What do you wish someone had told you before you started cruising?
- Colleges are going to love that your kids made this trip.
- Your family will become very close.
- This is not a vacation; it’s a way of life. Save something for the next trip.
- It takes six months to adjust.
- Don’t rely so much on the internet in port or e-mails at sea.
- Just about every port in Europe has a different kind of plug.
- What happens at sea does not stay at sea.
- Tahiti is overrated, overpriced and overcrowded.
What has been the most affordable area to cruise and the most expensive?
Turkey was least expensive, along with La Gomera (Canaries) and West Africa.
Norway; Porto Cervo, Sardinia; and French Polynesia were the most expensive.
Solar panels.
What did you do to make your dream a reality?
We sort of won the lottery the first time; this time we are selling the house.
What is something you like about the cruising culture and something you dislike?
I love the openness, friendliness and mutual support of the international cruising culture. I dislike the focus on alcohol, especially in the Caribbean and South Pacific.
With the benefit of hindsight, what are the boat criteria you would use to purchase a boat for long-term cruising?
More energy-efficiency. But having said that, we just bought another boat and it’s exactly the same. I would consider length vis-a-vis European dock length pricing.
It takes us about three days to adjust to passage time. Before that we’re all a little spacey while adapting to passage time. Typically I would stand the early morning watch, put out fishing lines, then do roll call on the net at 8. Kids will be up later. They’ll do schoolwork or read, depending on how rough it is. Back to sleep until noon or so, then up for the next watch. Chop vegetables in the afternoon and work on meal prep, check fishing lines. Dinner at 6. Everyone except watchstander goes to bed early, soon after dinner.
How did you gain offshore experience prior to leaving?
We crewed on friends’ boat from San Francisco to Santa Barbara.
What advice would you give to parents thinking about taking their children cruising?
DO IT! DO IT NOW!
When you meet another compatible kid boat, change your plans and hang out together. They don’t have to be the same age. Social interactions become incredibly important.
Try to get some homeschooling experience before you leave, and at least make sure you have good supportive resources. Don’t get stuck with set curriculum or try to recreate a classroom.
Adapt curriculum to your cruising experience and kids’ learning style.
Be flexible and creative about when ‘school time’ happens.
What question do you wish I had asked you … and how would you answer it?
How did your kids adapt? What were their challenges?
Here I’d point you to the blog because the topic is too big.
