit finished and we were hemorrhaging money; but I left my role in Gap and have been working to try and establish myself as a Fractional HR Leader. Networking and BD is hard, and takes a lot of time for the cycle to be successful, but I have done a few contracts now and it is great to have my own focus whilst the kids are at school. Not sure at the moment I could make it work full time, as everything takes longer on a boat (provisioning, boat jobs to do, etc.) but the time I get to spend with the kids once school is done each day is pretty special and I am thankful for it as its the reason we did this whole thing to be honest.
We have to work really hard at this lifestyle - there is always a boat job to do, basic tasks like shopping take much longer when you don’t have a car to ferry stuff, and we live and work together in a confined space…. but the important thing is being cognizant of that for each other and not ignoring it, and the trade offs are massively outweighing the other side to this lifestyle so far!
How have you found the school that you do on the boat? Better, worse, harder, easier than being in a real school?
PETE
I don’t do school. Instead I am now enrolled in the ‘fat-man-jujitsu-while-wiring/plumbing/fixing-boat’ course. I’m a solid B student.
HEATHER
I also don't do school :) However I have watched how the kids have adjusted to online (asynchonous) schooling and it has made me think that firstly I am grateful that COVID happened, because without that, online school would have not accelerated to the quality of learning that it now is. Secondly, it has made us realize how much time is dead time in normal school - the kids are done by lunchtime and can go play, explore, swim and have fun with other kid boats once they are done!
I too, however, have learnt a load about fixing the boat and troubleshooting, and sometimes, when no matter how big your spares equipment list is, there is always something you don't have that you need at that exact moment to fix a plumbing issue!
Favorite thing (object) on the boat?
PETE
The boat of course! She’s awesome. I’d done my homework of course and had heard that Leopard 46s came with a reputation of being fast, comfortable and very capable boats in big oceans. She hasn’t disappointed on all those fronts. We have our occasional falling outs, but she takes care of me and my family. Honorable mention to the ice machine – frankly the best 200 dollars I’ve ever spent.
HEATHER
Initially it would have been the outside space we have on the boat - we had a lot of debate between monohull and catamaran when we were looking, but in reality as soon as we stepped on a catamaran and felt the sdifferent zones of living space we could have, it was a no brainer for us, considering how much time we spend at anchor in different places! However my views have changed, and it has now got to be that we have our own scuba diving equipment on the boat! Now that Annabelle and Oscar are PADI diving certified, it means that I get to take each of them diving with me. Diving off the back of our own boat is pretty special, especially here in Bonaire!
Favorite country so far, and why?
PETE
Difficult one. I think I would go with Dominican Republic (DR). It was just a big step change culturally speaking that the kids gained a lot from. I loved the mountainous countryside and while the sailing was utter toss, the people and experiences were very cool. Bonaire is a joy though – if I had 250K spare I'd buy a condo here and never leave. It’s that good.
HEATHER
I think the Dominican Republic was my favorite, it was during our time there that, as we were watching the kids absorb the sights and sounds of the journey inland we took and travelled through villages and see how people actually lived (not just through the eyes of a marina or hotel) that we both looked ar each other and ir reaffirmed that we were doing this for the right reasons. The DR finally felt a world away from the USA which was great, and being able to be totally off grid at an anchorage where they had shot some of Jurassic Park was amazing.
Top 3 countries so far and why??
PETE
DR, Grenada and Bahamas/Bonaire joint third. DR for the above reasons. Grenada was good to us – I think the kids had a blast and it was a good safe place to hang out for a while and do family stuff. I guess towards the end familiarity bred contempt, but it was a cool place to hang with some excellent friends (Apart from that time Jocelyn almost drowned me ). The Bahamas? Well culturally it wasn’t that interesting but I think the water was just off the charts – prettier than any island chain I've ever been to in any ocean (and I went to the Maldives in the 80s before they even developed the place!).
HEATHER
DR, Bonaire and Grenada so far! DR for the reasons above, Bonaire for the cool mix of local culture, European feeling and South American influences, coupled with the stunning water quality and the daily snorkeling and diving that we are able to do here from the boat. I hope we never ever get bored of swimming with an eagle ray or a turtle. Whilst we have been here a little longer than we expected as we have a battery peoblem at the moment that we are getting parts shipped out for, and Pete has had to travel, we are so glad we made this a stop where so many we know have gone straight through to Curacao or straight onto Panama as it cost a relative amount to check in here unlike post countries we have been to so far. Grenada also makes my top 3, we spent long enough there to really have a chnce to investigate the island, we swam in waterfalls, really got to experience the Grenadans who are a delight, and made some great friends there.
Do you have a top experience from the whole trip that you can call out??
PETE
Many moments, but watching my three kid go snorkelling – jabbering away at each other as they discover yet another new species of fish is something that makes me realize this was the very best thing we could have done as a family. I guess Heather turned out to be right
HEATHER
I absolutely love the snorkeling trips we take, especially here as it is all the time and there is always something different even in the same spot each day. However, another defining moment for me was also from Staniel Cay, in the Bahamas, where the kids were ankle deep in the water petting nurse sharks who had come in close to be fed by the local fisherman. They weren't in any way threatening and the kids independently went off and did it, and that was a really defining moment that this travel will hopefully forever change their relationship with the nature around us (unless it is finding a cockroach on the boat for which we have had 2 run ins in total. They are never acceptable nature additions..!)
So there you have it…. The whole family has shared their thoughts now……. Will do it again in another year and see what changes :)
