Dear Friend,
Ever wanted to sail away and leave the world behind? Think that you have to wait until the kids are grown and you’ve built up a stockpile of money? Think again.
Families who raise children aboard swear that there is no better way to do it. Many of these families educate their kids on-the-go. These “boat schooled” children learn to be responsible, curious, independent, and are not addicted to television. They also have extra advantages that come from the rich experiences that living aboard can bring.
Home schooled kids in general score higher than average on college entrance examinations, and these days college entrance officials actually tend to favor these children in admissions because they are considered self-motivated, confident, and more likely to succeed than children from traditional backgrounds.
Cruising families (and mobile families generally) can utilize a wide selection of home schooling materials. Some prefer the traditional Calvert School program (former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is a graduate). See Calvert School at http://www.calvertschool.org. Others use less traditional approaches. All seem to work out equally well. The main thing seems to be what works best for you and your children in your unique circumstances.
Then there are “liveaboard” families who don’t homeschool. In fact, some of these families rarely leave the marina. Folks like the Jost family of Boston, featured in an article in the May, 2009, issue of Motorboating magazine. Both Jost kids, who are teens, attend a public school near the marina. Their boat, a 49-foot Gulfstar motoryacht, is their floating home year-round. To the Josts, moving on board meant breaking out of a “land-locked rut, clear[ing] out the clutter and liv[ing] life in a completely new way.”
The Josts felt that selling their house and 80% of their belongings was therapeutic. They simplified their life and learned to live with less “stuff.” Ms. Jost says that, “instead of collecting material things, we now collect experiences.”
Living aboard seems to bring families closer together. One family of four cruised to Iceland and wintered there. They enrolled their children in an Icelandic school, mainly to expose them to a new language and culture. They spent the next winter in Norway. These folks didn’t mind the cold, and you might prefer a summer visit to such high latitudes, but nothing will replace cruising in silence among icebergs in your floating home, with your family by your side.
These are just a few examples of the kind of lives that other folks are living when they dare to think outside of the family lifestyle “box.”
What kind of life could you be living right now?
All the best,
Hugh
