“Slip into the water, don’t jump. Try not to splash, and follow me,” our guide Torea hurriedly told us as the panga-style boat slowed to a stop, only 100m away from a sleeping giant.

“Stay together, stay close to me. Ready? Let’s go!” As the boat clicked into neutral, Torea was already in the water and swimming away, urging us all to follow quickly. Lowering myself into the water, I barely had time to take in the vast blue void of the open ocean below me. By the time I took my first breath, he was already 10m away, kicking toward where he’d last seen the whale spout.

From the boat, the distance we had to swim didn’t look far, but once in the water fighting the wind chop and current, I realised the 100m swim was going to take more effort than I’d realised. I’m unsure of how far we really swam or how long it took in the end, as the excitement and adrenaline rush distorted details. Once we reached the spot Torea believed the whale to have last been, we slowed our pace and searched the endless blue below us. He kept reminding us to stay together and stay close, which in the emptiness of the Pacific, I was happy to do.

We strained our eyes trying to make out a shape in the depths. Light rays pierced into the abyss, dancing around and playing tricks on our eyes. Then, slowly out of the blue expanse, a silhouette began to take shape. She didn’t seem to be moving, slowly ascending from the depths with ease and grace, seemingly unaware of our floundering, awkward presence. As she rose, her calf also came into view just below her.

Time slowed to a stop as these magnificent beings rose to the surface, just metres in front of us. I was torn between raising my GoPro to capture the sight, albeit viewed through a tiny LCD screen, or forgetting my camera to instead be fully present in the moment.

‘Time slowed to a stop as these magnificent beings rose to the surface’ Photo: voyagesofagape.com

The mother humpback took one massive breath and with a gentle flick of her tail sank back below the surface, staying just within sight. Her calf, on the other hand, was feeling playful, and after a moment of hiding behind its mother, swam to the surface to gambol around our group.

It was a truly unforgettable encounter. To look into this sentient being’s massive eyes and see the curiosity, playfulness, and wonder within is nothing short of life-changing. We had several such meetings, and even after almost two hours of swimming with this mom and her calf, it was still not enough. Like a good showman, the whales always left us wanting more.

Migratory passage

For millennia, these incredible cetaceans have travelled through the rich and diverse waters of our world. From gravity-defying acrobatics at the surface to swimming through the crushing pressures of the depths, whales have been exploring our planet’s ever-changing oceans for 50 million years. After being nearly hunted to extinction by whaling fleets, they are just now starting to make their comeback. It may seem like ancient history, but if you have a classic plastic or 1970s-era boat, as we do with our 37-year-old Tayana 42 Agápe, don’t be surprised if your original transmission manual asks for Dexron type A or B oil – in other words, whale oil.

Agápe moored off Mo’orea in French Polynesia. Photo: voyagesofagape.com

While we no longer have a can of sperm whale oil on board, these behemoths are still very much a part of our world as liveaboard cruisers. Agápe’s journey has been in parallel with these deep-sea voyagers since the start.
From our home port of Ventura, California, we sailed south along the coast of California and Mexico with pods of humpback and grey whales often alongside breaching, singing, and playing, sometimes a little too close for comfort. Every time we spotted the whales breaching or breathing at the surface, we slowed the boat down and it was all hands on deck as we tried to capture photos of the encounter. We joined them on their annual 10,000-mile migration south from the nutrient-rich feeding grounds of the Pacific Northwest into the warmer waters of Mexico and Central America. Our journey that year, in comparison, was a measly 2,000 miles.

From there, we made a big right turn to start our Pacific crossing, leaving our whale friends in the warm waters of Panama to birth and mate before they returned to the cool, nutrient-rich coast of Alaska. Just like the whales have their traditional migratory routes and seasons, yachts, too, have seasons and routes that we tend to favour for weather and currents. The route that lay before Agápe’s bow led us from coastal cruising out into open sea, crossing the world’s largest ocean to the South Pacific.

Mo’orea is one of the premier whale watching locations in the world, with strict rules governing organised tours. Photo: voyagesofagape.com

Entering the famed waters of French Polynesia, we found ourselves enthralled by the rich and diverse marine life that lay just under our keel, but also sometimes petrified by the razor-sharp corals and sweeping currents that seemed to be a constant threat to our little floating home. Our first year in the South Pacific left us feeling exhausted as we learned the hard way about squalls, coral passes, and lagoon navigation. As we sailed into the benign north pass of Mo’orea in the Society Islands and dropped our anchor in the clear and protected water, we decided it was time to take a break from non-stop passagemaking. For the past three years, we’d averaged moving the boat every three to five days.

My wife, Rachel, and I still live aboard, but instead of moving our home every few days, we came to think of our Tayana 42 as more of a floating apartment. A very small apartment. We soon learned that the tropical island of Mo’orea is one of the premier whale watching locations in the world. A distinct population of humpback whales makes the arduous journey here every winter to birth their calves, mate, and rest in the warm waters before making the long migration back south to the feeding grounds of the Antarctic.

Who’s watching who? Photo: voyagesofagape.com

Immersive experience

Safely tucked into the lagoon, we’d sit in Agápe’s cockpit having our morning coffee and watch as the mothers led their calves along the outer reef, often stopping to sleep while their calves played at the surface. Occasionally, we’d take our dinghy out to see them, but as one person had to stay in the boat with the engine running, it left the other alone in the water with the whales. The whales are not dangerous, but there are oceanic white tips that are known to sometimes follow the whales, and it’s advised to always swim closely in a group, constantly checking your surroundings. For that reason, we opted to go on several guided tours.

In the US it is illegal to swim with whales or marine mammals of any kind, but in some countries, including French Polynesia, you can still immerse yourself in their world. There are restrictions in place for both your and the whale’s safety, but here you have the opportunity to encounter them respectfully.

playful whale calf swims with Joshua Shankle – among his most memorable ocean experiences. Photo: voyagesofagape.com

Whale watching tours here are often done in panga-style fibreglass boats or large RIBs. Usually, there are 10-12 people per boat, including the guide, captain, and photographer. The chances of seeing and swimming with whales through a tour company are much better than going on your own, as the tour companies all communicate with each other and can travel at over 25 knots in the open ocean. And when you do see a whale, you don’t have to worry about who will stay behind with the dinghy and miss the encounter.

I find myself morally on the fence about whale watching tours, or similar encounters like feeding sharks and stingrays. On one hand, I believe that limiting human interaction with nature is the best approach to reduce our impact, while on the other, I have seen first-hand how people who have never experienced something have no reason to strive to protect and steward it. Tours offer people a chance to connect with the animals in their natural habitat, leaving a lasting impression and hopefully conveying the importance of protecting our ocean and its inhabitants for years to come.

After spending five months in Mo’orea, we had completely fallen in love with the island. Slowing down long enough to make friends outside of the cruising community opened doors for us to see and experience things that few passersby will ever do.

We became good friends with several of the tour operators and guides, getting to know their views and opinions on the tour activities. We learned of their deep respect for the ocean and all it provides for them.

Living in harmony with the sea is firmly rooted in the Polynesian tradition and lifestyle. It only takes a moment of talking to our friend Maui, owner and operator of Corallina Tours, to realise his passion and love for all things aquatic. Running tours might be how he makes a living, but his passion is showing visitors his island and the magic that lies just below the surface.

This love and deep connection to the sea are what help make the tours in Mo’orea unique. Rachel and I have taken part in several whale watching tours around the island and, to date, these are some of our most memorable experiences in the ocean. Swimming with a whale is nothing short of magical and cannot be fully comprehended until you have experienced it.

Agápe has spent four years now exploring the alluring waters of Polynesia, and the feeling of excitement every time we spot a blow or breach has not diminished.

We enjoy all of our encounters with marine life whether above or below the water, but there is something special, an extra feeling of reward and accomplishment when you see such a large, sentient animal, and even more so when you see it from your own yacht.

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Provisioning a yacht for a long period away from conventional shops, with limited cold store space, dry goods stowage and galley facilities, can be daunting. In a beautifully illustrated new book, The Hunter & The Gatherer, long-time liveaboards Catherine Lawson and David Bristow explain how they provision, shop, forage and cook while cruising tropical and remote waters.

The couple have been cruising for more than two decades, and are currently exploring Indonesia and south-east Asia on their 40ft catamaran Wild One with their daughter, Maya, seeking out remote anchorages as much as possible. That desire to be far away has shaped their food mentality, which Catherine explains is for, “ocean-loving foodies striving for better health, greater self-sufficiency and a tiny footprint on the sea.”

Here, Catherine shares her advice on how to provision your yacht before departure.

Galley stores

We stock our boat with all the things we like to eat in bulk quantities that will sustain us for three months or more at a time. We stop and shop wherever we can, replenishing fresh, market-bought produce and trading with locals whenever those friendly exchanges present themselves. We also enjoy our daily attempts to catch, spear and forage for seafood. There is immense freedom in living this way, and I rarely feel bound to the shore. Every sailor’s pantry looks different to the next, but here’s an overview of the items we strive to carry on board:

Carbohydrates and grains

Whole grains and processed grain-based foods form the backbone of any sailor’s stores. Mine includes pasta, rice (basmati, brown and sushi), quinoa, rice noodles, tortilla chips, couscous and long-life flatbreads for quick-cook pizzas and lunchtime wraps. I carry rice paper sheets (for fresh rolls), crackers, frozen pastry and plenty of flour for baking sourdough bread, which I turn into croutons and breadcrumbs too. We basically store a little bit of everything and restock with whatever is locally available in the towns we sail into. As many grain-based foods generate an excess of plastic waste, especially the convenient ones, when we can, we buy from bulk supply stores and markets that allow you to refill your own bags and containers.

Washing fruit and vegetables before stowing can help to increase their lifespan. Photo: James Mitchell/WCC

Vegetarian proteins

We don’t eat ‘meat with feet’ but catch fish whenever we can. If the fish aren’t biting we cook up vegetarian proteins instead. These include dried red and brown lentils (for pasta sauces and sprouting), tinned chickpeas (for speedy hummus), and tinned and dried kidney beans for Mexican chillies.

There are always eggs, tempeh and tofu on board (for Asian-style satays and curries), plus TVP (textured vegetable protein) and falafel mix. Although many sailors adore theirs, I don’t own a pressure cooker, so I favour smaller legumes that are quick to soften. Nutritious and cheap, red lentils are my favourite for their smooth, nutty flavour. It’s not essential to soak them before cooking, but it does make them more nutritious. They are a rich source of iron, zinc, and B-group vitamins. Soaking and sprouting dried chickpeas and kidney beans makes them more nutritious, lessens their cooking times and makes them much easier to digest.

Nuts and seeds

Before long stints at sea, I stock the boat with plenty of nuts and seeds, choosing whatever’s available and affordable. My stash might include protein-packed chia seeds (for baking and breakfasts) and sunflower, sesame and pepita seeds for snacking, sprouting and adding flavour to sourdough loaves. Almonds, cashews, and walnuts add crunch to salads and stir-fries, baked slices and cakes.

Net hammocks store fruit and vegetables on passage without bruising. Photo: James Mitchell/WCC

Milk and yoghurt

When supermarkets are within easy reach, we drink all kinds of fresh milk and its alternatives, and keep a backup of UHT milk on board. But because David and I lived aboard for 10 years before we got around to installing a fridge, we have a serious powdered milk habit.

We know the weird taste is not everyone’s cup of tea, but we are fairly well immune to it now. When reconstituting milk powder, always add it to water first, stirring it well before pouring it into your mug of tea. If you use lots of milk, make up a batch in a jug or sealed container and keep it in the fridge. The usual milk powder-to-water ratio is 1:4, but I make it a little creamier by simply using less water (1:3 works well for creamy coffees). Pour half of the water in, add a cup of milk powder, stir or shake well, then top it with water and stir it again.

Cheese

When we left Australia to sail to Eastern Indonesia recently, our freezer was chock-full of three things we knew we’d never find along our route: frozen berries, butter and cheese.

I’ve been freezing cheese for decades and now know this: the higher the fat content, the better it survives the thawing process. That means that brie, and Camembert all perform well. Cheddar and feta can be crumbly when defrosted, but your home-baked pizzas will still taste amazing. Instead of freezing feta, try preserving it in jars of olive oil.

Fresh herbs can be grown in a micro-garden onboard, and preserved by solar or oven-drying. Photo: David Bristow

Seasonings

My cupboards always contain essential flavourings such as soy sauce, kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), fish sauce, tamarind, miso paste and whole-egg mayonnaise. I keep vinegars (balsamic, apple cider, rice wine), mustard and wasabi, and a huge range of dried spices and herbs.

Fruit and Veg

The challenge of storing food so that it stays fresh for as long as possible comes down to some careful post-shopping day prep. Taking the time to wash, dry and store your supplies with care contributes to less waste and saves you money too.

Into my freezer goes the produce with the shortest lifespan, lightly processed to make life easier later in the trip: sautéed spinach, roast tomatoes for blitzing into passata, and excess ripe fruit to blend into breakfast smoothies.

I rinse, dry and wrap soft greens like lettuce and spinach in paper towel and seal them in snap-lock bags in the fridge. Carrots, cucumbers and aubergines keep well stored this way too, and I can rinse and reuse the snap-lock bags. In very cool climes, you can keep cos and iceberg lettuce out of the fridge, wrapped in a damp tea towel with the outer leaves intact to retain moisture. Put them somewhere cool and check on them daily, removing only the leaves you need and rewrapping them with any wrinkled outer leaves and a damp tea towel. Cabbage likes a cool spot, too, wrapped in newspaper or placed inside a cotton bag (or old pillow case).

Local markets and stalls are an opportunity to stock up on fresh produce and experiment with new ingredients. Photo: David Bristow

Mushrooms go into paper bags and into the crisper. Hardier fruits and vegetables – potatoes, pumpkins, oranges, sweet potatoes, onions, shallots and garlic – can last for months in a cool, dark cupboard. However, tomatoes, avocados, papayas, stone fruit, melons and pears continue to ripen once picked, so I try to buy them green and firm. The bulk of these go into a cupboard, stored in a single layer to avoid bruising. When we are ready to eat them, I’ll shift a handful to the galley benchtop.

Big bunches of green bananas hang outside on a rope to be snapped off when they ripen yellow. When you have lots of fresh veggies on board, it’s crucial to keep an eye on everything and be prepared to cook up and eat whatever’s ready to go or starting to look a bit tired.

The family supplement their stores by fishing. Photo: David Bristow

In my early sailing years, when I didn’t even have a fridge on board, we used to dehydrate lots of fruit and veg. Solanaceous (or nightshade) vegetables dehydrate really well – tomatoes, aubergines and peppers – along with mushrooms, courgettes, mangoes, apples and bananas. Just slice everything thinly and uniformly, drying your trays in the sun first if you want to decrease your overall power usage.

On Wild One, we process lots of coconut meat. The firm, drier meat of orange and brown coconuts is grated or shaved (using a vegetable peeler), placed on trays and dried in the sun. Some is bagged and frozen to bake with, and some gets a low, slow toasting in the pan, seasoned afterwards with a pinch of salt or powdered vegetable stock for snacking. We also scoop the flesh out of green coconuts when we’ve finished drinking the water, and freeze this softer, gelatinous flesh to add to smoothies.

Tinned foods are freedom foods because they feed us when we are far off the beaten track. My stash includes slots of emergency veggies: tomatoes, corn, mushrooms, and beetroot (’cos I’m an Aussie, and beets belong in burgers!).

Pickles and preserves

My father-in-law once gifted me a jar of homemade pickled green tomatoes, and I’ve been inspired to follow his lead ever since. I make pickles and preserves whenever I find fresh, seasonal produce that’s impossibly cheap and ready to go: chilli peach jam (can be made with mangoes and strawberries too), pickled beetroot, and crunchy, vinegary spiced pickled vegetables using cucumbers, carrots and red onion that you can munch on long after the fresh food has been eaten. We set out with a decent supply of Kalamata olives and crunchy jalapeños, and Dave makes a heavenly Coconut Sambal which ramps up the flavour of any seafood, soup, rice or noodle dish it touches.

Dried fruit

Because we prefer to make our own biscuits, slices and cakes, an assortment of dried fruits is essential. I like to keep stocks of dates, sultanas, cranberries, apricots, and sometimes dried mango and pineapple. There is always ginger and home-dried coconut in our galley too.

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The post How to provision a yacht for a long passage appeared first on Yachting World.

“I probably wouldn’t even recognise the person that I was when I first started,” admits Brian Trautman, skipper of the Amel Super Maramu Delos (and eponymous YouTube channel). In 2009 Trautman cast off his life in corporate America, hustling to make his own tech business a success, and set off on what he thought would be an 18-month-long cruising adventure. Fourteen years later he’s still sailing the world on Delos, now with his wife and young daughter. But if you have no idea where the future will take you, how can you plan to keep your cruising options open?

We spoke to cruisers who have spent between eight and 40-plus years cruising and living aboard. Some set out with a rough deadline, others had no stopping point in mind, but the common theme is that all were able to keep their plans flexible and had made the life changes necessary to stay afloat.

“When Jill and I moved aboard our 1984 Grand Soleil 39 Yahtzee in Seattle in 2012, we had no time frame,” explains Andy Cross. “It was, and still is, open ended with the caveat that if the lifestyle isn’t working for one of us we’d reassess and make changes. We always intended for the boat to be our home, not just for cruising, and it wasn’t a ‘one, two or three years and we’re done’ plan.

“We both had jobs, but we weren’t tied down to the trappings of a house and cars, so it was relatively straightforward moving aboard, beginning to learn the boat, and starting a family. Our goal was to take it slow, not sail to a schedule too often, and hopefully share the dream with our children. I’m happy to say, we’re still doing that over 10 years later.”

Brian Trautman’s 14-year sailing adventure aboard SV Delos has grown to include a family and a livelihood

Trautman initially thought his cruising adventure would be for less than two years, having sold all his possessions and taken out a mortgage to pay for the boat.

“When I left, the time frame was 18 months. The reason is when I ran my budget and my monthly expenditures, I only had enough money for 18 months. So my plan was to just go, get somewhere cool – my intention was to try and make it to New Zealand – and then figure something else out.

“I didn’t know if I was going to stop and work when I got there, or if I was going to leave the boat and fly home. Or if I was going to sell the boat and go back to work. All I knew was that I was going to go now and figure out the rest at some later point.

“I ended up stretching that 18-month budget to about two and a half years getting from Seattle to Australia. When I stopped in Australia, we hauled Delos out of the water for about a year. I actually did remote consulting while living in Melbourne to make money for the next cruising season because after having had that taste, I knew there was no way I could stop then.”

Like Trautman, Ginger and Peter Niemann dipped back into ‘real life’ after their first major adventure – a four-year, 50,000-mile circumnavigation west-about from Seattle aboard their 47ft sloop Marcy, including rounding both the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn.

The SV Devos family onboard

“When we moved aboard we had the idea to live aboard ‘as long as it was fun’, to quote Lin and Larry Pardey,” explains Peter. “It was certainly fun for a circumnavigation, but when we returned to home port four years after departure we were out of cruising funds. We rejoined the working world while living aboard.

“I assumed that was the end of our life afloat, and asked Ginger if we should put the boat up for sale upon our autumn return or wait until spring when the market might be better? ‘Heck no, we are just getting good at this!’ she answered, ‘But maybe we should get a boat you can stand up in!’ And so we lived aboard, swapped boats and worked until the cruising budget was restored a couple of years later, and set off again.”

Ages and stages

Long-term cruising looks different at different life stages. The Cross family always planned to sail through their boys’ childhoods, but are flexible as to how long they spend afloat at any one time.

“Every year is different. Some years, we’ve been on Yahtzee almost exclusively, other years we’ve taken off a few months at a time. This has worked well for us because we’ve planned the time away around northern winters or hurricane seasons in the south – times when we might not be cruising much anyway.

“We want our boys to know and be a part of their grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and friends’ lives, which has meant taking breaks off the boat to spend time with everyone. Then, we return to Yahtzee excited, rejuvenated and ready to continue the adventure. Our ability to balance life ashore and cruising is one of the main reasons I think we’re still happy with the lifestyle of living on a boat.”

In the 14 years since he first sailed away with Delos, Trautman’s life has gone through huge changes. “I’ve found the love of my life, gotten married, sailed with my family, sailed with tons of friends, we’ve had a child on board,” he reflects.

SV Devos under sail

“When I first started cruising, I was absolutely in the frame of mind that I would spend 100% of my time on the boat. And as time has gone on, I’ve actually seen the value in taking time off the boat, because you don’t really understand how good something is until you take yourself away from it. So when we start to get a little edgy or a little like, ‘Oh man it’s another beach, but I don’t want to go to the beach today!’ then we know that it’s time to take a break.

“So at least once a year now, we’ll put the boat in a marina or yard, and we go back and visit our family for a few months. It’s even more important now that we have Sierra, because she’s three and a half, and I want her to know her Swedish heritage.

“But obviously, we fund our lifestyle through sailing and making YouTube videos. So if we’re not sailing and making videos, then we’re not making money.”

Some cruisers report that as they get older they find themselves spending more time ashore. After a second demanding circumnavigation, the Niemanns are shifting their sailing style. “We are just now entering a new phase of cruising plans,” says Peter, “We aren’t getting any younger, and recognise that at some point in time the stresses of voyaging will be more than we can easily handle. So for now we plan to enjoy exploring a smaller area in more detail.”

“The major life change was: cruising,” says Janneke Kuysters, who has been cruising with her husband Wietze on their steel-hulled Bruce Roberts design Anna Caroline for eight years. “After that, we haven’t had any major changes in our lives, apart from growing older and the repercussions of that re. strength and agility. In our minds we’re still 25, but the bones say different!”

Andy and Jill Cross try not to sail to a schedule but still spend a lot of time aboard Yahtzee 12 years after first setting out on their adventure

Both the Niemanns and Janneke and Wietze admit, however, that they don’t necessarily find being ashore more restful. “We have always needed to get back to the boat to regroup. Afloat is our comfort zone,” says Peter Niemann.

“We would typically fly to the Netherlands every two years for about three weeks, but the boat is our home, so that is where we feel happy and comfortable,” says Janneke.

For Janneke and Wietze, time ashore is instead spent exploring new countries. “For instance: we left the boat in Valdivia, Chile, for five months to go backpacking all over South America. In Australia, New Zealand and South Africa we have rented or bought a campervan to travel inland for weeks or months on end.”

Power of knowledge

‘To cruise is to learn,’ wrote Lin Pardey in The Self Sufficient Sailor, and with experience comes confidence. Many cruisers who have sustained their adventures for decades began their adventures relatively cautiously, building the skills that would then enable them to take on longer passages or explore more remote areas.

“When we were in our mid-30s, we sailed the Atlantic circuit with our 31-footer. This was a test year, meant to find out what it was all about and to gather information,” recalls Janneke. They then bought Anna Caroline “with all the knowledge we had gathered in mind”, and began an eight year circumnavigation – first sailing around Scotland, Ireland, Portugal and Spain before completing a transatlantic, then heading south to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Antarctica and Patagonian Chile. They rounded Cape Horn, visited remote areas of the Pacific including Robinson Crusoe Island, Easter Island and French Polynesia, then headed north to Alaska and British Columbia.

The Cross family moored up

Cruisers often report that ocean crossings become progressively easier, and both faster and with less damage sustained, over the years. Much of that is down to the added knowledge they’ve gained, which feeds into making better decisions when it comes to sail selection, interpreting weather forecasts and predicting sea state, and knowing how their boat – and each other – fares in different conditions.

Also key is confidence in your own ability to handle any problems or fix any breakages when cruising more remote areas or for extended periods. Lin and Larry Pardey famously inspired many cruisers to cast off the lines with their advice to ‘Go small, go simple, go now’.

“I honestly feel that setting off cruising was a lot easier when we went because there was much less equipment that you added to your boat. So they were simpler machines, easier to take care of,” Lin Pardey says.

“I think that more people are put off cruising by the sheer hassle of fixing and having other people fix your boat, feeling like the budget is just being blown by mechanics and electricians.

“But it isn’t just keeping your boat simpler that matters, it’s being able to say, ‘Okay, I really don’t need that, so we’re not going to worry about fixing it right now’. It’s the ability to just do without it, if you can’t fix it. That’s a really important aspect of enjoying what you’re doing. I’ve seen people dream of sailing to the Tuamotus, but they get to the Marquesas with something broken and realise the only place they can fix it is Tahiti, so they just skip right through and miss the whole Tuamotus.

Ginger and Peter Niemann’s first circumnavigation was a four year trip aboard their 47ft sloop Marcy

“For example, the watermaker: if you make sure you have enough water tankage and learn to be quite happy with just limited water for a period, you can fix it later.”

Over years of living aboard, most cruisers we spoke to have made substantial upgrades or modifications to their boats to enable them to take on more adventurous cruising. “We try not to anthropomorphise, but we really have the feeling that ‘we take care of her, and she takes care of us,” says Peter Niemann.

“Our boats evolve continuously: equipment is upgraded, worn items replaced, dodgers added. Specialised Arctic (ice poles, redundant heaters) or tropical/desert (awnings, fans) items are acquired, stowed and put into service as needed. The essential major change we made to both our boats was the addition of cockpit shelter.”

“Pretty much every system has been upgraded over time. We have new instruments, a new chartplotter, a lot of solar and wind. One of the huge improvements was the lithium batteries because that allowed us to get rid of propane. And so we can really extend our range because it’s a lot easier to get diesel fuel in any part of the world,” explains Brian Trautman.

“We’ve also really upped our game with the dinghy. Our dinghy now is aluminium, it’s a little bit heavier, but we love it. It has a big engine, so it’s our SUV, our family car, and we need that.”

The Niemanns heading ashore

Pace yourself

When you have no fixed deadline, how do you plan? Most cruisers we spoke to sketch out ‘big picture’ plans determined by the seasons, but leave themselves the freedom to vary their route along the way.

“We typically plan about one season in advance, but we don’t plan in detail,” explains Trautman. “So right now, we’re planning our South Pacific season. And all we know is that we’re going to try and get to French Polynesia or the Marquesas from Mexico. We’re going to arrive sometime during April and then we have the next six or seven months to figure out what we’re going to do.

If it means we’re going to stay in French Polynesia for the cyclone season, or end up sailing west towards New Zealand for the cyclone season, we just don’t know.

“We just know we’re travelling generally westward best we can, and that’s often worked out for us. We pay attention to the big picture things: the hurricane season, cyclone season, when the good weather is, and we kind of make broad strokes to travel in that general direction.”

“Seasonally, we’ve set our plans to cruise more miles during summers in northern climates and then stopping or slowing down during the colder months of winter. It’s the exact opposite now in the tropics,” explains Andy Cross.

“Here we have hurricane seasons to contend with in the summer and fall, and insurance parameters dictate where the boat can be to continue coverage during named storms.”

The Cross family making great cruising memories

Maintaining momentum is a tricky balance, and will be different for everyone. “What made it work for us is we went without serious plans and kept ourselves highly flexible, we went cruising to just really enjoy sailing,” explains Lin Pardey. “But the thing that really kept us from getting tired of it or frustrated by it was taking advantage whenever we met somebody who said ‘Our family is on this little island, you should go visit them.’ So instead of heading south with other cruisers, we’d turn and head to some island or other, and ended up with wonderful friends who introduced us to other friends. So it was that real unscheduled-ness that kept letting us have new adventures and go in different directions.”

Lin and Larry Pardey broke up their cruising routine, which saw them voyaging for some 47 years, with periods spent working and also treating themselves to short ‘holidays’ on land.

“What people don’t quite expect is that if you set off on a voyage around the world, the seasons push you on and it can leave you feeling tired,” says Lin.

“I’ve watched people sail from England to New Zealand over a year and a half period, because that works nicely with the seasons. But when they get here, they’re just tired of moving on. The fact that we had to work meant we didn’t feel we always had to keep moving on. Every year we’d stop for at least three or four months, to let us catch up with ourselves.”

Equally, long-distance cruising can be exhausting, and without a broad-brush plan it can be tempting to linger, cautions Janneke. “It takes (a lot of) effort to keep yourself and your boat going. You are in a strange environment all the time, change is a constant in this lifestyle. It’s easy to arrive somewhere and make it your home. Especially when you have an open-ended plan, it can be attractive to stay somewhere a little longer.

“But that has an impact on everything that follows: you can manoeuvre yourself in a situation where you have to stay somewhere much longer than expected, because of the weather. Beaten paths are there for a reason, and often this reason is the weather. If you decide to leave the beaten path, you need to be independent in making your own plans and time schedule.”

And, sometimes, it’s about knowing when to stop. “When it came to planning our voyage, we sat with a lot of people that had returned from a long trip. We found that there is a tipping point after about 8-10 years. When people stay out for more than that, it becomes less of a voyage and more of a way of life. We are project-minded people, so we needed the voyage to have a beginning and an end. So we left with a plan to stay out somewhere between six and nine years. It worked out to eight years.”

Go slow, stay loose

So how do you know which pace is right for you? “My advice would be go slow and keep it loose,” says Trautman. “Write your plans in the sand at low tide, and be okay with changing them.

“And just take time. You’re not out there to check items off of a list, in my opinion. There are some places where you’ll be okay with leaving after a couple of days, and there are some places you’ll really want a few more weeks just to enjoy. That could be a factor of the place, or it could also be a factor of your frame of mind after moving for so long. That’s all part of the lifestyle.”

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When my family and I set off on what we thought would be a two-year sailing sabbatical in 2018, we didn’t have any plans of working along the way. We were not the exception; almost all our fellow cruisers seemed to be on a work hiatus. We spent time blissfully unaware of what day of the week it was and rarely looked at emails. However, after 12 months of Caribbean cruising our funds had dwindled.

I decided to use my newfound freedom to design a career that would allow my family and I to travel. I always thought I’d make a good entrepreneur; I just never had the time or courage to make it happen. Now I had endless time and nothing to lose. Friends and family encouraged me to try my hand at writing. I wasn’t a writer, I was (and still am) a terrible speller, but I did have experience in interviewing and that, combined with curiosity and determination, has led me to interview some of the biggest names in cruising and have dozens of articles published around the world.

In 2019 I started my own PR agency (roamgeneration.com), my very first client being SV Delos. Fast forward four years and our sabbatical has turned into our full-time way of life. I work from the aft cabin of our Moody 47, and now it seems almost everyone we meet on the water is also working along the way, so I asked eight cruisers for inspiration and advice:

Cally Duncan advises dabbling in onboard self-employment before taking the plunge to go full-time

1 Office work in the cloud

Cally Duncan (CAN/AUS), bookkeeper, sailing 38ft Ericson Tala

As an ex-accountant, my speciality is in cloud accounting software. Due to covid, I started my own business as a Canadian cloud bookkeeping expert (approvedbookkeeping.ca) and have maintained a few favourite clients now that I live on my boat. I also maintain a YouTube channel (shestheskipper.com).

As a solo sailor, any space on board can be allocated as I see fit, so the main saloon table and settee is my home office. I use what I already had (laptop, second monitor, keyboard and mouse) with the addition of a 12V charger for my laptop which helps save battery.

I need to plan my sailing around deadlines, such as biweekly payroll or tax season. Sleep, social life and being a tourist are often sacrificed.

The biggest challenge is probably noise. A Zoom meeting on a windy day will have halyards clanging on the mast and worse still is when the anchor alarm goes off during a meeting.

My advice is to start a side hustle, see if it’s for you and see if it’s sustainable. Get a base level of clients, so you feel confident giving up the reliable income stream of full-time employment and then go for it!

Set up comms systems and working practices before you leave land, is Johan Mulder’s advice

2 Work in marine services

Johan Mulder (NED), furling boom maker, sailing Lagoon 410 S2 Adore

My family and I started cruising in September 2021, later than anticipated due to covid. Adore is our first boat and we chose this lifestyle because my wife and I were at risk of burning out on land.

We started a company in 2020 that produces furling booms for sailing yachts, called Made Engineered (furlingboom.com). My wife and I ran companies before we started cruising, so those skills have helped us a lot. My biggest hurdle to overcome was working less than I was used to – after all, what’s the point of cruising if I’m working all the time? However, I can focus far better on a boat, so I’m more productive.

Depending on the weather, I work at either the saloon or cockpit table. However, I really miss having a desk and comfortable chair. I have an Ultimaker 3D printer and Wacom drawing boards on the boat and we use Microsoft Office 365 tools to communicate with our employees. Up until now, we’ve used local 3G/4G networks, but we’re waiting for Starlink to be operational so we have coverage around the world.

As we’re starting to produce a new type of furling boom, I need to fly back to the Netherlands every five weeks. My biggest challenge is the fact that I’m designing and producing things without seeing the parts myself. This is why we have the 3D printer onboard, plus we use video calling and review a lot of photos of the parts we’re making.

Nim Hirschhorn’s Luna at anchor

3 Make your boat your business

Nim Hirschhorn (ISR/USA), charter yacht owner/operator, sailing Lagoon 450S Luna

I’m a US Coast Guard-certified captain and an experienced PADI Divemaster. I’ve sailed extensively throughout the Caribbean and Mediterranean. My wife Fabiola grew up sailing. After years of working in jobs that didn’t fulfil us, we came up with the idea of using our skills to create a business.

We’re in the all-inclusive, crewed-yacht charter business, Sail Luna (sailluna.com), and a typical charter runs for seven nights. We have always loved hosting, travelling, and sailing, so thought: “why not do this full time?” We sold our first boat, upgraded to a new Lagoon 45 and decked her out with all the luxury fittings. Many of our past skills helped us – for example, project management, accounting, IT, along with marketing and sales.

The boat is our business, so it has to be impeccably maintained. It’s also vital to always have good internet connectivity. Since we cruise near the islands most of the time, we mainly use a cellular data connection – but we also have access to a SAT linkup when needed. We have a small office setup onboard, including a Network Area Server that is constantly syncing our data to the cloud.

Our advice is do what you love to do, and you will make it work. Jump and the net will appear!

Megan Bott works as a translator while cruising

4 Multi-lingual? Translation on the go

Megan Bott (USA) interpreter and translator, sailing 62ft gaff schooner Inanna

We own a 62ft gaff-rigged schooner that we are fixing up while we live on our 38ft Morgan Sloop. We currently cruise Lake Ponchartrain and the Gulf Coast of the US.
I’m a freelance interpreter and translator fluent in Spanish, Russian, and French (in addition to English, my native tongue).

I can do translation and editing from anywhere. When it comes to interpreting, I sit at a table in the main cabin. Depending on the video call and client needs, I may put a sheet up behind me to hide any distracting background.

The biggest challenge is connectivity. I need to have a solid connection to maintain the interpreting calls. Any lapse in connection can cause severe issues with misinterpretation. I have to coordinate my interpreting assignments around when the rest of the crew is off the boat. I legally cannot have anyone listening as I interpret sensitive and personal information.

Clients are spread across time zones from Europe to Senegal to all over the US, so hours vary. Language work is flexible, which makes it ideal for the cruising lifestyle.

Article continues below…

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5 Copy and content

James Howard (GBR), freelance writer, sailing 27ft Trapper 500 Alcyone

I’ve been sailing for just over two years. I started late and didn’t have any prior experience coming into this lifestyle. I cruise the Solent and the south coast of England, and have lived on river pontoons, anchorages, and moorings, while gradually gaining confidence in my abilities.

I work aboard as a freelance content writer, email marketer, and copywriter. This gives me enough income to sustain my lifestyle while continuing to cruise on a budget. I find most of my clients through online freelance marketplaces and via my website (jamescopy.com).

I instantly found I was much more passionate about working for myself than I had been while working for a company. This resulted in a higher standard of work for my clients. I love the freedom and flexibility this lifestyle affords me and that I can take my work with me wherever I go. My work doesn’t need a great deal of equipment: a laptop, a phone, an internet connection and that’s about it – which is perfect considering the size of the boat!

The main challenge is power, especially in the winter months. Solar is fantastic, but I only have 320W of solar to power a house bank of 240Ah. This isn’t always enough to keep the batteries topped up, especially if there’s no sun for days on end. That’s when it’s time to row into town and plug in wherever there’s a power socket.

Patrick Schulte working from the flybridge of his 42ft Grand Banks trawler

6 Trading stocks

Patrick Schulte (USA), stock trader and mentor, sailing 42ft Grand Banks, 35ft Wildcat Catamaran and 43ft Spindrift Bumfuzzle

I circumnavigated via Panama and Suez canals in a 35ft cat, cruised Mexico in a 43ft monohull, and am currently cruising the Caribbean in a 42ft trawler. I’ve been a trader (commodities and stocks) for over 20 years, first in the actual trading pits, and then once out cruising, on the computer. I traded this way for about 10 years. Then I wrote a book, Live on the Margin, about travelling and trading.

People who read the book wanted to learn more, so I started a mentoring group, teaching others. That eventually grew into Wanderer Financial (wandererfinancial.com), a roadmap where I not only teach trading and investing but also share the travel side of wandering and working remotely. Our daily live chat has become a great place for adventurous self-starters interested in a more remote lifestyle.

My business has allowed me to connect with like-minded people all over the world, making trading from a keyboard much more interesting day-to-day. The only things I need to work are a laptop and an internet connection, which usually comes from a local cell service for a hotspot.

Laura Colledge runs an online fitness and lifestyle business from her boat

7 Wellness and vlogging

Laura Colledge (GBR), online fitness and wellness, sailing Bavaria 42 Holly Blue

We sold up and left the UK bound for the Med with our two young boys in the early part of 2019. We’ve been sailing and documenting our sailing adventures ever since.

We operate two businesses from Holly Blue. One provides travel and sailing content on YouTube via Sailing Holly Blue. The other is our online fitness, nutrition and wellness website BoatFit (sailinghollyblue.com/boatfit), an area for both sailors and land folk to find educational health and fitness content.

A solution-driven mindset is essential in this lifestyle. We have to be self-motivated and work together to create new fitness and educational content ideas. Filming our sailing episodes requires picking up the camera for every special, exciting or unique moment, and Ross spends around 30-plus hours a week on editing each episode while I am responsible for all social media management and marketing.

For anyone running a business aboard, you need to be constantly open to the potential of change and happy to resign yourself to ‘let go’ when things aren’t happening as fast or as organised as you might hope. Work hard in the moments when life/Mother Nature allows, and be sure to remember to enjoy the reason you are there – savour every sunrise and sunset and make sure certain moments remain sacred.

8 Teach what you love

Timothy Geisler (USA) CEO of a sailing school, sailing Lagoon 400 S2 Never Say Never

I learned to sail 21 years ago, did many charters around the world, and started a sailing school 12 years ago. Since then, I spend almost half of each year on sailboats in Mexico, the Caribbean, Tahiti or the Mediterranean, teaching sailing courses on large cruising boats (40-55ft). Two years ago, my wife, kids, and I took a six-month sabbatical and cruised the Caribbean on our 40ft catamaran.

When I lost my corporate job and had a chance to reinvent myself, I knew I wanted to have a job that incorporated sailing and travel. We created Nautilus Sailing (nautilussailing.com) to introduce others to this amazing sport

It’s interesting how your life experiences can set you up to succeed later in life. For eight years after university, I was an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles, helped develop education programs, and train new teachers. This experience, combined with a five-year stint running a non-profit, helped prepare me to run a sailing school.

I can work anywhere in the world, as long as I have some internet connectivity. The Iridium Go messaging capability has been a lifesaver for staying in touch when offshore. However, we have a physical office in Colorado that handles the day to day operations.

The biggest thing to keep in mind is life is too short to not pursue your passions now! If you can figure out a way to live on a boat, whether you are working in the sailing industry or have a remote job that pays the bills, then you owe it to yourself to give it a shot.

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Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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Seven years ago, as a pair of empty-nesters living in London, Sheila and I embarked on an impulsive sailing adventure. I was working at a frenetic pace, flying all over the world advising global corporations on future trends. Meanwhile Sheila was running our company, working as a magistrate, and holding everything else together.

We were looking to slow down a bit, and also to develop new skills, reinvent our future and rejuvenate ourselves. But we were worried about damaging the business, neglecting family, wrecking our bank balance and risking a host of other things. Could we make it work by spending a third of each year aboard, as ‘hybrid sailors’?

Making the leap

It was a huge step to buy our own yacht after chartering a few times. “I thought Patrick was mad at first,” Sheila admits, “but in the end I was the keenest on the whole idea. My father owned yachts but by 70 was unsteady at sea and losing his nerve.”

Sheila’s mother had memory loss by 69, while my father died of cancer at the same age. My early years as a hospice doctor had also shown us both that life is far too short to waste a single day doing things you don’t believe in – or don’t actually need to do. We both believe in seizing the day: when life is uncertain, ‘eat dessert first’!

Even remote anchorages – here Sandy Spit in the BVIs – can offer enough connectivity to work effectively. Photo: Christian Wheatley/Getty

When we made the decision to buy Moxie (then berthed in Lagos, Portugal) we initially assumed we’d bring her back to the UK. But the lure of sunshine, warm seas and the fascination of the many countries along the Mediterranean coast persuaded us to sail east instead.

We flew out to Lagos several times in the three months before setting off. It was a very busy period, equipping Moxie and getting her ready, but ‘normal life’ continued: the day to day running of our company, client calls, lecture bookings, relentless answering emails and, for myself, travelling to speaking events, wherever in the world they might be.

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Our own time has a value to the business, so we found it best to focus on our clients, and let boat experts do much of the yacht preparation.

Making it affordable

We bought Moxie as a 10-year-old 47ft yacht, kitted out for offshore sailing, for the price of a large motorhome. Five million people in the UK own second homes – but you can buy a boat for a fraction of that, and there are bank loans or finance options. Depreciation is low if you go for a well-built older model and keep it in good order.

To fund day to day living costs we diverted holiday spending into our adventure, and made savings on domestic bills such as energy and petrol. Anchoring usually costs nothing, and many ports in places like Greece offer very low rates for yacht owners out of season – though hybrid sailing can rack up big marina bills if you fly home in summer.

We also moved out of London to buy a guesthouse on the sea front of Weymouth, which we now let out to large groups on AirBnB – but only when we are afloat, so AirBnB now covers most boat bills.

Moxie, an Oceanis 473

Moxie has ended up paying for herself several times over. Living aboard soon refreshed our thinking and led to us trying new initiatives. Despite previously having had 16 books published, I’d experienced a decade of writers’ block. But within three months of beginning our new lifestyle, I had a contract for The Future of Almost Everything, and Salt in the Blood followed on.

Along the way we’ve met all kinds of liveaboards, some with creative ways to finance their maritime adventures. We met a wonderful Australian couple in their 80s who regularly fly to Europe, buy 20-year-old boats and sail them to Australia.

They sell on arrival for up to £20,000 more than the purchase price (as good quality yachts are in such high demand there), which finances it all.

However, few liveaboards cruisers are true hybrids. Most are retired, living aboard permanently except for trips to see family. Some are much younger on career breaks. Others are taking a couple of years to go round the world, home schooling as they sail.

Few are still fully integrated into ‘normal life’ back home. In our case, we set off in a timing window which we thought could close rapidly – our adult children were just married, we were aware our parents might need us more in future, and we were used to working virtually in the business.

Our ‘rule of thirds’ model has stood us in good stead, although we don’t divide every year up equally. “When we are in the Med we often fly out for a week or two, any time of year, usually at short notice and unsure of our return dates – and we can switch rapidly between sea or land mode,” explains Sheila. “But in places like the Caribbean it makes sense to be on board for at least a month each time.”

Be prepared to carry out your own maintenance

“It’s very unusual for us to be able to be afloat continuously for more than 6-8 weeks. When we are, it feels magical, but it can take a while to adjust back into land-based busyness.”

Boardroom to saloon

When we crossed the Atlantic in December 2019, we were completely cut off from the world for 16 life-changing days, unaware that a mutant virus was spreading from China.

As a futurist and physician I had warned many times about the possibility of new pandemics – and there may be more to come – but if you’re looking for a safe place to retreat, a tropical anchorage has to be high on the list.

We recently returned to Antigua, living on anchor for three months during a lockdown. We made our own water and power, and had a month’s food supplies as back up. I was delivering keynote speeches from our cabin, while Sheila was dispensing justice as a Magistrate, virtually chairing court hearings in Poole and Bournemouth.

We were surprised to discover that we often had faster bandwidth afloat in remote anchorages than at home in the UK.

Over the years, the costs of roaming have fallen dramatically with unlimited high-speed data packages now available across Europe. In the Caribbean our roaming contracts provided some service but not enough, so we bought a local SIM and wifi device, offering 150GB for £80.

In some ways, our liveaboard life is easier because of Covid, as long as you can navigate travel restrictions. When your colleagues or team are working virtually anyway, who cares if you are aboard or on land?

However, Covid has also made our hybrid lifestyle more difficult. Clients used to be happy with emails plus phone calls as points of contact between face-to-face meetings. But now they expect video, which massively drives up data use at anchor, and requires reliable bandwidth.

Before Covid, we used maybe 35GB a month, but now we may need 200GB. Zoom can use 1GB every hour. So if we both make three calls a day, that alone could mean 30GB a week.

Union Island in the Grenadines. To combine working and sailing in the Caribbean you need to get away for at least a month. Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Lots of people made wild predictions during lockdown that few employees would go back to physical offices. I warned that this was nonsense at the time. Face to face meetings matter even more when we are physically scattered. It’s why Apple is among the companies that recently announced that all staff were expected to be in the office at least three days a week – they’d managed during lockdown, but realised they were unable to innovate.

So for most people with busy jobs they want to retain, sailing away for years at a time will remain a fantasy. But it is often possible to live the dream aboard for a third of the year, while maintaining successful careers. It takes planning – and flexibility.

We pick our wider destinations based on airport connections. Once under way, we anchor on weekdays where we are likely to have good mobile signal. Weekends are for going more off grid.

“The great joy of a sailing adventure is to go wherever the wind blows,” recalls Sheila.

“But we’ve also had anxious moments in a rush for anchorages or harbours in time for important video calls. We’ve learned to allow plenty of time to arrive, sort ourselves out, get out of sailing gear and online.

Sheila takes the helm

“Sometimes Patrick has taken client calls at sea and had to announce that we’re offshore in high winds, and he’s being summoned by me on deck urgently! Clients are always rather understanding.”

What lies ahead?

People often ask me, as a futurist, what I think is the future of sailing beyond Covid. The pandemic has shaken millions of long-term career plans, and the next year or two will be ‘payback time’ – I predict big spending on memorable experiences and holidays. Huge numbers of people will make major changes in their careers to pursue dreams, under the ongoing shadow of Covid.

Some will sell up and sail, cutting their land ties, but many others will be more reluctant to do so, after realising the importance of family in lockdown. So I expect rapid growth in hybrid sailing. This will force changes in yacht design – for example more power sockets, larger batteries and better desk areas.

As for the trade offs? Time to linger at home is one. We compress terrestrial things into days or weeks. There are family and friends to see, clients to meet, events to attend, we find we are busier than ever ‘at home’.

But for us, the gains of this new lifestyle have been huge, particularly the exhilaration and sense of release we experience as we sail from place to place. We feel healthier afloat and a decade younger.

Top tips for hybrid cruising

Prevent rocking at anchor

Rolly anchorages need to be avoided if you’re going on video conference, as well as for comfort on board. Pick your position carefully, and try to tuck under cliffs away from swell. Use a second anchor line to hold the bow into a swell, and fix a staysail to keep your bow pointing into the wind. You can also try devices like ‘rocker stoppers’.

Taking some offline time to enjoy yourself is a crucial part of hybrid cruising

Agree offline time

… and keep to it. It’s important to be disciplined about both going offline at the same time, or you will miss the very reason for being aboard. That is why remote anchorages with no signal are some of our favourite places at weekends.

Keep plans flexible to cut costs

Hybrid sailing means packing vital face to face work meetings into short, intense periods to reduce flight frequency. At the same time, give yourself plenty of margin on what flights to take and where from – you will find huge differences in prices with budget airlines.

Data, data, and more data

Get local wifi SIM cards in addition to roaming smartphone contracts. Networks vary – even 100m apart in the same anchorage, so experiment. We always have three contracts running: one each for each mobile, and one for a wifi dongle. Internet in cafes is often unreliable, too noisy for video calls – and may be closed when needed most. You may get an intermittent signal 25 miles offshore, but beyond that enjoy the silence. Forget satellite comms: these systems can cost thousands of pounds a month for heavy use and can’t handle video streaming.

Cut down maintenance

Do what you can to reduce annual maintenance when you have limited time afloat. For example, Coppercoat means an end to annual lift-outs for antifouling. A mini-scuba kit allows 15 minutes under water to change anodes and clean propellers. Our most useful contacts are friendly taxi drivers who take us to places to get things fixed, and do helpful errands.

Lighting matters

Cabin lighting is usually feeble compared to a conventional home or office, to save power. This is a false economy when you’re working. We upgraded all cabin lights with the largest LEDs that fitted and added more. We also created mood lighting with LED strips behind covings.

You can make your own greenscreen to offer an improved background for calls

Make your own green screen

Some colleagues or clients might be intrigued to see you on a yacht, but others may be distracted or even resentful. We bought a green sheet as a background to enable us to easily switch to an alternative image – an office, bookcase, or Court logo can appear behind us during calls. This is more effective than relying on app or software functions to mask your cabin.

Charging power

Off-grid living depends on lots of power without running noisy generators when on calls. That means huge batteries, and plenty of charging options. We upgraded to 800Ah of battery storage, plus a fast smart charger. We recharge using shore power; engine; generator, wind; propeller in water when sailing, and are thinking of installing solar.

Two rectifiers + 12v chargers

We are totally dependent on mains for charging computers. We have two rectifiers (always backups for everything), which I re-rigged so mains power comes out of all power sockets.

Having a well insulated freezer means better storage of ‘fresh’ food

Insulate your freezer

Our boat was fitted already with a huge fridge and freezer but both rapidly drained our batteries – so I insulated by spraying over 200lt of closed-cell foam into cavities all around them with dramatic results. Closed-cell foam means no condensation, but needs mixing onsite and is messy to apply.

Watermaker trumps air con

Few things feel more luxurious than hot showers when living aboard. That means large water tanks, and ideally a watermaker. Two people can easily use 70lt a day (25% of our usual consumption back home), so we are grateful for 600lt tanks. Our watermaker runs when we are motoring in clear water, and makes 105lt an hour, which means full tanks can last for weeks.

We have (noisy) air conditioning but that requires the generator running. Far more effective is to throw a tent over the boat. We made one ourselves from a large sheet of canvas, cut to shape. Pull it over the boom, around the mast and secure to guard rails and bow – it provides instant shade, a wind tunnel to drive air below, and reduces cabin temperature by around 10°.

Backups for all tech

Things can and do go wrong afloat – salt corrosion, phones dropped into the sea, coffee spilt over a keyboard. Even replacing a mobile phone can take a very long time in an unfamiliar country.So we have backups for all the important things – enough to allow both of us to work at the same time, even if two devices are broken. Don’t forget a printer, as well as paper. You will need it in for official documents, and other reasons in far-away places. Many times we still need a printout, or a physically signed contract.

Boost stowage

Using a boat for business as well as leisure, for serious offshore sailing as well as living at anchor, requires a lot of stowage. When there are no guests aboard, both our spare cabins are used for spare sails, folding bikes etc etc.

Keep your body clock on office time

The Caribbean has a four-hour time difference to the UK, so we usually aim to be working by 0600, and finish by 1600 latest, enjoying a late swim before dinner.

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

The post How this couple escaped the city to work from their yacht appeared first on Yachting World.

In late 2018 my wife, Roxy, and I took a few suitcases of belongings and moved aboard our 47ft Cheoy Lee monohull to start the cruise of a lifetime. So far, a familiar start to a familiar sounding story. Except unlike most liveaboard cruisers, we took something else with us onto Sonder: our careers.

We are not sailing vloggers, or working in the marine industry, but 30-something entrepreneurs running a consumer retail business who stumbled onto the realisation that we can do what we do (running a company making pop-up 3D greetings cards), from literally anywhere.

Phil Johnson has proved that with the right connectivity you can work on board from almost anywhere in the world. Photo: Phil & Roxy Johnson/@sailingsonder

There have been digital nomads working from beach bars and converted vans for years, but the combination of improved digital infrastructure and huge swathes of the previously office-based workforce now working remotely has created a unique opportunity for sailors to take their jobs with them on the water.

Over the last couple years of cruising, we’ve talked with similar ‘workaboards’ with careers as varied as real estate, engineering, tech start-ups, and even airline pilots who have taken to the seas when off rotation. This is some of the advice we gleaned on combining cruising with a career.

Reality bites

Picture the scene: you’re walking down a narrow, sandy path, lined with overgrown Bahamian shrubs, heading towards the sound of reggae music. You come upon a beach with a legendary rum bar, dotted with a few dozen sun-drenched partygoers dancing around a jumble of tables and hammocks strung up between palm trees.

It all sounds lovely, except it’s Monday and you’re just there to grab the wifi password and try to concentrate on getting some work done.

“We learned some valuable lessons,” said Victoria and Mike Stenhouse about their first season blending work and cruising life.

Mike and Victoria Stenhouse run a UK-based property development firm from their 40ft Fountaine Pajot catamaran. Photo: insidepropertyinvesting.com

The Stenhouses run a real-estate development firm based in the UK and produce a podcast on property investment (Inside Property Investing) while cruising in the Mediterranean aboard their 40ft Fountaine Pajot catamaran, Havanesey Day.

They moved aboard in 2019 to be able to work from any location of their choosing, but quickly realised that the pace they’d set for themselves in that first year – some 5,000 miles from La Rochelle, circling the Med – simply wasn’t sustainable combined with the day job.

“Trying to move too quickly or see too many places will lead to far more stress than is necessary,” Victoria explained. There’s real value in travelling slower and at a pace more in-step with your work life. It might mean not circumnavigating in a year, but instead you have the flexibility of time to explore the places and cultures you’re sailing to more deeply.

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A work-from-anywhere mindset allows for this flexibility, expressly because you’re not taking limited time-off from jobs on land and trying to cram it all in before the money runs out.

“When we moved aboard, we didn’t see it as a time-limited project, but as a way of living,” says Greta Höller, an Italian industrial engineer and researcher who works full-time while sailing in the Caribbean on a Beneteau 393, ForTuna. Her partner, Michael Hofer, also does consulting for startups. “We chose this life because it allows us to travel the world in an eco-sustainable way, on our own terms,” says Greta.

industrial engineer and researcher Greta Höller works full-time aboard ForTuna in the Caribbean. Photo: Michael Hofer

So how can anyone manage to fit sailing in around a job that requires them to be logged on from 9-5? Roxy dealt with this in her previous job when we cruised part-time in the Bahamas. “It was difficult sitting inside a hot, stuffy cabin on Zoom calls all day, missing out on the best hours of the day for swimming and exploring,” she recalls.

Her strict schedule led to some ill-advised sunset swims – during, what locals like to call ‘shark feedin’ time’.

One solution is to pick a cruising ground in a time zone that allows you to work afternoons and evenings. We know of 9-5 cruisers who plan well ahead to find the best connected and sheltered anchorages, and do all their passages during weekends.

Aboard Sonder we plan around just the most immovable variables – weather predictions and scheduled calls. Even for guests looking to come visit us, we can offer a time or a location, but generally not both.

We fit our working time into when it works for us. Sometimes that means working late at night, during rainy days at anchor, or early mornings over breakfast in the cockpit.

For the crew of ForTuna, setting milestones between passages instead of traditional work schedules helps with time management and productivity. “We’ve definitely learned that work gets done much more easily when you’re in the right mood for it, instead of working in a time frame established by someone else,” says Greta.

The pair has managed to combine their work with sailing from Israel to Martinique last year, and are now bound for Mexico and Cuba.

Divide and conquer

“The boat itself can be a full-time job,” was something all of the cruisers we spoke to for this feature said. Dividing tasks between each other to be done independently can help with time management.

On Sonder, I tend to manage the yacht maintenance schedules, while Roxy manages more of the day-to-day operations of our business. This works well for us because it gives full autonomy in our own domains, but we still come together for big work projects.

The Stenhouses enjoy the opportunity that passages create to disconnect from work. “It’s an amazing time to think, plan and just enjoy each other’s company without the usual distractions of modern life,” Victoria said.

Mike and Victoria Stenhouse recording a regular podcast from their boat. Photo: insidepropertyinvesting.com

While offshore, most sailors are limited to satellite-based plain text emails and texts for business communications, so having a friend, relative or office manager filter email and messages can be extremely helpful.

We employ a virtual assistant who manages all our emails and customer inquiries, forwarding along only the most urgent messages through our IrdiumGo sat phone which we monitor 24 hours a day.

How does moving aboard affect the employer-employee relationship? “When you work remotely, flexibility is needed on both sides” says Greta. The occasional dropped video call or a rescheduled meeting is inevitable, but with careful prioritising more problems can be pre-empted. “When we know we have an important call, we’ll move to find the right spot with good cell reception,” she adds.

For longer passages, such as a transatlantic: “We go on holiday – even remote workers can take time off,” explains Greta.

Get connected

Success as a ‘workaboard’ all comes down to connectivity. There is always the option of going ashore to a cafe or marina for land-based wifi, but for full-time work that’s usually not a practical long-term solution.

Hot-spotting a wifi network to your laptop from a phone using local or regional SIM cards is usually the fastest, cheapest, and most reliable data you can get aboard.

If your work requires video conferencing or large data transfers, unlimited data plans are a necessity. However, purchasing and signing up for a contract can be difficult when moving frequently between different countries so it’s good to supplement that with an international data plan.

Boosters such as Digital Yacht’s 4G Connect Pro (right) can improve mobile and wifi connectivity for around £350-£550

There are lots of international plans to choose from. Google Fi (for US customers), is the one that we currently use. It has one SIM card that works with partner networks in over 160 countries. It’s not a truly ‘unlimited’ data plan, but we can reliably get connected upon entering inshore waters of our destination well before we can research and find a local solution. SkyRoam (for European and US customers) is another international hotspot solution.

To boost weak mobile signal or marina wifi bandwidth down into the cabin, there are a myriad of signal extenders on the market. Wifi extenders will work anywhere there is a 5GHz or 2.5GHz network, pulling weak signals from far out in a harbour anchorage while using a negligible amount of power.

“For cellular, there are two categories of long range extenders,” says Richard Anderson, owner of SeaTech Systems based out of Seattle, which specialises in communications solutions for sailors. Boosters operate on select frequencies that are region specific, which is why the unit I installed on Sonder stopped working when we left the US.

“The other way you can do it is with a dedicated cellular modem and router,” he says. This is basically a fancy hotspot with a multiband antennae on the mast and wifi router in the cabin that can work globally. This setup switches seamlessly between compatible cell networks giving you a more a ‘home office’ experience, even as far out as 20 miles offshore.

All of the workaboards we talked with found that 4G data plans cover most of their connection needs, but for data offshore, and in more remote areas like those in the South Pacific, a satellite internet system will be needed.

On the market right now are essentially two categories. First, polar-orbiting Iridium satellites operate on a global network, reachable with a passive antennae, but provide extremely slow download speeds (2.4kbps) that limit you to things like plain text emails, or weather-grib files. While Iridium recently launched Certus, its latest generation satellites with 700kbps download speeds, it also carries much higher contract fees and equipment costs.

The other option is high-frequency, geosynchronous satellite networks such as Vsat or Inmarsat. Traditionally used by the commercial industry, these products can deliver true broadband speeds, but the hardware costs alone are $25,000-$35,000.

Richard Anderson said the reason for this is the active, tracking antennas that use a gyro-stabilized satellite dish to get signal from a moving deck. While you can lease the equipment for around $400 a month, contract fees can run to $1,000 a month or more. These units are also heavy, power hungry and the service options still have dead zones around the globe, so for most workaboards on a budget, this isn’t a practical option, yet.

Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service holds promise for yachtsmen – but isn’t ready yet

Mike Stenhouse is holding out for Starlink, the pioneering new satellite internet service from Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Many of the workaboards I met with are hoping that this is a panacea for internet at sea.

The promise? True broadband, low-cost, satellite internet, delivered to even the most far flung regions of the globe. A solution like this could allow working while tucked into tight, remote anchorages, which are typically signal dead zones, or take video conferencing offshore. The ultimate liveaboard goal is to simply have consistent internet across all cabins.

However, Starlink may take longer than we think, Richard Anderson cautioned. “You have to have a ground station that’s within the view of the satellite AND your boat.” That means no internet connection once you’re several hundred miles out to sea. Even if you’re closer to shore, it will be affected by the weather, and will still probably need expensive, gyro-stabilized antennae hardware.

So Starlink comes with its own unique set of challenges, but then again, that’s what workaboards are adept at dealing with.

Seize the moment

Combining cruising while continuing a career or running a business can mean you don’t have to wait until retirement to head off on a grand adventure. “People often seem to think the only way to afford cruising full-time while you’re younger is to become a YouTube phenomenon or live off of savings, but that’s not the only way, and we have the receipts now to prove it,” says Roxy. We are on track to meet ambitious business goals this year while continuing to sail from the UK to the Mediterranean.

There may still be plenty of logistical hurdles to taking your job or business aboard, but the potential freedom you gain, and the opportunity to sail and explore places you’ve only dreamt of, is well worth the effort.

“If you have the opportunity to do something you love now rather than waiting for retirement, jump in with both feet,” says Victoria Stenhouse. “Figuring out how to make it work for your own circumstances is all part of the adventure.”

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The post How to make a living on your yacht appeared first on Yachting World.

For many, the opportunity to trade a bricks and mortar school for classes on deck or on the beach is part of the appeal of a cruising lifestyle. Here we take a look at some of the different approaches favoured by liveaboard and cruising families, and discover some tips that temporary home teachers can benefit from.

Learning outside of the classroom has been proven to bring benefits including increased self-awareness, confidence, creativity and imagination. However, the endless juggle of fitting in education, boat maintenance, socialisation and online employment can create a challenging dynamic while living in the close confines of a boat.

“Fulfilling the triple role of parent-teacher-playmate can be intense for all members of the family at times,” commented Philippa Steventon, who is home educating her boys on board their Bowman 40 Bella as they overwinter in Spain.

Hands-on lessons using a sextant. Photo: Kate Hall

My husband and I also recently spent two years living aboard our Moody 47 Roam, with our three young boys. It certainly wasn’t easy. Educating our kids was the hardest element of our entire journey, including sailing across the Atlantic Ocean.

Home-schooling styles

• Unschooling: An informal style that advocates topics and activities should be chosen by the children themselves.
• Eclectic: A popular approach to home schooling where parents pick and choose the best parts of several different systems and resources.
• Prepackaged curriculum: Also known as ‘school in a box’, preplanned curriculums can be used as supplied or supplemented as you see fit. Examples include Calvert, Timberdoodle or Oak Meadow.
• Distance learning: Where teachers use online instruction (or a variation) to teach students.

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What method is best?

To decide what style of schooling is best for you and your family, it’s essential to be honest with yourself. What type of parent are you? Are you creative, crafty and excited by the idea of teaching your children? Or, like me, would you prefer to follow a pre-written curriculum to take the fear and doubt out of an already challenging exercise?

I quickly discovered that I didn’t enjoy the pressure of piecing together a curriculum. Initially our plan was for an eclectic style of home schooling, as I loved the idea of my children learning about the world around them. I envisaged teaching fascinating lessons about the history of the countries we were visiting and the science behind the weather systems through which we were sailing.

In reality, it was far more complicated than I expected to create studies for my children that were age-appropriate, engaging and fun. The point is that most people don’t get it right the first time and it’s important to remain flexible, continually assess what is and isn’t working, and be willing to pivot if required.

Having a small microscope on board makes for fascinating learning for young and old alike. Photo: Jennifer Dawson Sampica

Both Megan Waitkoff Downey and Jennifer Dawson Sampica are boat-schooling mums to seven-year-olds. They too have found home educating more difficult than they anticipated.

“While parents understand their own child best and dedicated one-on-one learning is amazing, I also recognise there are a lot of skills and strategies that teachers learn in their studies that I simply don’t have in my toolbox,” admits Megan.

Putting some strategies in place can make learning more enjoyable: Jennifer has found that things run more smoothly when there is a set schedule. “Each Sunday I create a lesson plan for the week. That way, my son and I can check it off together,” she explains.

Finding other experts to teach your children is another great way to engage your child. “Whether it’s a scientist giving a shark talk, a photographer explaining his turtle images, or a tour guide at a nutmeg plant, it’s always better when it’s hands-on,” said Stacey Paczkoski Brassington.

The rich experiences my family were fortunate enough to gain were beyond educational. In Grenada, we watched giant leatherback turtles laying eggs on the beach and learnt how chocolate is made. While exploring Martinique, we climbed an active volcano and visited a slavery museum. Bequia taught us about the history of whaling – and on we went, each location teaching us something new.

“When we left Cowes, the advice we were given by our head teacher was to make sure we keep them up to date with the relevant stages in the English and maths curriculums and that everything else would come from what we were doing on the boat,” adds Philippa Steventon.

Learning alongside local children at Bequia in the Grenadines. Photo: Erin Carey

Regarding duration and frequency, around two to four hours a day, over four or five days a week seems to be common practice and enough to keep kids on track. It will also depend on how long you plan on cruising, the age and temperament of your children, and whether or not you want them to integrate back into the school system.

“Our children were five and seven when we left the dock and I tried to replace the school day with a boat schooling day. It didn’t work,” recalls Kate Hall, who is currently in the Caribbean with her boys aboard their Hallberg-Rassy 46 Kathryn del Fuego.

“There are days when workbooks work perfectly. There are days when they don’t and we play games, use dice, counting and do mental times tables and spelling games instead.”

When children are old enough step by step tutorial books take some of the pressure off parents. Photo: Sailing Nikau

Teaming up

Anyone with children knows that bringing other people into the mix usually improves the dynamic for the better.

The Hall family paired up with two other family boats when their schedules aligned, and organised a ‘boat school’ rota. “While in the Windward Islands in the Caribbean we sailed with three family boats for a period of three glorious weeks. Between us we had seven children and created a Year 1, Year 2 and joint Year 3 & 4 classroom for the three yachts,” recalls Kate Hall.

“Each morning the ‘school bus’ (aka one of the dinghies) took the children to each boat at anchor for the morning’s lessons. At 11am the school bus collected the children for a swim before lunch and then a play on the beach afterwards.

“For parents and children alike it was bliss. No tears or shouting (parents included!); the children even looked forward to their lessons.

“It’s amazing the difference in teaching other people’s children. They listen and are keen to learn from you; you aren’t their parents! Swap the children round and teach theirs or just mix them up (one of yours and one of theirs).

“I was nervous about asking or offering, but once you’ve done it, you would want to do it every day. As parents we all came from different backgrounds and experience (plumber, vet, physiotherapist, civil engineer, stay-at-home mum) but we all had something different to offer when teaching and the children thrived on it.”

If your child loves snorkelling, develop their passion by studying marine life. Photo: Kate Hall

Soft skills

One misconception about home-schooled children is their lack of socialisation. On a boat, addressing this largely depends on what part of the world you are cruising in and how willing you are to put yourself ‘out there’ when it comes to social media and tracking down other children.

The popular Facebook group Kids4Sail is full of like-minded families who are located in different areas all over the world. Each month they have a location roll call, where people can find other boats with similar aged children in their area. The No Foreign Land website is also useful.

In my experience, a common trait of boat-schooled children is their confidence. Our boys learnt to speak to people of different cultures, backgrounds and ages. As a result, they’re now mature for their age and outgoing.

Keeping a daily boat diary can help improve both writing and drawing skills. Photo: Kate Hall

Stacy noted the same: “My boys are confident in meeting new people, asking for directions, negotiating with market vendors. Being out in the world with people gives them social skills and increased self-esteem.”

Was teaching effective?

After four months on land, it has been interesting to watch my children integrate back into the schooling system. Our youngest didn’t receive any formal schooling while on the boat, and is doing well in his first year of primary school. He’s notably more worldly and confident than his peers.

Our two older children have settled in reasonably well, but there have been a few speed bumps along the way. Not surprisingly, sitting still for six hours a day was one of them.

Unfortunately, being different can also make children an easy target for bullies. Sadly, not being up to speed with the latest trends, video games and YouTubers did create some adjustment issues. Luckily, four months on, life has returned to a new normal.

Academically, we have identified a few gaps, but overall they have adjusted well, and it appears that maybe all of the stress and worry about whether we were doing it ‘right’ was unfounded.

Useful resources

With the closure of schools, the list of remote learning resources is ever expanding. Here are some starting points:

Maths

Singapore Maths: Highly effective method that has been adopted around the world over the past 20 years. Books from £12.

MathsOnline: Australian system of online maths tutorials for all ages. Over 1,400 tutorials available, lasting around 5-10 minutes. Can be studied on any devices, around £24 per month.

Mammoth Math (USA): A full maths curriculum. Textbooks can be downloaded and printed on the boat, from around £25.

Khan Academy (USA): Available in 40 different languages. Free online resources with written lessons as well as video.

DragonBox: Maths games app.

Prodigy (USA): Curriculum-aligned maths game, free parent accounts available.

Photo: Kate Hall

Literacy

Teach Your Monster to Read (UK): Free and fun phonics game and app for younger children learning to read.

Explode the Code (USA): Bestselling phonics programme for younger children, available online or as a workbook. £55/1 year subscription

All About Reading (USA): Multi-level programme, with decodable stories, textbooks, and other resources. £166 per pack. (See also: All About Spelling)

English Stars (AUS): Yearly plan for primary aged children, follows Australian curriculum with detailed teaching plans for every module. Around £56 per year.

Science & other

Code Club (UK): Free coding projects for 9-13 year olds using the Scratch program.

Mystery Science (USA): Online video lessons for primary years. Each is based on a story and ends with hands-on activities designed to use supplies you already have at home/on board. Around £20 per month.

Twinkl (UK): Wide library of printable resources and worksheets for UK primary school teachers and parents, in all subjects.

Time4Learning: Interactive multimedia content including animations, instructional videos, worksheets and hands-on projects. Monthly subscription £16-25.

Duolingo: Language learning for Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Arabic and many more.

Complete curriculum

Structured Home Learning (UK): Complete, timetabled plans and resources from reception to GCSE. Modules designed to be completed in a morning. From £299 per year.

Critical Thinking Company (USA): Books and software for all years, covering reading, writing, maths, science and social studies.

Timberdoodle (USA): Comprehensive curriculum delivered on a USB. Christian-based as standard, with non-religious pack options. A full year’s resources range from £500-£850.

Calvert Education (USA): Online learning with individual and family subscription options, over 45 courses. £330 per child or £590 for a family plan.

Oak Meadow (USA): Complete curriculum for all ages, including 36-week lesson plans, optional craft and activity resources. Uses a Waldorf/Steiner holistic approach. From around $400.

Galore Park (UK): Text books and resources used by UK independent schools for KS2 upwards, including 11+ and 13+ exam prep.

Online tutors

If you’d rather bring in an outside teacher, especially for older students approaching key exam years, several online schools offers correspondence-based teaching by tutors.

In the UK, Oxford Home Schooling and Wolsey Hall teach up to IGCSE and A-levels. In the US Laurel Springs is an online private school with lessons delivered by teachers.

About the author

Despite having little sailing experience, Erin Carey, her husband Dave and their three young sons quit the rat race and bought their boat, sight unseen, on the opposite side of the world. Erin is founder of Roam Generation, a communications business sharing the stories of adventurers and sailors.

First published in the June 2020 edition of Yachting World.

The post Home schooling at sea: Top tips for tutoring your kids from 6 liveaboard sailors appeared first on Yachting World.

Cruising sailors who also call their boat their home usually give plenty of consideration to making life on board as comfortable as possible. The level of comfort cruisers and liveaboards choose is, of course, entirely personal and subjective. Some consider a watermaker to be a luxury item; others regard it to be utterly essential. Some may draw the line at a washing machine, but can’t contemplate life without their icemaker.

On larger boats with a high specification, the limitations of space and power generation may not be so restrictive. But for those who own smaller boats, perhaps contending with a more modest budget, some luxuries may have to be sacrificed or compromised.

Of course, living a simple and minimalist lifestyle is part of the fun (and, for many, the entire point) of cruising. That said, turning your yacht from a series of minor discomforts into a home with a few onboard creature comforts will make cruising far more enjoyable.

Terysa Vanderloo and her partner, Nick, are in their third year of sailing around the world on their Southerly 38

My partner Nick and I have been cruising Europe and the Caribbean for the past three years. We own a Southerly 38, the interior of which is given over mainly to living space rather than storage room: as such, we don’t have a generator or particularly large water and fuel tanks.

The knock-on effect is that we can’t have power-intensive items such as washing machines or separate freezers on board because we can’t power them, plus we don’t have anywhere to actually put them. Despite these limitations, we have a boat that is comfortable, homely and full of items that we love and wouldn’t want to be without.

Personally, neither of us could function without coffee in the morning and we love our espresso machine. Another item we bought just before we made our Atlantic crossing was a breadmaker. The power draw was less than we’d originally assumed, and we kept the batteries topped up by running the engine while the bread was in the baking stage.

Fresh-baked aroma

Kim and Simon Brown from Britican are also firm breadmaker fans. In fact, Kim says: “This is mandatory if you’re sailing around the world. Nothing is more spirit-lifting and comforting than the smell and taste of fresh bread.”

I couldn’t agree more. Of course, it’s entirely possible to make bread by hand, and many sailors do. However, we try to avoid having the oven on for too long as it not only uses up propane but also heats the boat up, so a bread machine makes sense.

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Continuing on the premise that if we’re well-fed and caffeinated, we’d probably be quite content, we decided to buy a pressure-cooker. We didn’t purchase this until we’d been cruising for almost a year, but it was a game-changer.

It lowered our propane usage by reducing cooking time and also prevented the boat from getting too hot. Another benefit was that it cooked the frozen, often quite tough, meat we usually found on the Caribbean islands in a way that actually made it tender and delicious.

However, a pressure cooker isn’t the only option. Behan and Jamie Gifford from Totem use a far more self-sufficient alternative: a solar oven. Behan says: “Point it into the sun and during peak hours the oven heats up to 200-250°F (93-121°C). That’s kind of like having a crockpot on deck which slowly turns out a delicious meal over the course of the afternoon.”

It makes everything from slow-cooked meats, to cake, to sun-dried tomatoes. The only downside is its size. Behan says: “It’s a big box, it doesn’t collapse and it does take up a chunk of space. It’s got a special corner on deck where it lives, and we’d rather minimise what’s on deck, but there’s not another option.” However, they reckon it’s a reasonable compromise for a cooking method that not only makes delicious meals, but also uses no gas.

Clockwise from top-left: Sodastream, solar lantern, solar oven, Bluetooth speakers and a Nespresso machine

Behan has another trick up her sleeve for provisioning when in remote areas. She cans her own chicken, meat and pasta sauces, among other things, and maintains that homemade canned meat tastes far better than store-bought. “I’m a former vegetarian, but everyone else onboard Totem are die-hard carnivores. Heaven forbid we have too many meatless meals!” she says.

They also have what she calls a ‘ridiculous little luxury’ on board: a hand-cranked pasta machine. “We use it three or four times a year, usually for birthdays. It’s like a part of our family culture, so it justifies the space it takes up.”

Elena Manighetti and Ryan Osborn are currently sailing the Mediterranean on their catamaran Kittiwake and have a number of onboard creature comforts. In the galley their luxury is a set of ceramic knives.

“Ceramic knives are super sharp and simply cannot rust. All you need to do is handle them with care and keep them in a sheath so they’re always safe in their drawer on passage. Make sure the whole blade is 100 per cent ceramic and there is no iron. And don’t forget a sharpening stone,” Elena adds.

Pete and Tracey Goss live and work from the comfortable set-up of their Garcia Exploration 45 Pearl. Photo: Jason Pickering

Another much loved item is Elena’s portable speakers. “We bought speakers that we charge via USB cable and connect to our phones via bluetooth or cable. Having portable speakers means we can listen to music or podcasts anywhere, even in our berth or on the beach.”

Matt and Jessica Johnson are cruising on a budget on their Trisalu 37 Elements of Life, but are still able to have a few onboard creature comforts. Jessica says, “We’ve learned to be pretty minimal and go without a lot of things due to space and cost.”

Enjoying some fizz

But sometimes it’s the small things that matter: “I just picked up a Sodastream,” Jessica says. “I really like carbonated beverages. I make a litre of sparkling water per day, and I love it!” Jessica also listed her Sport-A-Seat (an adjustable and portable cushioned chair) as a necessary luxury: “We use them as cockpit seats, but can also move them around the boat and even take them to the beach.”

For Mark and Jennifer Prince on Luna Sea (a Beneteau 393) good bedding is a top priority. They have a gel-infused memory foam mattresses in both their cabins, and say, “It’s like sleeping on a cloud. We bought a queen-sized mattress then modified it slightly to fit the berth. They’re not too expensive, easily cut and modified, and usually come with a cover. Sleep is crucial!”

The gel component is designed to disperse body heat, which makes it cooler than sleeping on traditional memory foam. It’s also possible to get pillows and mattress toppers made with this technology. Another option is a latex mattress, which is also very comfortable and cool. We have this type of mattress in our main cabin, and it gives us a very restful sleep even in the tropics.

Nick Vanderloo plays guitar every day aboard his Southerly 38

Another key part of an enjoyable onboard lifestyle is keeping up with favourite hobbies. For us music is an important part of our cruising life. Nick plays the guitar daily, although he will bring out the banjo or harmonica when he’s feeling particularly jaunty. Some evenings have been quite memorable with people congregating in the cockpit with their instruments and impromptu concerts breaking out.

Staying healthy

Yoga has been particularly popular amongst the sailing communities we’ve stayed in: you don’t need any equipment, anyone can do it no matter their level of experience, and it not only provides a physical workout, but is a chance to meditate or have some peaceful time alone. Many cruisers are early risers and practice yoga on deck as they watch dawn break. It’s hard to think of a better start to the day.

For more modern entertainment, internet connection is vital for many cruisers. Some feel that a lengthy break from technology and social media allows them to better enjoy all that the cruising lifestyle has to offer. On the other hand, cruising can be a lonely existence even in more popular grounds such as the Caribbean. Social media greatly helps to foster connections with other cruisers, which can ultimately result in close friendships on the water as you meet up with people you originally knew online.

Providing entertainment for liveaboard children is a must. Photo: Netflix

Besides the practical requirements of keeping abreast of the latest weather forecasts, boating forums are also an excellent way of getting advice or information on all sorts of matters. For us, internet access is essential. We always buy a local SIM card with data, which we keep topped up until we leave the country.

To watch films or television; most cruisers have either a TV or laptop, along with a high-capacity hard-drive to store the movie files – which can be topped up whenever there’s free or fast wifi connection.

For many cruisers, part of the delight of living on board is to enjoy a minimalist lifestyle. Nick and I get a huge amount of satisfaction from living self-sufficiently and sustainably. So for us, living without some onboard creature comforts is actually part of the fun. That being said, a bit of luxury goes a long way to making life on board more enjoyable.

The post Onboard creature comforts: Little luxuries for sailing around the world appeared first on Yachting World.

Amel has a long established following for yachts designed and built to match the needs of liveaboard and bluewater cruisers. It is reputed for its singular way of doing things and is famed for its ketches, designed for ease of sailing by a couple.

So when the La Rochelle yard unveiled this Amel 50, its first sloop since 1997, one with a broad, modern hull shape and twin rudders, it was met with surprise. Had Amel abandoned its heritage in favour for what’s in vogue?

Fortunately not. Step aboard and you quickly understand why this is a brilliant new model, one true to the brand’s DNA but versatile enough to suit everything from coastal sailing to global cruising.

Jib, staysail and main halyards are managed at the mast using a track and car system that locks the halyards in place. Photo: Jean-Sébastien Evrard

When I arrived in La Rochelle for my two-day liveaboard test, I wasn’t greeted with the sparkly weather I’d seen in Amel’s brochure. It was a dark, wet, windy and cold December morning. But, with its fully enclosed doghouse, the Amel 50 was made to take on weather like this. Would ‘indoors’ sailing leave me metaphorically cold, I wondered – surely the beauty of our sport is achieved through connection with the elements?

Setting out in a brisk westerly wind and lumpy seas that broke over the foredeck, the heat from below decks soon flowed up the companionway to fill the enclosed doghouse, bringing with it the aroma of fresh bread and coffee.

Within minutes we were punching our way confidently upwind, oblivious to the weather raging outside. I sat in the doghouse, feeling overdressed in salopettes and sea boots, and with every wave that crashed into the windscreen I felt my need to be out in the elements melting away.

Bold first impressions

The Amel’s lines follow modern trends including a blunt stem, full volume bow, high topsides, modest sheer and a beamy transom. But this latest model from the Berret-Racoupeau design team has rung some substantial changes. Amel’s first sloop in two decades, it is also the yard’s first model with twin rudders and the first built using resin infusion techniques.

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For close to 30 years Amel has favoured ketch rigs in the belief that splitting the sail area across two masts should make large cruising yachts more manageable for couples to sail. Ironically this way of thinking may have put off some sailors who actually consider two masts to be double the work, not half.

With the new 50 being the smallest in the range, the sail area was considered small enough to be comfortably handled as a sloop. Losing the mizzenmast unlocks additional benefits of reduced build costs, a larger cockpit and more below-deck versatility, making the Amel 50 an attractive package.

Absorbed or alienated?

Taking the helm for the first time I was acutely aware of my position on the boat – at the front of a central cockpit and offset to port. Looking forward, with only half the boat ahead and a small wheel in my hands I had the impression of sailing something much smaller.

The helmsman’s chair swivels and adjusts in height and there are reasonable views of the sails. Photo: Jean-Sébastien Evrard

The pillarless windscreen offers a panoramic view and the cockpit is high enough to give vision to windward, even on a starboard tack. The mainsail can be seen through hatches in the doghouse roof, while the view of the jib luff is great on a starboard tack – straight up the slot – but more difficult on port as the forestay sags to leeward. There’s a helmsman’s chair behind the steering position but I found standing more comfortable as, when seated, my arms were at full stretch.

The steering system uses push-pull cables onto the port rudder quadrant resulting in a helm that is sensitive to movement, but has little feeling. The rudders are a good size and the linkage direct, so small wheel movements have immediate impact, but as the cables do not load up no feedback can be felt through the wheel.

Once I’d acknowledged this I tuned into other performance indicators, using angle of heel particularly to guide me upwind. Immediately the helming experience came alive, I was watching for gusts, reading the waves, taking note of everything around me. Before I knew it, I was fully absorbed and unquestionably engaged with the sailing experience.

Joystick sail handling

The mainsail unfurls from the mast at an impressive speed using joystick controls in front of the wheel. The outhaul runs at the same pace on a continuous line system, which moves the clew in and out via a boom track. To avoid damage, both use a current-sensitive ‘time out’ feature – so if either is placed under heavy load they will momentarily stop, alerting crew to a potential sail jam or rope snag.

The jib sheets neatly through a wide shroud base, via coachroof tracks outside the doghouse and on to electric primary winches. Manual secondary winches allow jib cars to be trimmed while sailing. Powered-up under full main and genoa in 18 knots of wind we ploughed through waves at a decent 8.1 knots with a true wind angle of 50°, which is perfectly acceptable for offshore passagemaking.

The Amel 50 is a Berret Racoupeau design. Photo: Jean-Sébastien Evrard

Our test boat had the optional cutter rig adding a 24m² self-tacking staysail to the 126m² sail plan. Setting the staysail while beating in 20 knots gained a further 0.3 knots of boat speed, with no adverse effects to balance. Personally, I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t tick the staysail box; it adds a manageable sail area to the forward triangle, while providing a dedicated heavy weather sail.

Finally calling an end to our upwind slog, we put the bow down looking for a lunchtime anchorage in the lee of Isle de Rey. Off the breeze we waddled a little with jib alone. A furling gennaker soon saw us scooting across the waves reaching 9 knots of boat speed in 20 knots of wind. Helming required concentration, but once again it absorbed me and I unashamedly grinned at this ‘dry’ sailing experience.

In the blink of an eye, the sails were away and the anchor deployed using the remote windlass controls behind the wheel. With the cockpit table extended to full size and set with warm food on china plates the full transformation was complete and our rugged sailing experience of the morning was definitely a thing of the past.

The Amel philosophy

Over lunch I learned more of Amel’s ‘maximum enjoyment, minimum work’ philosophy, which not only covers sail plans but every aspect of design and construction. These boats are built to stand the ravages of time and the sea while incorporating details to reduce maintenance, make repairs uncomplicated and ensure life on board is simple and safe.

It seems that Amel has thought of everything, whether it is the specially extruded four-compartment mast section that keeps halyards, electrics and furler separate, the spyglass in the bottom of the hull giving direct sight of the propeller, or chafe protection at every point a locker lid might scratch the stainless-steel handrail.

The saloon table folds out to seat eight – the small tables double as stools. Photo: Julien Girardot

With every new detail I became more impressed by the Amel 50. It’s as though the everyday inadequacies and compromises I’ve grown to accept as part of yacht ownership have been wiped away in this boat.

After lunch, with the sun breaking through, I put my hosts to work; first poling out the headsail with the huge, vertically mounted jib pole, then trying the Code 0.

The white sails downwind set-up is good. There is a welded tang mid-boom that allows a preventer to be attached from inside the footprint of the deck, and the substantial jib pole, though a bit of a handful to lower in a rolling sea, is utterly fit for the job once in place.

Downwind performance was comfortable and efficient, making close to 9 knots dead downwind in 22 knots true. As the breeze died we maintained our VMG by setting a Code 0 with the jib pole. Sailing like this in the sun felt heavenly and the whole crew naturally gravitated to the aft deck, leaving the autopilot to drive while we took in the stunning islands of the Charente.

As the light faded on our first day we found a mooring buoy on the shores of Isle d’Aix and I took the controls on approach. This didn’t prove easy in the gusty breeze as there’s a lot of windage on the hull and superstructure, which makes manoeuvring the Amel 50 at low speeds tricky.

The twin rudders provide little prop wash effect to counteract any last-minute gusts so on my second attempt I resorted to the bow thruster, leaving the wheel in the centre and driving using throttle for speed and thruster for direction – this proved equally efficient when reversing into the berth at the end of the test.

From the bathing platform to the bowsprit the attention to detail on this Amel 50 is phenomenal. Photo: Jean-Sébastien Evrard

The cockpit sole lifts to reveal an impressively spacious and entirely watertight engine room, accessed via a small ladder. In line with the ‘trouble free maintenance’ approach, everything in this space is well set out with good access and room to work.

As well as the 110hp Volvo engine, the test boat housed a generator, watermaker, air conditioning unit and two inverters. Through-hull fittings have been kept to a minimum using a single inlet and seawater manifold.

All tankage is housed under the cockpit sole, including a grey water tank set in the bilge sump, which collects waste from all sinks and showers, serviced by a float switch for automatic emptying. This system ensures a dry, clean bilge elsewhere, creating extra room for storage.

Luxury for serious sailors

Below decks the Amel 50 is every bit as luxurious as you’d expect for its €790,000 price tag. The test boat finish was light oak with stainless steel details, which give a contemporary vibe, though may require endless wiping to remove finger marks.

There is a great feeling of space throughout, especially in the saloon, which, despite the raised cabin sole, has nearly two metres of standing headroom. Natural light floods from mid-height windows in the topsides and high-level coachroof hatches.

The use of a passageway galley helps to open up the spacious living area. Photo: Jean-Sébastien Evrard

A snug chart table surrounded by switchboards and repeat navigation instruments is set into the aft corner on the port side, while to starboard there is a step down to the corridor galley.

Two large sofas flank the saloon, one wrapped around the dining table to port. A couple of occasional tables can double-up as stools and provide all-round seating when the dining table is extended. These are anchored away under the folded table while sailing.

The Amel 50’s master cabin is situated aft, accessed through the galley passageway. It has a large double island bed, writing desk, sofa and en-suite facilities. Another big double in the bow shares a heads and shower with the bunk-bedded cabin to starboard. This twin cabin is disproportionately small compared to the space everywhere else, but the top bunk folds away to create a little more room if required.

Living on board the Amel 50 would be no hardship. I spent the evening in perfect comfort, eventually retiring to a fantastic night’s sleep in the forward cabin, leaving the blinds open so I could watch the twinkling lights ashore, through the large hull portlight from my bunk.

The aft island berth lifts up with stowage beneath and can be fitted with lee boards. Photo: Jean-Sébastien Evrard

Aside from the five-star hotel experience, the thing that really grabbed me below decks was how well this luxury combines with a set-up for serious sailing. All bunks come with well-fitting leeboards or cloths making even the island beds into usable sea berths.

The accommodation is separated from bow locker and lazarette by watertight bulkheads and internal bulkheads can be made watertight using clamps across the doorframes with their special seals.

The galley is large and well equipped with a proper sink, pull-out fridge and freezer drawers and plenty of worksurface. The passageway is wide enough for two people to pass, yet slim enough to brace while at sea.

The head-height storage lockers open to reveal a drawer front that slides out on tracks, keeping the contents retained when the locker is ‘uphill’ while still allowing access to the contents at the back.

The galley is overflowing with sensible and user- friendly storage. Photo: Julien Girardot

The only area that doesn’t seem commensurate with a life offshore is the passage forward from companionway steps across the saloon. This open space has few grab handles and would be a challenge to cross while pressed up on port.

The Amel team has addressed this in more recent builds by lengthening the stainless steel grabrail on the folded dining table-top, while repositioning and adding other holds at the bottom of the companionway steps.

The full sailing experience

The sun rose on the second day of our test to reveal, flat water, light winds and a cloudless sky. The change in weather gave great opportunity to try all aspects of the Amel 50 sailing experience and we spent a fun morning, hoisting and dropping every sail in the inventory.

In a wind range from 8 to 12 knots true, with a Code 0, gennaker and downwind asymmetric, no matter which way I pointed the bow, the boat performed. Speeds were less spectacular under white sails alone, so for those who like to sail until the last I’d recommend some additional offwind sail area.

The twin bunk cabin forward is a little cramped. Photo: Jean-Sébastien Evrard

Moving about the deck hoisting and dropping sails, I become more aware of the solid handrail and the security it offers. Not only is this feature higher than normal guardrails but it will take the weight of a person should they fall. The Amel teak – the company’s trademark gelcoat deck made to look like planked teak – offered good grip under foot.

The morning disappeared in sunshine and sails. Now it was warm I opened the central windscreen to get the feel of wind on my face while helming, though in these conditions it was a shame to stay ‘indoors’ and the best place on the boat became whichever pushpit seat had the sun.

With the rise in temperature the breeze died away and just when I thought we’d seen the limit of this boat’s sailing ability, it surprised me again. I have come to accept that poor lightwind performance is the trade-off to make for comfort in boats of this genre but, as the breeze died, the Amel 50 just kept going. With the jib set in just 5 knots of true wind speed we maintained a boat speed of 4.5 knots at a 60° true angle.

We were blessed with perfectly flat water and a stable wind direction, but this final flourish of performance confirmed my growing feelings of admiration for the boat and reminded me never to judge a book by its cover.

Our verdict

I can’t sit on the fence about the Amel 50; it is a brilliant boat. It’s neither revolutionary nor showy, and the unequivocal adherence to making everything maintenance light and easy-to-handle results in a boat that is not at all svelte.

I arrived with some heavy preconceptions perhaps as much about the kind of sailor I am as the kind of boat I would be sailing. I was treated to the full Amel 50 experience and my hosts did everything possible to show this boat in the best light.

But if you take away the fine food, endless espressos and crisp white bed linen, the Amel 50 still shines. It sails well, it is beautifully built and it made me smile. I left surprised and ever so slightly in love.

Specification

LOA: 16.50m (54ft 2in)
LWL: 14.50m (47ft 7in)
Beam: 4.79m (15ft 9in)
Draught: 2.15m (7ft 1in)
Displacement (light): 18,750kg (41,336lb)
Ballast: 5,360kg (11,817lb)
Sail Area (100% foretriangle): 126m² (1,360ft²)
Sail Area/displacement ratio: 19.9
Displacement/LWL ratio: 171
Berths: 6
Engine: 110hp shaftdrive
Water capacity: 600lt (132gal)
Fuel capacity: 675lt (148gal)
Price from: €790,000 (ex VAT)
Price as tested: €940,000 (ex VAT)
Design: Berret Racoupeau Yacht Design

The post Amel 50 review: An indoor sailing experience to excite even hardened sailors appeared first on Yachting World.

Sailing with teenagers. Did that thought prompt you to wince or shake your head? Conventional wisdom steers many long-term cruisers to sail home before kids start high school — or delay going at all until the nest is empty. But our experiences, and those of others who have done it, have shown the many rewards of liveaboard cruising with older children. Here, more than half a dozen of those families share some insights on how to make it work.

Teenagers are rarely excited at the prospect of going cruising; typical reactions to the idea range between caution and being upset. It may be daunting to know that most teens are reluctant, even though nearly all teens we’ve spoken to felt positive about cruising after adjusting to the lifestyle. How can your family get to that point without too much stress?

Many cruising families are on social media and their posts can give teens real-world vignettes of what living aboard can offer. Prior to departing Cornwall on their 63ft steel ketch Sea Lion, the Redhead family watched video blogs by Sailing Zatara, another family of six.

The Robbins family collected their 50ft Bavaria Nikau from Sardinia and are vlogging as they sail her home to New Zealand

Before setting out on Sea Lion, 14-year-old Momo faced negative reactions at school; Momo’s mum Tor said being asked tricky questions from her friends who couldn’t imagine what life on a yacht would be like wasn’t helping.

“[Watching Sailing Zatara] really helped the kids visualise life aboard and enable them to answer questions from their friends.”

Often, it just takes time and perspective. “Naomi, my 14-year-old, loved school, loved her friends and life in New Zealand; as far as she was concerned, we were ruining her life,” said mum Jaz from the Bavaria 50 Nikau. “The game changer was when we went home [after six months] and her friends pretty much ignored her,” Jaz reflects.

Sailing with teens helps build life experiences for the whole family

Naomi has taken a very mature perspective on it: “I can now see how important it was for me to go back, to learn that it was not my world that moved on, but that I had moved on, experienced new things. I returned to the boat excited for what was ahead and with a totally different outlook.”

To ease pre-departure wobbles, consider offering compromises, such as an open door for friends to come and visit, a trip home after six months, or a promise that the whole family will reassess after a year.

Listening to your teens’ concerns sets an important tone: their feelings about the family’s plans are being taken into consideration. This doesn’t mean letting them call the shots, but respecting their opinion and making an effort to understand their needs.

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Private space

Teens are nearly unanimous in voicing the need for a space they can call their own, and retreat to when they need privacy.

When considering boats to go cruising, a key reason we purchased our Stevens 47 Totem instead of staying with our Hallberg-Rassy 352 was the three-cabin layout. The additional cabin afforded the space to sail into our kids’ teen years, as we hoped. Sharing a cabin with a younger sibling can work, but more often tension stems from shared cabin arrangements.

This doesn’t mean you’re relegated to catamarans or an overly large boat; monohulls under 50ft can come in four-cabin configurations. A curtain on a pilot berth probably isn’t enough.

There are fewer teens cruising so it takes planning to meet up and let teens socialise

Finding community

Teens need peers, but as there simply aren’t that many teenagers in the cruising community it makes finding friends more complicated. Two key principles help. First, accept that finding and connecting with boats with teens is a parental responsibility.

Research online to find families and seasonal hubs, and reach out in advance. Second, keep plans flexible. Avoid having a schedule: if your teen hits it off with a new friend on another boat, be willing to adjust your itinerary on short notice.

Waiting to find other kid boats organically is a set-up for disappointment. It’s especially difficult in the Mediterranean; routes vary, making meeting other family boats challenging. The Vesna crew learned that the hard way. “The first year on the boat was extremely lonely. We really struggled to find liveaboard families in the Mediterranean,” says mum Julia.

Yannick, 17, and his brother Jaris, 14, have been cruising from the Mediterranean through the Canary Islands the last couple of years on the family’s 45ft ketch Ponyo. Their mother Rike underscores the point: “We go out of our way to find other families with kids the same age and stay longer in places when we are successful.”

The crew of Love & Luck includes the family pet

Julia took proactive measures the following year to ensure company for her kids at their choice location for overwintering, the Marina di Ragusa in Sicily. “We campaigned heavily to get a lot of boat kids at the same marina. This effort paid off because last winter we had 23 kids and this winter there are almost 20.”

Staying connected

Parents who didn’t grow up in an internet-driven world don’t always appreciate the role it plays in our kids’ lives; many families struggle to keep screen time in balance. It’s a bigger deal for most teens at the outset of cruising as they adjust to less predictable connectivity.

But teenagers do adjust and while social media remains important for most of them, the way it integrates in their lives shifts. Rather than being a vehicle for self-validation or peer issues, the primary role of social media instead becomes about maintaining friendships with others they meet along the way as well as long-term friends from back home.

Since it’s hard to get too immersed when internet access isn’t predictable, social media ultimately has less negative influence on their everyday happiness.

Outdoor activities can help take their minds off social media

The Sophie crew has been cruising since 2012, and recently sailed in company with a number of new cruising families from the US east coast to the Caribbean. Now that the boats are in the islands, mother Jenna comments: “They’re easing back into our normal tropical routine, and it feels like friends who are new to cruising are learning how to unplug more.”

Her 14-year-old son Leo has a phone with voice calls and text capability, but no data. “It has a few games on it but his primary usage is listening to music.”

Some teens we met had set up dedicated Instagram accounts to keep in touch with friends back home and share their adventures. Like many boat teens, Vesna’s Declan doesn’t have his own phone, but he has access to a ‘boat phone’ to connect with friends on Instagram and Facebook.

“It’s important to stay in touch with my friends because otherwise cruising would be rather boring on some occasions,” says Declan. “There seems to be a larger quantity of younger kids cruising, in the Med at least, and while it is fun to spend time with littler kids, it is also good to spend time with or just stay in touch with other kids my age.”

Education

Homeschooling a teenager and exam preparation intimidates many parents so much they avoid trying. None of us can be experts in all subjects needed, but we don’t have to be. Those taking the plunge generally agree that, by this stage, parents are more like coaches than teachers.

On the 37ft catamaran Love & Luck, the family planned for a two-year sabbatical. For 15-year-old Heidi the academic priority was staying current with the curriculum used at home to ease the transition back upon their return.

“To keep on track, I put together a monthly overview of the school year by subject. Heidi and I review it together at the end of each month, so she knows where she’s behind or ahead and can be part of the planning process of how to catch up/stay on track,” says parent Lucy.

The Robbins do three hours of home schooling per day, following a New Zealand curriculum correspondence course

The unknowns of preparing for university feel daunting, but are surmountable. On Totem, our son Niall’s first school exams were the SAT and ACT, the USA’s standardised tests for college applications. Our eclectic homeschooling approach didn’t hamper applications.

After ten years cruising, Niall just finished his first semester at a competitive college and is doing well academically. Other families appreciate the security of an accredited distance-learning program for high school years, which takes some guesswork and stress out of the equation.

The case to go

While most cruising families opt to go with younger children instead of teens, choosing to go with a slightly older family brings rewards – and not just because there are more hands to stand watch. More than one admissions officer indicated our son’s unusual life experiences gave him an edge over a broad field of excellent but not very differentiated applicants.

At a stage when many families can descent into conflict or disengagement, cruising also fosters close bonds. Reflecting years later on taking their teens cruising, Jon Nofziger from the catamaran Tookish agrees: “The impacts have been long-lasting and wonderful. We are as close a family now as ever, even though marriages, moves, and careers have all taken place. It was truly life-changing.”

The post Sailing with teenagers: Honest advice from cruising families appeared first on Yachting World.

Two years ago my partner Nick and I set off from the UK to fulfill our dream of sailing around the world. We had spent many years planning for this moment, and had dedicated a huge amount of thought to all aspects of our cruise, including, of course, the biggest consideration of all: cost.

We had extensively researched how much it would cost us to sail around the world and, to our mild alarm, had not come up with any firm figure. Some costs were easy to estimate, such as the expense of the boat itself, insurance, as well as all the obvious equipment that must be included on a trip such as ours. However, it was our ongoing monthly costs that were the real mystery, and this continued to be the case until the day we set off.

We originally budgeted for a total of £2,500 per month. This would include all expenses except for the occasional large and unexpected outgoing, which would come out of a separate slush fund. Our budget was simply based on our projected take-home income from our rental properties, rather than any evidence that this amount would be correct, or even sufficient. We really had no idea how much we’d be spending on fuel, groceries, repairs and maintenance – only time and experience would provide us with that information.

Provisioning is often cheaper in Europe, although marina costs often outweigh any savings. Photo: Terysa Vanderloo

While in the BVIs we met a couple who had an incredibly beautiful 55ft brand-new, semi-customised catamaran. Unfortunately, after 18 months of cruising, they had run out of money and were now forced to go back to work. We were a little baffled: why didn’t they buy a slightly less expensive boat, and use those savings to fund an extended cruise? It became evident to us that they had vastly underestimated their monthly expenses and the running costs of such a large, valuable yacht. Their insurance alone made my eyes water.

The yacht purchase itself is obviously going to be the biggest expense for anyone planning to go cruising, and this couple’s experiences highlighted the importance of buying a boat that you can afford to run, and not spending so much that you’re subsequently limited by an uncomfortably small monthly budget.

Living costs

Our monthly expenses have been relatively stable since setting off two years ago. We have sailed the UK, the Atlantic coast of Europe, Morocco, the Canary Islands, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and the USA. It has been our experience that where you might make some savings in one respect, another cost will end up escalating.

In Europe, for example, provisioning was a joy not only because of the ready availability of fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood and meat, but also because the cost of food was so reasonable. As such we ate a varied and healthy diet, washed down with local and inexpensive wines and beers. Our monthly costs for provisioning were low, but due to the lack of plentiful anchorages, we spent almost all our time in marinas.

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Conversely, in the Caribbean and the Bahamas we rarely had to enter a marina and anchoring was almost always free (and far more pleasant). However, provisions were costly. Almost everything is imported and eating out was rarely an option due to the extremely high prices (it was often cheaper to go out for a meal in central London).

We’re planning to head to the South Pacific next year and have been warned about the high costs associated with sailing in that area. Our friend Behan Gifford shared her advice. She, her husband Jamie, and their three children have sailed across the Pacific, spent time in Australia and Asia before transiting the Indian Ocean and cruising Africa.

They then sailed across the Atlantic before continuing their journey towards the Caribbean and the USA. They offer a consultation service for clients who are interested in living aboard and Behan says that budget is one of the most important facets of the cruising lifestyle that she advises on.

Optional big ticket items may include a parasailor

She breaks costs into three sectors: the bigger fixed annual costs (such as boat insurance and health insurance), variable monthly costs (such as groceries, marina/mooring fees, cruising permits, and fuel) and discretionary spending (dining out, entertainment and excursions).

Fixed costs, for example, will be similar for each cruiser, although it sometimes depends on your boat size and value, such as boat insurance (which is generally between 1.5% and 3% of the boat’s value). Variable monthly costs can be adjusted to suit budget and will depend on a number of factors: some cruisers sail everywhere no matter how light the winds, others will happily turn on the engine and burn diesel to get to their destination a bit faster. Everyone has different habits when it comes to things like buying alcohol, eating local versus imported food, and internet data usage.

Finally, discretionary spending is clearly optional, depending on budget and personal preference. Based on seven years sailing around the world, Behan believes that for most people £1500-£2500 per month is realistic (and, of course, anywhere upwards of that).

Behan and her family have experienced significant variation in costs from one region to another. Australia, for example, is one of the most expensive countries for cruisers due to high provisioning and labour costs; Asia on the other hand is almost ludicrously cheap with a few exceptions such as Singapore (which she describes as a “costly but fun splurge”).

Personal choices

However, despite this, for most cruisers the actual cost per month remains very similar: instead, it is lifestyle and spending habits that change depending on region, rather than money actually spent.

For example, in Thailand Behan and her family often ate out, went on excursions and had boat work done due to the low labour costs. This relative extravagance drove their cruising costs up.

When sailing the South Pacific however, they were very careful with provisioning, rarely entered marinas and refrained from going on costly dives or inland tours. Consequently, they were able to stick to their budget, despite the high local prices.

Doing running repairs such as electrical and engine maintenance yourself can be cost saving, but you should have a contingency fund for jobs that need professional work. Photo: Tor Johnson

This is where forward planning can help enormously with keeping your costs low. While in the USA, Behan and her family stocked up with consumer goods that are cheaper in the States.

They chose to do boat work and maintenance in Mexico and Asia where it was relatively affordable, rather than areas like Australia where such costs are high. They provisioned for their season in the Pacific while still in Mexico and therefore needed only to top up with fresh food in the islands.

There is no definitive answer to the question ‘How much does it cost to sail around the world?’. A better question to ask yourself is what kind of lifestyle you’d be happy with? Or what sacrifices and compromises you’d be willing to make?

Nick and I don’t have an extravagant lifestyle. However, we like eating out once or twice a week, treating ourselves to the occasional stay in a marina, and once in a while we’ll pay for an excursion or hire a car. We also knew from the beginning that we’d need to fly home once a year to see family, so boat storage costs and flights are two of our biggest expenses. Every cruising family or couple will have their own different priorities.

One thing is for certain, Nick and I – and almost every other cruiser we’ve met in the past two years – agree that the compromises to are entirely worth it. And another thing to keep in mind: no matter the difference in budget between the 32-footer living on a shoestring, and the multi-million dollar yacht next door, we all swim in the same gin-clear water, and have the same view of the golden sunset.

Cost-saving tips

Behan and I agree that a budget of £1500-£2500 per month is realistic for most bluewater sailors, but there are many cruisers living far more modestly. Holly and Simon are sailing around the Caribbean with their one-year-old daughter and dog.

They get by perfectly well on a budget of £570 per month, which includes everything apart from major repairs. To stick to this budget, they are very careful with their provisioning, spend all their time at anchor, limit the amount of fresh water they use, and do all servicing and repairs themselves.

Local produce is usually the most affordable, although you may have to pay fishing permit charges if you want to catch your own. Photo: Terysa Vanderloo

“We very rarely eat out [in restaurants] and when we do it’s a disappointment anyway,” says Holly. “You can find amazingly cheap, local food from little shacks around the Caribbean for a fraction of the price of the restaurants.”

Staying put also keeps their costs down. Moving from one island or country to another always incurs fees and charges. This is even more pertinent when traveling with a pet, which often requires expensive checks, vet visits and paperwork when clearing in and out.

Asked what the main sacrifices she has had to make are, she immediately answers: “Wine!” Another thing they can’t do on their budget is entertain guests. “Cruising is often about meeting like-minded people, and inviting them over for sundowners and dinner. I’d love to be able to put on a decent spread, especially when someone has done that for us.”

Holly acknowledges that her lifestyle and budgetary constraints are not for everyone. “You have to be very organised, track your outgoings and plan your spending. Sometimes when you have to make sacrifices or unforeseen costs crop up it can really get you down; but on the other hand it feels very rewarding being self-sufficient and not wasteful.”

World sailing equipment

Our biggest costs, after the boat, were the many items of equipment we bought specifically to make offshore and ocean passages safer and more enjoyable: the hydrovane, hydrogenerator, SSB radio, parasailor, a comprehensive first aid kit, a Redbox router, satellite phone and air time, and a Yellowbrick tracker are some of the costlier items we have on our boat.

We estimate the total cost of fitting out a boat for offshore sailing to be no less than £20,000. Needless to say, if buying a used offshore cruising yacht, it’s recommended that you look for boats that already have some of this equipment in place.

Saving approximately 20% of the cost of your boat for running repairs is sensible. For example, Ruby Rose haul out, inspect and antifoul annually at $1,000 per year, will replace batteries every five years at $1,000, and regularly make engine and autopilot repairs that can cost $1,000-2,000.

If you plan to return home, budget for storage. For Ruby Rose, storage costs $12 per foot per month ($480) plus haul-out costs ($400) and hurricane tie downs ($500 one-off charge).

Terysa Vanderloo and her partner Nick are in their third year of sailing around the world on their Southerly 38 Ruby Rose.

They regularly blog and post videos about life as liveaboard cruisers.

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It’s a mix of everything you need for cruising and what you want to feel for performance,” Loïck Peyron said of the 4X during our initial trials. Outremer employs the multihull record-setter as a consultant to advise on the ergonomics of the boat and the line handling set-up.

In the 2016/17 European Yacht of the Year awards, held in January at Düsseldorf Boat Show, the Outremer 4X was winner of the Multihull category. The other nominees: Lagoon 42, FP Lucia 40, Nautitech 46 Open, Tricat 30.

Like Outremers past, the 4X is first a distance cruiser – one that’s designed to be lived aboard – but the X part denotes how she’s been optimised for performance. She has the same hulls as the 45 but with 3ft extensions aft, an optimised appendages and deck layout, a carbon rotating mast and carbon reinforcement.

You can perhaps understand the frustration of being aboard a cat like this with arguably the world’s foremost helmsman and only being dealt 3 to 5 knots of breeze, yet Peyron was quick to prove how this 48-footer can keep moving at the same speed as the wind. The Outremer never seemed to stop, even when all other yachts were parked.

During a second trial later that week (without Peyron) we clocked a steady 11-13 knots in 12-15 knots wind. It was addictively enjoyable fast cruising.

I was also surprised how light and balanced she felt sailing upwind. We made 9 knots at 70°T and it was light on both the helms – the wheel steering station on the coachroof and the tiller out on the bucket seat at the stern.

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The key to designing a distance cruising yacht is getting the right balance between speed, controllability and safety. It’s not all about performance but a smooth ride; you can reef down and be underpowered, yet still slipping along.

The 4X will cruise at 6.5 knots under one of her 30hp engines, limiting noise to one side of the boat and reducing fuel consumption.

Positioned next to the single wheel is a bank of winches and clutches to control the sheets, halyards and mast rotation. This can appear daunting and takes some familiarisation – but they are placed exactly where needed.

The square top part to the powerhouse mainsail is particularly generous and there is a big J area for furling foresails.

The downside is that, to sail fast, she needs to be kept lightweight, so the interior and fit-out is basic to the point of minimalist. The narrow hulls and waterline beam of the Outremer  offers much less space than a charter cat.

She is also a high boat to look at and to board, as the freeboard height is needed for headroom and bridgedeck clearance.

The other main downside is Outremer’s lead time and high price, although these cats do typically command a high resale value. All structural parts are laminated and the 4X has vacuum infused carbon composite reinforced bulkheads.

“The goal is that the boat will last at least 50 years,” says sales and marketing manager Matthieu Rougevin-Baville. “Or eight to ten times around the world without structural issues. It’s a very different business model.”

Specifications: Outremer 4X

LWL: 14.62m (48ft)
Beam: 7.10m (23ft 4in)
Draught: 1.0m-2.0m (3ft 4in-6ft 7in)
Displacement: 8,200kg (18,078lb)
Price ex VAT: €689,000 (£609,700)
Contact: www.catamaran-outremer.com

Toby’s Conclusion

The Outremer 4X is not about outright speed, more a smooth, fast enjoyable ride. She is built to last, enjoyable to helm and the ideal size to go long-distance cruising at pace.

Photo Bertel Kolthof

Photo Bertel Kolthof

Photo Bertel Kolthof

Roland Duller, YachtRevue, Austria
For sure the best of the new age cruising catamarans in this size. She showed good speed and fun under sail with lots of very well thought-out solutions.

Pancho Pi-Suñer Oses, Nautica y Yates, Spain
It brings together all the facilities that one might expect in a multihull, coupled with very high performance. You really get what you pay for.

Loïc Madeline, Voiles & Voiliers, France
A luxury yacht, fast and distinctive. What makes it the winner is the choice of the builder. A really pleasant sailing boat to helm.

Axel Nissen-Lie, Seilas, Norway
Outremer has what it takes to convince a monohull sailor to go multihull cruising. It’s a fine balance between space and comfort on the one hand, and sailing abilities on the other.

Jochen Rieker, YACHT, Germany
She offered the best combination of space, comfort and, not least, performance. For crossing the Atlantic and spending the winter in the Caribbean, there could hardly be a better choice.

About European Yacht of the Year awards

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