Salty Podcast #16 | 🏝️⛵ LIVE! Family of 5 Living on a Sailboat in the Bahamas! 🌊👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Cap'n Tinsley talks to the crew, family of 5, on Sailing Vessel Fresh to Salty, about their sailing adventures as a family in the Bahamas.  Two adults and three teenagers! 

#saltyabandon #sailing #podcast #sailboat #jeanneau #bahamas #sailingfamily

Transcript

Good evening, everybody.

00:10
This is Captain Tinsley, Salty Abandon with the Salty Podcast.

00:13
And it's where every day is a good day to talk about sailing.

00:16
And this is episode number 16.

00:20
So today we are talking to the crew of Salt, I'm sorry, Fresh to Salty, Latrel and Steven, I'm gonna bring them out right now.

00:31
Hello.

00:31
Hello, Stephen and Latrell.

00:36
How are you?

00:37
Good.

00:41
Thanks for coming on.

00:42
So tell us where you are.

00:44
Right now we're in big majors, which is in the exhumas.

00:49
OK.

00:49
So for those who are not educated on the Bahamas, that is the Bahamas, right?

00:54
Yes.

00:54
YesSo that's.

00:56
It's right next to Daniel K where all the pigs are that everybody talks about.

01:00
Oh, yes.

01:01
OK.

01:02
And did you swim with the pigs?

01:05
I didn't.

01:05
We fed the pigs some carrots, but we didn't get in the water with them.

01:08
There's not so many pigs here.

01:10
Oh, yeah.

01:12
Apparently they've lost a whole bunch of them.

01:14
So.

01:15
Oh, no.

01:16
Well, that's sad news on the Salty podcast.

01:21
First question I want to ask you your name.

01:22
Fresh to salty.

01:25
OK, first of all.

01:26
Where was the fresh?

01:28
And I think you switched from a powerboat to sailing, didn't you?

01:33
So our first boat was a powerboat, and we lived in Oklahoma, and we mostly used it on one lake there.

01:44
Where do we used to take the boat all the time?

01:45
Copan.

01:46
Copan lake.

01:48
But then we took our sailing class, the ASA one-on-one class, in Lake Hugo.

01:55
in Oklahoma.

01:57
We came straight home after the selling class, put that power boat up for sale.

02:02
The day that it sold, we went straight back to the lake, looked at every boat they had there for sale, picked one and bought it.

02:10
And you bought the one you have?

02:12
No.

02:12
No So we bought a 27 foot cow.

02:16
UmAnd for us, it was just absolutely perfect for that.

02:27
Other than that, it was a perfect boat.

02:29
And then we sailed that on that first break for a whole year.

02:34
Yeah, whole year.

02:35
Right Right out of year.

02:36
And then after that year, we sold everything and bought this boat out of North Carolina.

02:43
Okay.

02:44
Your it looks like your internet might be a little splotchy.

02:48
So do you want to just turn off your cam?

02:51
Let's see if your sound gets a little better.

02:53
And let's try that for a minute and maybe it'll correct itself.

02:59
How do we do that?

03:01
At the very bottom where it says settings, that's where mine is.

03:05
Oh, the camera up there.

03:09
Try a different resolution.

03:13
OK, that's a good idea.

03:17
Is that any better?

03:18
I can see.

03:19
I can see you better when you're up close.

03:24
Yeah.

03:26
Yeah, yeah, that's good.

03:27
So.

03:28
So tell me again the name of the sailboat.

03:31
The first one.

03:32
Not the name, but what kind?

03:35
It was a 227 Cal.

03:38
OK, now what made you go to sailing?

03:41
What made you switch over?

03:45
Because at the time we had been fostering for like, I don't know, eight years at that point, and we'd had a couple, he he got me a just surrounded.

03:55
We'd had a couple of back-to-back really difficult cases, kids that were not the kids, but the situation that came out of.

04:03
And so we were looking at like, how could we retire early?

04:07
Because anyway, so he he comes to me, he says, hey,Check out this video of this family that's cruising.

04:14
It was the Zataurus.

04:16
And he was like in 10 years, we could probably sell everything into what they're doing.

04:21
And I was like, I don't have 10 years to keep doing what we're doing right now.

04:25
Ohh If we kind of backed up and sitting in a catamaran, we got a monohull and we got a little bit older boat and we if we did all this stuff, we could probably go in five years.

04:37
So the original plan was that in five years,We would take a selling class and if we liked it, we would get a sailboat and sell it on that lake for five years and then be able to buy a boat.

04:50
But I was burned out.

04:52
I was super burned out just with people.

04:56
And so 18 months later.

05:00
Yeah, I get it.

05:01
I get it.

05:04
Okay.

05:05
All right.

05:05
So you get that the that that sailboat and then what was the next one the the one we're on now.

05:12
So yeah and that is a 40 foot Juneau that was built in 2002.

05:20
Nice.

05:22
OK.

05:23
I don't know I'm mostly an island packet person.

05:26
That's what most of the people I have been on that have been on this channel.

05:29
But we're we're we were interested in and I'm always very interested in talking to.

05:34
All sailors.

05:35
So we're diverse here for sailing anyway on here on the Salty podcast.

05:41
OK, so so the my next question has to do with what prompted you to take the family.

05:52
I think you might have just answered that.

05:53
I mean, you're not going to leave the kids at home.

05:58
So these are our four, I mean, I'm sorry, our three youngest kids.

06:02
We have 7.

06:04
between the two of us.

06:05
We have seven kids total.

06:06
So we have four adult kids and then three teenagers on the boat.

06:09
And the four adult ones, they're all married or they've got partners and, you know, working for the time and all that kind of stuff.

06:16
So our three youngest kids, we started fostering when our daughter Katie was in pre-K, so four years old, I think, four or five.

06:27
And then two of the other kids we adopted, they were our first foster kids and we adopted them.

06:34
Those three kids couldn't remember a life without other foster kids in our home.

06:40
So like they didn't know what it was like just to have us, just to have them and their parents.

06:45
So one of the reasons I didn't want to wait like 10 years, like the kid originally said, is because I kind of felt like the kids needed just some time with us without all the drama that goes along with fostering and being, you know, dealing with kids that are in the system.

07:01
Plus, we also wanted to show them a little something a little bit different.

07:06
You know, you know, we were in Midtown America, which we absolutely loved.

07:11
And and but we wanted to show them that not the rest of the world isn't like America.

07:17
And you know, you've got something very special with living in America.

07:23
So, yeah, sweet.

07:25
I like hearing that.

07:28
So, so this goes right into a segue because you just kind of were talking about this.

07:33
How does the this trip, how has it enhanced your your family dynamic and bond compared to other activities?

07:42
So it's almost like you know what my questions are going to be.

07:49
I think it's totally improved it.

07:51
I mean we're with.

07:52
Obviously, we're with each other 24/7.

07:55
You're in a confined space.

07:59
You know, there's jobs that they've learned to do.

08:03
Two of our kids suffered very badly from anxiety.

08:08
We've seen that change over the period of three years that we've been on the boat.

08:14
You know, going from one kid that wouldCome out with Pat answers would wouldn't even look you in the face to he's the life and the soul of all of his group that you know he goes around with.

08:30
So yeah, it's it's been a huge difference.

08:34
A lot of the we couldn't sell this boat.

08:37
Well, we probably could, but it would be very, very, very hard to sell this boat anywhere if it was just the two of us.

08:44
So they each have to take on responsibilities and help us keep get the boat where it needs to be safely.

08:49
And everybody has a job to do for every little thing we do.

08:53
And I think that responsibility has given them confidence that they didn't have before we came on the boat.

09:00
Wow.

09:01
OK.

09:01
Yeah, because that is that was one of my questions is what, what kind of what kind of routine, what kind of traditions have you come up with or, you knowthings that have become just a routine for you when you're you're coming out of a marina or leaving an anchorage and how everybody plays a part.

09:23
They each have their, I will say we rely heavily on our 16 year old son.

09:29
He is the muscle.

09:31
I mean, like if we're putting the dingy engine up, he helps lift it because he's stronger than us.

09:36
He drives, he drives our dingy more than we do.

09:40
And the girls help withReally keeping the rest of the boat.

09:45
Where we can manage to be around like it would be very difficult to have five people in a boat with only three bedroom, 40 foot boat.

09:53
If they didn't each like help every single day to keep things in order.

09:59
Yeah, I could see how that would get out of.

10:01
It would be chaotic if if you didn't have, you know, if everybody wasn't like putting everything back because.

10:08
If something's out not put in its place, it's in the middle of everything.

10:12
Yes.

10:14
Well, that's cool.

10:15
So go ahead.

10:16
And now as they're getting older, they're also helping out with things like night watches for when we're doing overnight passages.

10:23
They help with the anchoring.

10:26
You know, it's it's just all sorts of different things that that they're helping out with and doing the lines when we come in and out of marinas too.

10:34
And being able to use a fender to keep us off a dock.

10:37
I mean, they've learned how to do a lot of it.

10:39
So you don't do much dinging of your boat when you come in and out of marinas?

10:45
No, noOnly because we have a 16 year old that with a pole that will push us off anything that we can get close to.

10:53
That is awesome.

10:54
I do that all myself.

10:56
And some one out of 100, it didn't work out.

11:01
I mean, well, I'll just get a scratch and I'm like, oh.

11:04
But so, yeah, that was my question.

11:08
Manage day-to-day tasks and responsibilities.

11:12
Um I think you you what what are some of the unique challenges of all of y'all being in this space?

11:22
I do think there isn't it's very difficult to get privacy.

11:26
And then, in fact, we have another buddy boat that's they're on a catamaran and so they have more room and theyThey took all three of our kids on a little trip for, it was just two nights, wasn't it, in Virginia.

11:39
And when they came back, one of our kids spent all of her time in the bedroom that they were using.

11:46
Because all of their kids were occupied doing stuff, and she was like, I haven't been alone in three years.

11:52
Oh my gosh.

11:53
I'm looking to myself and privacy in three years.

11:57
So she just chilled in their bedroom for two whole days reading books and stuff because she was like, it's so quiet and there's nobody in here.

12:07
So do you have a house back home or anything?

12:10
Or you just you just cut cut the you cut loose on everything?

12:14
Yeah, we sold everything except for our camper.

12:17
And we kept our camper with this thought that, you know, we might get on the boat and hate it.

12:22
And so we kept the camper for the first year and a half.

12:25
And then after a year and a half, we went back home for a visit, and we sold the camper while we were there.

12:31
That was probably a nice little payday when you sold that.

12:33
It's like, oh, cash.

12:37
For a decent price, too.

12:38
So I think the only thing we own now is a jet ski.

12:42
We own a jet ski, and that's it.

12:44
And that's in somebody's house, right?

12:47
So you're not having to pay for rent anywhere or anything.

12:51
Well, this this video will live for posterity.

12:55
So there will be a lot of people that want to do what you're doing, a lot of people that want-- I know there's a lot of people out there doing what you're doing, which I think is great.

13:04
And I assume you're you're doing online homeschooling and everything.

13:08
But anything you can you can tell to other people, which I know you're probably already doing that, that will help them make this dream come true is-- feel free to throw it in there.

13:19
UmI do want to talk about that because it's it's in the teaser video about that, the storm with the up to 50 knot winds, you know, was that about two or three months ago?

13:31
Was that?

13:32
That was about a week ago.

13:33
It was about a week ago.

13:34
It was a week ago.

13:36
Yes.

13:37
YesWe were here in big major and we knew that weather was coming, but it wasn't supposed to be that bad.

13:47
And then all of a sudden it hit so hard that our everybody, every boat in the anchorage heeled over like hard heeled over and then.

13:58
After a few after a little bit it stopped and then it just was rough.

14:02
The rest, you know, storming in winds and stuff like you normally see in bad weather.

14:06
But there was a period of time that it was pretty 5054 knots, I think is what our friends clocked on theirs.

14:14
They have like aThey have some way of going back and seeing the history.

14:17
And it was like, I think, before knots.

14:19
Yeah.

14:20
Wow.

14:22
WowYeah, I've been in that before.

14:24
I've been in-- well, it's it's a story.

14:29
I stayed on a boat during a high two.

14:31
I I didn't know-- we didn't know it was coming either.

14:34
It was supposed to go to Louisiana, and it came to Alabama.

14:36
But that was a bad situation.

14:40
I was at the-- I was tied to the dock, but the lines broke.

14:44
So, all right.

14:46
So moments of fear and uncertainty through that.

14:49
Did you did you ever think, what have I done?

14:52
This time we were like, wise, like, dang it.

14:57
The first year that we were out, we had, I don't know if we were just didn't know what we were doing.

15:03
So we were one places that we shouldn't have or we didn't know how to tell the weather, you know, check the weather correctly.

15:10
But we found ourselves in a lot of bad weather the first year, year and a half.

15:15
And I think we were all terrified at times.

15:18
Yeah.

15:19
But it's gotten to the point now that we've been through so much bad weather that me and our daughter, Lexi, will sit, just stand down in the cockpit and be like, I bet that boat's really got seasickness right now because they're rocking bad or those people, we'll just stay on the cockpit and talk about all the boats in the Anchorage.

15:37
Well, and and so do you guys, did you, did you get seasick at first and kind of get through it?

15:43
I mean, do you couldn't get used to it?

15:46
Everybody on the boat will see sick except for me.

15:48
But then I think you get times where you've been fairly still for a while and it comes back for a bit.

15:58
Like today it's been really rolling.

16:00
We've actually moved locations.

16:02
Yeah, you're kind of rocking there.

16:05
Black Point and the wind shifted round, so.

16:11
The Exumas isn't that great for for sheltered anchorages, so yeah, it gets a bit rolly, but like this morning everyone.

16:20
Are you on the inside?

16:21
I've never, I've been to the, I've never been there, but I've looked at that, you know, map and charts and stuff.

16:27
Are you on the inside side?

16:31
There's a channel that goes through the middle of it between big majors and little majors.

16:36
A lot of boats go in there, but it's.

16:39
Our draft is fairly deep, so we wouldn't want to go in there.

16:44
But also there's not a lot of room for swinging.

16:47
So you know, if someone makes a mistake, people are bumping into each other.

16:51
So, OK, can you kind of center yourselves a little bit?

16:56
I can barely.

16:57
Latrell keeps moving out of the camera slowly, but sure.

17:01
And then, you know, maybe pull it back towards you so I can.

17:04
You're more centered in the.

17:05
There we go.

17:06
Yeah, you're a little fuzzy, but.

17:09
well Do you happen to have Starlink?

17:12
I do, by the way.

17:13
OK, let's see.

17:17
OK, so you kind of answered this one lessons or insights gained from weather from the weather.

17:23
So what did you what did you start doing differently that?

17:28
That led to you not putting yourselves in positions to be tossed around as much.

17:34
I think a huge part of it isn't.

17:37
anything that we were doing differently.

17:40
It's it was so hard that first year and I don't know that things got that much different but I think we just learned to cope with it better.

17:50
Ah, okay, not as shocked, right?

17:53
Yes, we used to if if our anchor drug we panicked.

17:57
If the weather got bad we we would just in a state of panic and now it's just happened so many times that we're not as panicky.

18:05
Which I think makes the whole thing.

18:06
I mean we're not complacent.

18:08
I mean we're always checking the weather.

18:09
I mean we did learn about Cape index last year because I hadn't really known about that and it kind of didn't make any sense to me.

18:20
But you know we've we've met other cruisers along the way and they've they've said oh you need to check this out and you know you pick up stuff that.

18:32
You don't necessarily get told in the ASA because we've done the three main ones, but they don't really go into weather.

18:42
I don't.

18:43
I mean, I don't remember them ever telling us in the ASA classes like you need to be checking this for weather or that for weather.

18:52
Don't go during if it says this or that.

18:56
So we were just, oh, it's not supposed to mean let's go.

19:01
Yeah, yeah, it's it's a it's trial and error.

19:03
And I also, I have a person that I check with, but it's almost like what I've learned is you have to like within six hours is really the most accurate.

19:16
Like you can plan something a couple of days out and then you really need to check it like 6 hours out, make sure it hasn't changed.

19:22
Yeah.

19:24
So I mean, you can't rely on anything more than three days.

19:28
Yeah, you can plan, but you got to be loose with those plans.

19:35
So Mike Wack, Mike Wack says their discussion of actual sailing experience is meaningful and amazing.

19:41
And he also said great interview.

19:45
So got a little fan there.

19:49
Let me do one thing, introduce tonight's sponsor, which is me, so.

19:57
In case you didn't know, my name is Tinsley Myrick.

19:59
I'm with RE/MAX of Orange Beach, and I sell Gulffront condos in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, and Perdido Gee, Florida.

20:07
And I also have, if you enjoy this podcast, I also have another one on Thursday nights, the Getting Beachy Real Estate Lifestyle podcast that I co-host with a team member.

20:16
And it's a lot of fun.

20:17
So we're just getting started there.

20:19
So I hope you'll come check it out.

20:20
All right, thanks for letting me do that.

20:23
Um Got to make a living, right?

20:28
So you touched on the what you've learned from other sailors.

20:34
How long have you been in the Bahamas?

20:39
Two months.

20:40
Yeah.

20:41
Right at two months right now.

20:43
Okay.

20:44
And where were you before?

20:49
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, it was just wherever, up and down the coast.

20:56
So you were like just anchoring offshore?

21:00
No, we'd go into the ICW, anchor around there, or when we were in Virginia, we went into a Marina there.

21:07
So because we wanted to meet up with some people that had some other teenage kids and we wanted them to get to know each other.

21:15
So we've been buddy boating with them ever since.

21:18
So, OK.

21:20
And I I know that you met Mike and Steph.

21:24
Yes, of sailing vessel.

21:27
And Bayla, yeah.

21:29
So we met him in North Carolina at a marina that we had stayed.

21:32
We left our boat.

21:34
We'd hauled out there and then we went into a marina after.

21:37
And we were in, I think, for two or three months in the same marina with them in North Carolina.

21:44
Probably my favorite marina ever is Whitaker Point in Oriental, North Carolina.

21:50
They have the best showers.

21:53
Oh, yeah, I yeah, I understand.

21:56
Those are important.

21:58
Bathrooms are important.

22:00
Clean bathrooms.

22:00
Good laundry.

22:03
OK, so connecting with other sailors in the Bahamas, I know that's Mike and Steph.

22:08
That's how I learned about you because I was.

22:10
I've interviewed them twice in the Bahamas.

22:13
And tell me a little bit about the atmosphere there.

22:17
So you're obviously not at Georgetown right now.

22:22
No, noI don't think we're going to do Georgetown this year.

22:24
There's a lot of boats down there and we've also heard some stuff that I'm not too bothered about, you know that they've reduced the anchoring and you've got to get mooring balls and and things like that.

22:41
And there's some been some other issues with immigration coming on boats and checking which you know they've got every right to do, but but it it just seems.

22:52
There's there's a lot of stuff going on down there.

22:54
It seems like because they made all these changes with the morning walls that everything's just kind of a bit stirred up down there right now.

23:00
Yeah.

23:01
So plus, yeah, we've got appointments to do back in Florida in the next few weeks.

23:09
So we're going to slowly start making our way N through the northern part of Exumas and then back to Florida.

23:18
And it's not off the boat though, right?

23:21
Not off the boat, no.

23:22
And my daughter and I see an orthodontist in Florida.

23:25
And so until we finish our treatment, we can't go too far from Florida.

23:31
OK.

23:32
And hopefully within the next, I don't know, year and a half, we'll be done and we can go beyond the Bahamas.

23:39
Go a little further down.

23:41
Where are your kids now?

23:44
Two of them were on a buddy boat over there.

23:46
As soon as we said we're doing a podcast, they're like, we're going to Isla, see you later.

23:52
One of them's down there doing art projects.

23:55
Oh, OK.

23:56
She's so she is there.

23:59
Yeah.

23:59
YeahOK.

24:00
They didn't want to be on the podcast.

24:02
Oh, absolutely.

24:03
No, they don't want to be in like, they'll be like, we put them on social media a little bit, but for the most part, they get very shy if there's a camera.

24:13
Oh, wow, that that definitely shows that they have not been in the real world.

24:17
That is perfect.

24:18
Good job, guys.

24:22
I would have to put that one in the plus column for effects on kids.

24:27
You put them on a boat.

24:32
You know, I years ago, when I was researching sailing, when I was doing all my exploratory research.

24:43
I watched a video of a family that raised their kids on at anchor in in St.

24:48
John in the USBI.

24:50
And they were just happy kids, you know, jumping off the boat, swimming and fishing.

24:56
And then he decided they decided they that they maybe should take him back to civilization.

25:01
And then they show these pictures of him just laying in front of the TV, getting fat and they're like,Oh, no, no, noWe got to go back.

25:12
And so they ended up taking him back that back to Saint John and they just decided that was a better life.

25:19
Would you agree with that?

25:21
All right, no, don't take us wrong.

25:22
Our kids very much are into technology.

25:24
And if I let them, they will just lay out the technology all day long.

25:29
But when we can find other teenagers for them to hang out with, they're into everything.

25:37
Especially the two that went to their to the buddy boat just when we got on the podcast.

25:43
Those two are, I don't even see them most of the day because they're out doing stuff with friends.

25:48
So they have to- What kind of stuff do they do?

25:52
Oh, everything.

25:53
They make up games to play.

25:56
Is it banana?

25:59
Well, they play a lot of word games and like bananagrams and stuff, but they alsoDepending on the weather, they will be on the beach or swimming or snorkeling.

26:09
Typically if they're snorkeling, one of us go with them.

26:12
I'm not, I get a little too nervous about stuff.

26:15
Tyler, our son, he's starting to get into spearfishing.

26:20
Oh ohh nice.

26:22
So if there's other kids that are interested in that, he's wanting to go along and see what he can do and yeah, it's just all sorts of stuff like that.

26:31
Hey, this gives me hope for humanity.

26:34
This sounds wonderful.

26:35
In one of our other buddy boats, they have a small inflatable catamaran type thing.

26:43
A happy cat.

26:44
A happy cat.

26:45
And is it a tacky cat?

26:48
Tacky cat?

26:49
A happy cat.

26:50
Oh, a happy cat.

26:51
OK, I've got a tacky cat dinghy.

26:54
It's a it's a catamaran.

26:57
Oh yeah, yeah like we had some friends before.

26:59
Yeah, but it's got it's a sail and they sail about all over the place around the anchorage.

27:03
So the kids like to do that as well.

27:05
So that's that's been pretty cool.

27:08
That's wonderful.

27:09
I'm really happy to hear that.

27:11
It's making me, I know there'll be other people that are happy to hear that too.

27:17
Let's see.

27:22
How do you balance explorationAnd relaxation.

27:30
Oh, that is 2 very different things.

27:31
Yeah, yeahOh, I should go.

27:36
I should go explore, but I really don't feel like it.

27:38
I just want to chill.

27:40
Almost every single time that.

27:43
I'll say, oh yeah, we'll go do that tomorrow.

27:45
Go sort plan or go for a hike up to wherever.

27:50
And then when it's time, I'm like, I really don't want to.

27:52
I'm tired.

27:53
But if I made myself anyway.

27:56
I always am glad that we did or glad that I got off the boat and did that for the day.

28:00
Plus you also have to bear in mind that there's some days that you're not going to get off the boat.

28:05
Yes, due to the weather and sea state or whatever.

28:09
So you've almost when the weather is good, you've got to grab it and and do what you can then.

28:16
So yeah, and is it because when the when it's rough, you want to stay with the boat, make sure it doesn't slip anchor or something?

28:22
Well, there's that, but also.

28:25
I find it very dangerous to try to go off the boat onto the dinghy to leave or to get off the dinghy back onto the boat when it's very rough.

28:34
I always feel like it's bouncing around.

28:36
Yeah, it's not worth the risk to me.

28:38
And then even if you go ashore, you're just gonna get absolutely drenched in that kind of situation.

28:47
Which is not so bad if you're on your way back to the boat.

28:49
If you're on your way to shore and you get drenched with salt water, it makes for an uncomfortable day.

28:55
on shore.

28:55
So we try to make sure the weather that the sea stays decent.

29:00
Sure.

29:03
Um So how about with you two?

29:06
Do you have any advice about for couples living on a boat?

29:13
When you're anchoring, he's really not yelling at you.

29:15
He just needs you here.

29:18
I always am saying I can't hear you, but then when I can't hearWhy are you yelling at me?

29:27
40 feet is a long ways, you know, in front of me to be telling me what he needs me to do.

29:32
So I think a lot of it is about understanding.

29:35
Well, do you get headphones for that?

29:39
Some, but they never, I can never understand what he's saying in them.

29:44
So I drive while he anchors.

29:49
And then we have the three kids between me and him to make sure that whatever he said gets back to me.

29:58
My husband tends to yell too, and which is embarrassing in a in an anchorage, you know, because you know sound carries and and I'm driving and we just, this is where we're in cell service.

30:11
We'll put on our headphones and he'll still yell and I go, I can hear you, no yelling, just tell me.

30:19
And he'll go, oh, OK, because you're it gets a little embarrassing in an anchorage, doesn't it?

30:25
We're yelling at each other, getting used to.

30:28
But then I watch all these other boats coming in and I can hear them yelling back and forth to each other.

30:33
Oh yeah, it's OK.

30:34
Yeah, I think.

30:34
I think you tend to be very self-conscious and you've got to realize that everybody else, you know, has bad days too.

30:41
So, you know, quite often it's stressful.

30:45
It's it, you know, coming into a Marina or.

30:47
Not as much, but as an anchorage too, there's a lot of boats in there around you, you knowBut I'm not sure there would be putting down an anchor.

30:55
They going into a marina to me is the worst.

30:59
Is the worst.

31:00
Yeah, going in or coming out of marinas or is hard because it's always a very tight space with all these boats lined up.

31:07
And if you back into one of them or yeah, I'm not, I'd rather be on anchor.

31:14
And who does the driving in the marina?

31:17
He does.

31:19
OK.

31:20
Because I'm too worried they're going to hit somebody.

31:23
Yeah.

31:24
YeahAnd it's always me that does that.

31:26
My because it's my boat and my husband when he comes with me.

31:29
Well, he is the first mate.

31:31
He's man enough to handle that, by the way.

31:34
But most of the time I'm by myself.

31:37
Isn't that interesting?

31:39
So advice to families hoping to to to do what you're doing.

31:47
What kind of prep work?

31:48
Oh, before you, what would you do differently?

31:51
I would go 10 years earlier.

31:53
We'd have gone earlier.

31:54
Yeah.

31:54
Because I feel like if your kids are, say, in elementary school.

31:58
Does I would never want a toddler on a boat.

32:01
I just would be too nervous.

32:02
But if they're younger than teenagers, it's a easier transition for them.

32:08
And it's easier for them to embrace what's going on.

32:10
The first six months, our kids were just angry at us because they didn't want to do it.

32:15
They want to lose their friends and there were video games and you know the internet and all those things behind.

32:22
Yeah.

32:23
And then the other advice I would get would be get the biggest boat possible.

32:29
Yes, get the biggest boat you can possibly get.

32:32
I mean, for like for us, for a family of five,A 40 foot boat is just on the edge of usable.

32:40
Yeah, we definitely.

32:43
Yeah.

32:44
What size do you think, if you could do it again, what size would you get?

32:47
In case Elon Musk is watching.

32:50
Probably a 55.

32:51
55, okay.

32:52
50 or a 55.

32:54
Yeah, 50, 55.

32:56
We have friends that are on a 50 foot Gulfstar andThey've got their four kids on the boat.

33:04
And I'm not saying they have a ton of room, but they have more than we do.

33:08
Yeah.

33:08
Is storage a problem?

33:10
Always.

33:11
Yes.

33:13
So how do your kids handle that?

33:14
How do you all handle with your clothes and everything?

33:18
We have these baskets that are actually made for cars.

33:21
They're like stretchy.

33:23
Anyway, we have those everywhere with clothes in them everywhere.

33:27
And then like the girls, this boat was built in France.

33:31
It doesn't.

33:32
It didn't originally have black tanks.

33:35
So when they brought it to the US, they had to put in black tanks.

33:39
The girls' closet, they use half of their closet to put the black tank in.

33:44
So they have very limited space.

33:49
And do you just because when I'm on the boat, I'll end up wearing just a few things, you know, especially if I'm by myself, nobody's around anyway, you know?

33:58
So did y'all end up just like getting rid of stuff?

34:01
Yes.

34:03
We gave away pretty much everything in our house.

34:06
Each Each of us had one bag that we got to bring.

34:09
And if you couldn't fit in there-- How big is the bag?

34:12
It was a military flight bag.

34:16
So a pretty good sized bag.

34:17
It's pretty big.

34:18
But that had to be your clothes, your toys, your books, like everything that you brought had to be in that one bag.

34:26
Wow.

34:27
And to be honest, we should have purged more.

34:33
Well, so what was it like living on it when two of them were mad at you for six months?

34:38
What was that?

34:39
What was that like?

34:41
You know, it was a lot of understanding you're upset, but you got two choices here.

34:46
You can stay here and be miserable while your friends go on and keep living their life.

34:51
Or you can just embrace the suck and let's go for it.

34:55
Let's just see what we're doing.

34:56
And so they eventually, as long as we found things for them to do, they eventually .

35:02
And And even now we talk about would they like to go back to public school and they would not.

35:07
They don't want to go back.

35:10
I bet.

35:11
Oh my gosh.

35:11
And they're going to talk about this for the rest of their lives.

35:14
Well, that was that was something else that I wanted, you know, because when you're submitting a resume, there's always a personal section in the bottom.

35:25
And from my experience of being in the workforce and having to hire people, everybody's got degrees, everybody's got experience, everybody's got qualifications.

35:36
But it's the personal stuff that they do that makes them stand out and I just.

35:42
That, you know, when they start applying for jobs, they can put, hey, we've sailed over 6000 nautical miles or you know, we've sailed to the Bahamas and back, we've we've done this, we've done that.

35:54
And that's going to make an impression on any, you know, future employee.

36:00
So yeah, it's a very good point.

36:02
It's it's all good.

36:03
So what about the other four?

36:07
Have they come and visited you?

36:10
And they're adults with their own lives.

36:15
And yeah, yeah so some of them what?

36:18
Some of them have children.

36:19
So OK.

36:22
Yeah, so Steven has two sons there that live in England and.

36:28
They haven't been to visit since COVID happened because when COVID happened they basically their flights got cancelled and then.

36:36
Right after that we bought the boat and it's just been chaos and they both have jobs now and you know they're adults so they they can't just always come like they used to.

36:44
But and then I have two girls from a previous marriage too and so they are both married with their own kids and their own jobs, so.

36:53
They we go home occasionally and I'll watch them.

36:55
We've had two of the grandkids on and they've been absolutely brilliant.

36:58
In fact, they're texting us right now saying, hey, when are we coming?

37:02
When are we coming?

37:03
So the two oldest grandkids, we brought them out for a couple of weeks and now I'm getting texts saying, hey, school's going to be out soon.

37:10
That is awesome.

37:11
And where are they?

37:15
Oklahoma.

37:15
So they're in Oklahoma.

37:17
OK Oh my God.

37:19
You know, every time we've gone home for a visit.

37:23
I just watched my daughter just going to work and doing the laundry and bringing the kids to their sports.

37:29
And And I just think, how did we do that for 40 years?

37:33
Like, it's a lot.

37:35
It's a lot.

37:37
And I don't know that I'd ever want to do it again.

37:43
You're in for the long haul.

37:45
Yes.

37:45
Yes Although there's times that we definitely say, that's it, we're selling the boat.

37:51
well When something breaks, right?

37:53
That's good.

37:55
Nearly always when something breaks.

37:58
But we have an agreement.

38:00
It's the same agreement we had when we when we started fostering.

38:05
We agreed that if one of us wanted to stop fostering and the other one said, hey, I'm not ready to stop yet, that we wouldn't stop.

38:13
And so I was ready a lot of times.

38:14
And he was like, well, I think we should keep fostering a little bit longer.

38:19
So for a long time we went back and forth about should we close our home to flustering.

38:24
So we kind of made the same agreement with the boat.

38:26
Like if one of us says I'm done with the boat and the other one says I'm not though, like I still want to be here, then we'll figure it out and we'll stay until both of us are on the same page about it.

38:37
Plus we will.

38:37
So how long does that last when you're when one of you is like, oh, not very long, not very long.

38:44
He told me.

38:45
They don't know.

38:46
He told me a couple of days ago, I don't even know if I want to live on this boat anymore.

38:50
And I said, when we get back to the US, we're off the boat.

38:54
And if we're not off the boat within 24 hours of being back in the US, don't ever say it to me again.

39:01
We're not going to do that podcast.

39:03
I'm off the boat.

39:05
I usually would on my last trip, I was on the boat for six months.

39:10
And every time I had a bunch of things that went wrong.

39:14
Oh, y'all froze up.

39:15
Are you still with me?

39:15
Are you still with me?

39:16
Yeah.

39:18
OK.

39:18
It looks like you're frozen up.

39:20
Oh, there you are.

39:21
And every time I was like, not another thing.

39:24
That's it.

39:25
I'm selling the boat.

39:27
And I guess you could probably fix stuff, right, Steven?

39:32
So I'm a geek.

39:34
I do computer consultancy, right?

39:36
So anything.

39:38
Software computers, I'm 100% down with.

39:43
When it comes to things like water makers and diesel engines.

39:48
And hit my head.

39:49
And yeah, that's where my phone is really stretched and...

39:56
You hire people.

39:58
No, he figures it out.

40:00
I have to fix it 10 times, but eventually I figure it out.

40:03
So the first year and a half that we were on the boat, we planned forboth of us to not be working and just have that time to figure out how to live on the boat.

40:12
So we had kind of plans for all that.

40:14
And we didn't-- that also meant that we didn't have the funds.

40:19
If it broke, it was up to us to fix it.

40:20
And so that's just-- Right, rightSo I mean, we had to put all new instruments in in on this boat.

40:29
Um We put a new-- Before you left.

40:34
Yeah, we put a solar arch on, you know, put a water maker and an air conditioner in.

40:40
So there there was a lot to do to this boat just so that it would be comfortable for us.

40:46
So yes, it was a small boat, but it didn't have like a set for to live aboard for long term.

40:55
It was more for, you know, a vacation in in the Bahamas and that's, you know, back to land.

41:01
Yeah.

41:02
The only thing I don't have is the water maker, but it's when I need it, I'm going to make that investment.

41:08
Do you have any recommendations on a water maker?

41:12
Do you have a little one or a big one?

41:14
So we have a particular brand at the moment that everybody on YouTube talks about and I'm not too happy with it at the moment.

41:24
Let's hear it.

41:26
So there's well, he won't say it, but I'll say it.

41:28
We have a Spectra water maker and.

41:31
Okay.

41:31
Yeah, I don't feel that we, I don't think that we really knew what we were doing and taking care of it, but we have gone through a bunch of two different technicians, a bunch of phone calls and emails and parts, and we've spent $1,700 so far, and the water maker's still not working.

41:51
Ohh I mean, I feel like I know it's, and if it comes out to be that,I think it just needs a new membrane.

41:58
If it just needs a new membrane, I'm going to be so mad that we bought all the other stuff, but.

42:02
Well, there's a few other things like the the insides of it are all plastic.

42:08
So if you get a tiny little bit of sand or say some of the metal fittings have corroded and that passes through it, that can cause a lot of damage to the insides.

42:20
So it never builds up the pressure properly.

42:23
So, but we like the idea of a 12 volt one because it means we can just run solar all day and you know, we're filling up the water tank.

42:33
Yeah, yeahI mean that that seems like it would be the only option.

42:36
I mean the only if you're going to be an anchor a lot.

42:40
Well, a lot of people get like a small Honda generator and then run a 110 version of that, so.

42:49
Um, but we've been pretty consistent about trying to make sure everything is 12 volts.

42:53
Yeah, right.

42:54
Yeah.

42:56
Well, and how much uh, obviously I you would have to have a a big one because you've got five people.

43:03
So.

43:04
And this one's supposed to make 8 gallons an hour.

43:08
Right now it's making about four because it's not working properly.

43:13
And.

43:14
So we have, so we can hold 80 gallons of fresh water, which for a family of five is not a lot, is not a lot.

43:22
And we're probably making water every three days.

43:27
OK.

43:27
If I had my way, we'll make water every day.

43:31
Yeah.

43:32
Well, so what?

43:34
So what brand would you recommend if you had to do it over?

43:38
People are listening, so.

43:41
So we've heard a lot of good stuff about Cruise RO, so I'm looking at that at the moment.

43:48
It's a very similar design, but they've looked at where the problems are and they've redesigned those those issues.

43:54
So it's a little bit more expensive, but I think in the long term it would be a worthwhile investment.

44:04
What kind of range are we talking?

44:05
Um You're looking around the.

44:10
And that would be and that would give you more water per hour because I've heard higher numbers.

44:20
Some people make like 40 gallons, yeah.

44:24
So all of the A/C powered ones like the 110 ones, they make about 30 gallons an hour, but then they're running on A/C and you've got to have the battery in the inverter or or a generator to to keep up with that.

44:39
Right.

44:40
So I mean, one of the things that we've learned over the three years is there's always a compromise to something.

44:46
There's a compromise to what boat you get.

44:49
There's a compromise to you know what sales you have, you know what Warnermaker, what solar panels you've got.

44:56
There's always a compromise.

44:58
And it's it's trying to figure out what works best for you.

45:03
Right.

45:04
OK, we've got several people watching, so if anybody watching wants to ask a question, please feel free.

45:10
It It only works with Facebook and YouTube, unfortunately.

45:14
We are live on several platforms, by the way, including Instagram, X, YouTube, Facebook, Rumble, two Facebooks, two YouTubes, two Xs, actually.

45:32
So it might be some of your friends watching.

45:34
So if you guys want to, you know, say something, please feel free.

45:39
Well, Jim and Lisa, they're our oldest sailing couple.

45:44
They've been amazing to support us.

45:46
So they've they've always, you know, encouraged us and kept us going.

45:50
So I'm sure that they're watching.

45:52
Are they in the Bahamas?

45:54
They're in Oklahoma.

45:55
They're in Oklahoma.

45:56
They're still working on, you know, becoming full time cruisers.

45:59
So breaking free.

46:02
This Lisa and who?

46:04
Jim.

46:06
Jim and Lisa.

46:08
Shout out to Jim and Lisa.

46:11
Please come.

46:11
I'd like to interview them and hear what they're they're doing to prepare for their sailing life.

46:21
OK, yeah, cause I like to talk to people at all different stages.

46:24
I've I've talked to circumnavigators, I've talked to.

46:29
Um, you're the first people with three kids on board and that's very interesting.

46:34
But I'd like to also talk to some people that are just getting started.

46:38
You know, they they probably are sailors, right?

46:40
Yes.

46:41
So we met them when we took our ASA 101 class.

46:45
Oh, okay.

46:46
And then we came, ended up buying a boat at that same marina and they were coming to, they had like a boat, a boat, a sailing club.

46:57
So we joined that and Lisa and Jim had joined that.

47:00
And before you knew it, we found them a boat to buy in the in the marina.

47:05
And so we were like out, you know, doing the marina together.

47:09
And then now we've moved aboard and so they're still like trying to get landlocked.

47:15
Yeah, yeah so they're cool.

47:18
They just weren't ready to like sell everything yet and and and leave.

47:22
So hopefully soon they'll be ready.

47:25
Well, that'll be fun to talk to them.

47:27
Whenever you, maybe you can hook us up.

47:30
Yeah, I can do that.

47:32
Jim sailed from Oriental to Florida with us.

47:36
Yes, we had him come on the go and just do a, what was it, eight days, I think?

47:40
Yes.

47:41
We stopped a couple of times just to sleep and get fuel and Hulk kept going.

47:46
How did he do?

47:50
Considering he'd never been on the ICW or out in the ocean before, he did pretty good.

47:54
Yeah.

47:55
Oh, wow.

47:56
Yeah.

47:56
OK, well, you got to start somewhere.

47:58
I mean, that's that's what we I took ASA 101-103-104 and then I let a bunch of time go by and I didn't remember anything.

48:05
So I went back, took a refresher, and then I got a boat and then I got another boat.

48:10
Five years later, I got another boat.

48:12
And the one you see behind me here is my island packet 320, in case you didn't know.

48:18
Have all your boats been in Isle of Packet?

48:21
Everybody that, oh, that I've owned.

48:23
Yeah.

48:24
Well, my first boat was a Catalina 25 and I had it for about 10 months and that was just like great learning boat, right.

48:33
And but I knew I needed something a little more substantial.

48:35
It's a coastal cruiser.

48:37
So if I went out in the Bay and a powerboat went by, I was like, boom.

48:43
And I took it all the way from Orange Beach to Fort Walton, which is.

48:47
Probably about 9 hours.

48:49
And there was no autopilot.

48:50
It was a tiller and I couldn't step away in the in the ICW, you know, the boat would go off somewhere.

48:59
And so I was like, I've got to get something more substantial.

49:02
I got island packet 27, which was, it was blue water boat.

49:07
I mean, in full keel, autopilot had solar panels that had a wind generator.

49:14
It had, I mean, it was made for cruising.

49:17
And I had that boat for five years and I went from Orange Beach to South Florida, even the Bahamas, every year for five years.

49:26
And then we had a hurricane and it kind of, yeah, the insurance company wanted to total the boat.

49:33
And I finally did because I could tell they were going to reinsure it if they paid me on it.

49:38
So I was crying and everything was carrying on.

49:42
I'd be crying too, yeah.

49:45
I spent five years on that boat.

49:47
I mean, I still have a house, but you know, and I still have to work.

49:50
But and then so I got another boat, an island packet 320.

49:53
If someone said just take the money and buy a bigger boat, you know, so I got a 320.

49:58
So that's, you know, 5 feet longer.

50:02
It's wider.

50:03
It's heavier.

50:04
And it's still an island packet.

50:06
It's like a big sister.

50:08
It's just like a bigger version of what I had.

50:10
ButAnd so it was a very easy transition, you know, driving it and everything.

50:14
And most of what I do is solo.

50:16
My husband's kind of into it, but not a lot, you knowSo-- and we just worked that out, you knowYou know, he just comes when he-- but I'm very independent.

50:26
And I grew up as a latchkey child, so I was Gen.

50:28
X.

50:30
Yes.

50:32
I do well on my own.

50:33
But when he's there, you know, that's fun, too.

50:36
So anybody out there watching, please like and subscribe and share this video.

50:40
I'd really appreciate it.

50:42
But back to you.

50:44
Back to you.

50:44
What else do you want to tell the people that are y'all are perfectly framed right now, by the way.

50:50
Thank you.

50:51
And you get the darkness in the background.

50:53
It works out good.

50:54
What else do you want people to know?

50:56
The community is brilliant.

50:59
There's nothing like it.

51:01
I mean, we've we've had friends that have sold their boat.

51:04
Gone back to land and they've all regretted it and they've said it's not the same because the communities that they're in just do not understand the same thing, you knowSo it it's just, it blows my mind how many people are doing this as well.

51:25
I mean, in this anchorage alone, there's over 100 boats right now.

51:29
You know, and that's just one small part of the Bahamas.

51:33
There's about 500 down in Georgetown right now.

51:37
You know, there's hundreds of little anchorages all up and down that have got more than a few boats in them.

51:44
So it it, it just blows my mind how many people are actually cruising around and and going up and down and you knowApps like No Foreign Land are absolutely valuable, especially.

52:00
Oh, what's that?

52:01
So there's a mobile app called No Foreign Land and you register.

52:06
You can register your boat on it and basically you see every other boat that's around you if they're registered on the app, moving up and down.

52:16
You can talk to people, find out what anchorages are like.

52:20
You can go on the app and like go to.

52:24
The anchorage that you're going to head to or where you're currently at and zoom in and you can see where there's a water source where there's fuel where all the stores are because the people, the people using the app can add.

52:39
You know, if you found a laundromat that wasn't on there, you can add it or you found a great place to go snorkeling.

52:44
You can add that on.

52:45
So it's been kind of built by the users.

52:48
There's a I'm not sure who the people are that created it, but.

52:52
Did you say no foreign land app?

52:56
No foreign land.

52:59
This is good info that we like to give here on the Salty podcast.

53:04
No foreign land app.

53:05
OK.

53:06
And it and it's and it's and it's also got not just, I mean in the United States, outside the United States, everywhere.

53:14
Yeah.

53:15
And then people also use it as a way of tracking their boat as well so that you can.

53:20
Stick your, you can tie your Garmin inReach to it and it will actually track where your boat's going.

53:28
So we we don't do that.

53:30
That's too complicated for me.

53:31
I just go in the app and say, you know, move my boat.

53:34
I'm here right this second.

53:36
And And if you want, if you don't want people to know where you are all the time, you wouldn't put the inReach in there.

53:44
Yeah, you could turn it off.

53:46
Yeah, a lot of families like us use it to find other kid boats.

53:50
So if you're in an anchorage with another kid boat, you can use it.

53:54
Say, hey, we've got three teenagers on board.

53:56
Do you fancy meeting up on a dock or something?

53:58
Earlier today, somebody messaged Stephen on go for land and said, hey, we're in the same anchorage as you.

54:04
We've got these kids.

54:05
This is their age.

54:06
We're going to go.

54:08
There will go for a watch.

54:09
There's like a water spout thing and we were going to do it.

54:12
We're going to meet him at 2:30, but then it got so rolly that it wasn't really safe to get off the boat.

54:16
So we didn't get to.

54:17
But you that kind of stuff happens a lot.

54:21
I think last year there was a family that came and met up.

54:24
Yeah, you know, I can't even imagine that happening on land.

54:30
No, nobody would want to get together with some family they didn't know.

54:34
I mean, it's just amazing.

54:36
It does feel a bit weird at times because it's almost like you're stalking.

54:40
It's like, it's like going back 50 years.

54:43
So I mean, it's a good thing is what I'm saying.

54:46
People are attached to their phones and their and their own little entertainment, you know?

54:52
Yes.

54:52
And I think because we're in this, in this situation and our kids want to hang out with other kids.

54:59
And there's other families whose kids are wanting to hang out with other kids.

55:04
Amazing to me.

55:05
You need to like reach out to a random stranger and say, hey, you want to hang out.

55:09
I know.

55:10
You just don't see that happen anymore.

55:12
I mean, people don't even know their neighbors.

55:16
One of the other benefits about having the kids on on the boat is that the very.

55:22
They get very socially adjusted to everybody because they're making friends constantly.

55:28
And so of all cultures, of all languages.

55:33
And it's they have to learn how to be a little more outgoing because like sometimes it's the parents that have to be outgoing for the kids.

55:40
But there's been times we were on a on our friend's dinghy.

55:46
And his daughter was on there with us, and she was like, oh, that looks like a kid boat.

55:49
And he just motor-ratted there and said, hey, do you have kids on this boat?

55:53
And they did.

55:55
You'd have them for a couple of days.

55:58
Sometimes you just have to meet people.

56:02
So yeah, definitely would recommend that.

56:05
It's It's probably the best thing.

56:06
And it's free.

56:08
You can You can donate towards it, but the-- Right.

56:12
are creating it are cruisers and they're writing it all themselves and yeah, it's just absolutely brilliant.

56:20
Couldn't recommend it more.

56:21
Yeah, you can, every place you go, you can add the different things that you find or if somebody's already added it, you can leave a review or photos, like it's all the users are putting in the information.

56:34
So it's pretty up to date too, like it's stuff that they're finding right now.

56:38
Right.

56:40
So with your 16 year old is your is is the is there like a end date for him to get off the boat or is he just going to continue or does that discussed or we talk about it all the time and all three kids say, well we have a 16 year old and one that's going to be 16 in a couple weeks.

57:00
They both say Oh yeah, since I'm 18 I'm leaving the boat and they might.

57:05
And the younger one that's 14 says, no, I'm never leaving.

57:08
It's free rent.

57:10
She's already thinking she stayed on the boat, but I just need to get another boat to kind of travel with you.

57:17
The 16 year old, I've also heard him say things like, well, when I get my own boat, this is, oh, so I'm like, maybe he's not in a hurry to get off the boat because he has talked about.

57:31
You know, having his own boat.

57:32
I mean, we got one that definitely wants to get off, but she wants to go to university.

57:36
She wants, she does animation.

57:39
She's done illustrations for people and stuff.

57:41
So, so she's the one doing the art project.

57:46
Yes.

57:46
So there's a another couple on a boat called, I think what's a Mingus?

57:54
Their boat name is Mingus.

57:55
But they have a charity called Selling for Smiles and they go all through the Bahamas and she is a dental hygienist.

58:02
So they go to all the schools that they can, mostly in the Abacos I think.

58:07
And they give them, they do like a presentation, read on these stories, teach them how to clean their teeth, give them like a packet with toothpaste and stuff in it, toothbrushes.

58:18
Anyway, so she's written two books that she uses for that.

58:22
when she goes into these schools to teach them.

58:25
And then our daughter, Katie, illustrated both of the books for her.

58:28
Oh my gosh.

58:29
And that's an opportunity she had never had if we were on the boat.

58:32
She had never met them.

58:34
But very motivated.

58:36
She wants to do illustration at some point.

58:40
Well, and that that is something she can do from a boat.

58:46
A lot of things from the boat nowadays.

58:49
I remind her often that she can travel the world with us andSo when you're done with your orthodontist visits, what's the plan?

59:05
We'll come back to the Bahamas that season and then we will keep going.

59:10
We'll head down to Grenada and then.

59:13
One of the longest term goals that we've got, we'd like to actually sail the boat back to the Mediterranean because it was built in France and actually came over.

59:23
It was sailed single-handedly over to through the Atlantic to the Bahamas.

59:26
So we'd like to go back there and explore all of Europe and you're not going through the Red Sea, right?

59:34
No.

59:34
So as far as Cyprus, you know, Turkey and Greece, so.

59:41
Then come back around and then go around the tip of Africa?

59:45
Um When we first started, we were all like, yeah, we'll sail around the world and we'll do all of that.

59:54
But I also think at the same time, we're kind of like, that's a lot of work and a lot of time.

60:02
Yeah.

60:03
Going across the Atlantic is a lot of work.

60:06
Yeah.

60:06
SoI mean, I don't.

60:11
I love the sailing part.

60:12
To me, getting there is is is in in a lot of cases is is the most fun.

60:20
But the idea of being on a boat for three to four weeks and not seeing anything is kind of like, yeah, do I really want to do that?

60:29
When you start getting into the Pacific, if you're being really honest about it, that's what you're doing.

60:34
You're not going to see like three or four weeks, you know, it's a lot of travelling.

60:40
You know, I also find a lot of these YouTube channels, they're absolutely brilliant.

60:44
They're influencers and they what they do is great.

60:49
But I also don't think it's very realistic about what's what's happening and what's going on.

60:53
Like the three or four weeks at sea.

60:55
You think it's more miserable than what they say?

60:57
Probably, yeah.

60:59
So maybe.

61:00
So I I kind of think a lot of that is, you know, kind of up in the air and.

61:08
So, well, I mean, you could spend 10, 15 years in in the Caribbean quite easily.

61:14
You know, you could spend months at each different anchorage and see something different.

61:20
I mean, certainly from a, from, you know, snorkeling and diving point of view, I mean, there's just so many places to see and, you know, different things to look at.

61:32
I don't think you could really do it all justice unless you spent weeks, if not months at each place.

61:39
Well, that's more my speed.

61:40
You know, when I'm able to, the reason I'm doing the podcast is because I'm I'm at home and this is my I get to live vicariously through all of y'all out there right now.

61:50
And I thought, what's the next best thing talking to people out in the Caribbean, you know?

61:54
So I I think if when I get to be cut loose, I want to spend it in the Caribbean.

62:01
There's just plenty to see there, you knowAnd it's I want to stay in this hemisphere, just seems safer.

62:08
We spent the first two years going to the Abacos, which we absolutely love.

62:13
I love the Abacos.

62:15
People are absolutely amazing there.

62:18
And then this year we've gone down through Eleuthera and we've done, you know, some of the the Exumas.

62:24
But to be honest, there's a lot of places in Eleuthera that we just, we skipped, you know, and that's going to be another trip.

62:31
Based on weather windows and, you know, we have one day that we can get this far with this wind.

62:38
And so sometimes we didn't stop because we knew we need to get to.

62:42
And it's the same with being in the Exumas, we've skipped so many different anchorages.

62:48
You know, every one of them is different.

62:50
Every one of them has something else to offer, you knowSo yeah, I mean you, you really could spend years and years in the Bahamas.

62:59
Well, there's 700 islands in the in the Bahamas.

63:02
I mean, and you guys are all set up to visit all of them.

63:06
Yeah, trying to be anyway.

63:09
Yeah.

63:10
So you're you're so I'd like to catch up with you again in the future and get an update.

63:16
So.

63:18
You're going to go back to Florida.

63:20
You got to do the orthodontist thing.

63:22
And then when are you heading south again?

63:25
Um We're is kind of up in the air right now because we have two buddy boats.

63:31
One of them is has gone on to Georgetown.

63:36
Wait, you kind of broke up there.

63:38
You broke up there.

63:39
One of them is going to Georgetown and one's going where?

63:42
When it hit left for Georgetown a couple days ago and the other one still with us and they're going to cross back to the US with us.

63:48
And OK, they are the one that's crossing with this is going to Texas and then our friends that are in Georgetown are going to stay in the Bahamas for a few months.

63:58
When we get done with all the stuff we have to do, which will be the end of April, we're going to look and say where are our two buddy boats and OK.

64:08
The boat is going to Texas is too far for us to catch up.

64:11
Then we may hop back over to the Abacos and go with our other ready boats and spend a month there or.

64:20
If we don't do either one of those two things, our grandkids are coming and we may take them to the keys because they have never been to the keys.

64:26
Oh, OK.

64:28
So where would you leave out of?

64:30
Fort Pierce, probably.

64:31
Yeah, we like we really like Fort Pierce.

64:35
OK.

64:36
And yeah, that's nice.

64:38
Saint Augustine is really good as well.

64:42
Cape Canaveral is not too bad.

64:45
Um We've we've been to West Palm, but we haven't stayed very long there.

64:50
But we would like to go back there.

64:52
But I would say because of Orlando Airport, it is probably the cheapest airport anywhere in the US.

65:00
So flying.

65:02
I don't like the whole US, but they are a lot less expensive than some of the other airports.

65:06
Yeah, OK.

65:08
And it's just easy.

65:09
I mean, we've we've got a U PS: box there, so we get all of our mail sent there and it's just easy to pick up there.

65:18
And you know, you're pretty well protected from everything as well.

65:22
If we do go into the Keys, we'll definitely go to Josh Ortigas.

65:26
We've been there before and we love it here.

65:28
Yeah.

65:29
And then we like Marathon.

65:32
I think we'll probably end up spending most of the summer there actually, because we've got a number of projects that we want to do in the Anchorage there or grab a morning ball or we're probably going to end up in a Marina for two reasons where I've got a lot of experience there.

65:49
We're looking at doing like a membership at Safe Harbor because then if you travel on and you have a membership, you can use the other Safe Harbor marinas too, but.

66:00
Partly because it's going to be summertime and nobody wants to be in the summertime without air conditioning.

66:06
So that we could use everything we're going to Maria.

66:11
And the other thing is we want to do a bunch of sewing projects on the boat and and in marathon at the city marina which is mooring balls is what you have to go on.

66:23
They have like a whole huge room that you can do like take your sewing machine.

66:30
And you sewing on the boat so hard and I'm not a great seamstress.

66:35
So I need like an easy environment to make the hard stuff a little bit easier.

66:40
So we're going to, I think marathon is where we're thinking we'll stay for most of the summer because we want to the cockpit so it stays dry during during bad weather and it becomes more friendly.

66:53
I'm jealous.

66:54
I'm jealous.

66:55
I don't have a full enclosure.

67:01
In the past we've gone north for the summer and then came back in the fall to come south and we always leave too late and it's freezing.

67:11
Oh yeah, no fun.

67:14
Buddy boat here who made their own enclosure is like, ohh we had to take our jackets off and I'm like, hush.

67:21
That's what I've heard.

67:23
in the cockpit with my sweatpants and some leggings under that.

67:28
And then I was so cold this last time.

67:31
I went down and got my robe, put that on top of my clothes and was still out here just shaking.

67:37
It was terrible.

67:38
And so we want to close that.

67:39
I've been there.

67:42
So did you make your own?

67:44
We haven't.

67:45
That's what we want to do when we go to a marathon.

67:48
Oh, okay.

67:48
Do you have pictures of your friend that made their own?

67:52
I mean,Because you know, it costs a fortune to have those window panes cut out and everything.

67:58
So and I've got it for like the front part, you know, and the just a little bit of the side.

68:04
But I'd like to do something because when I cross the Gulf and and it doesn't even have to be that cold for it to be freezing on the Gulf of Mexico at night.

68:11
Yeah, so they've built this over.

68:15
A year or two.

68:16
So and they they've just added panels.

68:20
Yes.

68:21
So I'm pretty sure they made the front ones and then later they added a little more and then a little more until they they just kept adding panels until they had the whole thing around.

68:31
So they put the zippers on and everything, huhI don't know if I can get all the zippers.

68:35
I might have to do some Velcro.

68:38
Velcro.

68:39
Yeah.

68:40
Well, I have both, you know, he's got the Velcro and the zippers.

68:44
I would be interested and I need to start getting budget with things, you know, because I get that credit card out and pay some other people to fix the engine and do this and do that, you knowYes.

68:57
And then we you made you made some dinghy chips, which we have that I made that they need to be.

69:04
I need to make new ones because they've got lots of tears from all the stuff that would be tearing up the dinghy is tearing up the chaps.

69:12
But that was Stephanie.

69:14
Stephanie might be interviewed.

69:16
She yeah when we met her, she's a seamstress.

69:20
And so she just said, let me show you how to make the pattern.

69:24
And then once we made the pattern, she'd come up and check on me every now and then and be like, OK, we'll do this or do that.

69:29
And so I've got the whole thing made.

69:32
And those are the chaps because I would like to get.

69:35
Yeah, I would like that for my dinghy too, because I just don't want it sitting in the sun baking, you know.

69:41
you know And they're too expensive too.

69:43
I mean, just to.

69:44
No kidding.

69:45
Well, the ones that we have now look like, you know, a middle school home ec project, but they were.

69:51
I made them.

69:53
Like, I kind of know what to do now.

69:55
I'm hoping the next ones will be a little nicer.

69:58
I need to come hang out with y'all and learn how to make stuff.

70:01
I know, like, what places here.

70:06
Hit or rubbed the most so I know where to reinforce better this time.

70:09
Something the next ones will be better.

70:11
But again, we need.

70:12
Well, if I break, if I'm able to break away this year, if I, I'm thinking I might not be able to go this year South.

70:20
But if I do, I will see you in marathon.

70:23
Oh, yeah.

70:24
Do you like marathon?

70:25
Yeah.

70:26
Oh, I I like to go down to the, I like the whole West Coast of Florida, the coast of Florida, the Gulf Coast all the way down to the Keys.

70:34
Yeah.

70:34
And and then I usually go down into Newfoundland and and Key West and Bahia, Honda, all those places and even go up in the Bahia Honda.

70:43
So yes, we have Bahia Honda.

70:46
I love that place.

70:47
Yeah, that is a nice budget place to stay.

70:51
Yes, yes, yesSo maybe maybe I'll see y'all down there.

70:56
Last thing I I did want to ask you to include in this video cause I know people will want to know is about the school thing.

71:04
How do you, how does someone go about getting their kids enrolled in these online schools?

71:09
So the first year we used it's called Monarch now.

71:17
It's called Switched on Schoolhouse.

71:20
But anyway, it's called Monarch now.

71:22
And we really like that program.

71:24
I didn't quite understand what you're saying.

71:26
It was called, what's it called now?

71:28
Monarch.

71:29
It's called Monarch.

71:30
And it's Monarch.

71:31
Okay.

71:32
It's, you do have to have internet.

71:36
There's teaching them all out for you.

71:40
Most of the stuff submit it through the software and you can see everything they did, everything they touched or clicked andIt's very laid out and detailed and we couldn't really afford to do that this year.

71:55
And so we used easy peasy, which is 100% free, but it doesn't give attendance part and you can't go back and like take their assignments and say no, you messed this up and reassign it to them.

72:12
You can't do that kind of stuff.

72:13
And so I think we've decided we're going to go back to more Monarch next year.

72:18
OK, so you kind of broke up when you were saying that is is where the parents can go in and check the work.

72:23
You were kind of breaking up during that point.

72:25
That's in Monarch Monarch.

72:27
You cannot do that so much in easy peasy.

72:30
So with the easy peasy stuff, you can find all the assignments there and the kids have to do them and then they have to save them and give them to you.

72:39
Where on Monarch it saves everything for you.

72:42
It's very much more user-friendly for the parents.

72:46
So and you can go in and take out any assignments you don't want them to do or add in your own assignments.

72:52
It's just so user friendly.

72:54
Yeah I think.

72:57
Yeah you've got to also look at what state you're you're kind of ready you know you're coming out.

73:05
Satisfying their theirYeah.

73:08
Every state.

73:08
Yeah.

73:09
Yes.

73:10
OK.

73:11
Like the state of Florida they require that your kids do standardized testing every couple of years.

73:17
OK.

73:18
Oklahoma doesn't.

73:21
So yeah, you've got to really figure out what what state you're going to stay registered to to be able to do.

73:29
So you just kind of you go with one state and you kind of stay with that.

73:32
Yeah.

73:33
Well, because we came out of Oklahoma and that's we can we still pay taxes to Oklahoma.

73:38
So that's where we we homeschool based off Oklahoma rules.

73:43
I see.

73:44
Well, that's on.

73:45
We don't stay anywhere long enough to be a resident of any state.

73:50
Right.

73:50
OK.

73:51
All right.

73:52
Is there anything else that you that people might need to know about that situation?

73:56
I don't know.

73:59
I think.

74:00
How do the kids like it?

74:03
They didn't like it at first, but it's funny because we were talking to the 15 year old just the other day and she said she wouldn't want to go back to doing traditional school.

74:12
Seems like a waste of time, I bet, to her to be sitting there all day.

74:17
One of the reasons they like it is if they get up in the morning and they really focus and do what they're supposed to do, they can be done by lunchtime and then the rest of the day we could be doing hands-on stuff.

74:29
It could be nice.

74:31
And it also provides you a lot of flexibility in the in the fact that, you know, you could be somewhere really nice and like.

74:40
And there's some museum to go and see.

74:42
So you can say, hey, stay up.

74:45
You're not you're not doing that, but we're going to go and have a look at this museum.

74:49
And I want you to write me an essay about what you've seen in the museum.

74:52
You know, when when we first went through Charleston, we went to all of the museums there.

74:58
Sure, yeah.

74:59
All of our kids were like, whoa, you know, because it suddenly came alive to them.

75:04
It was right.

75:06
Different to, you know, just reading it out of a book and so that that gives that that that the system gives you credit for things like that.

75:15
Yes, yes, yesAnd then you can also add in stuff on life skills, I mean.

75:22
You know, sailing a boat is a life skill.

75:24
There's there's all sorts of other benefits that you get from it.

75:28
You know, learning about marine life is a is a life.

75:31
You know, we need to take them down to the Mayan ruins and stuff like that.

75:35
And you need to keep on going.

75:36
And if you go to Greece, Oh my gosh, there's so much there.

75:43
Oh, that makes me very happy.

75:45
I have hope for all the children that are being that are.

75:49
I knew it was a great experience.

75:50
I don't have any kids, but.

75:52
I was like, oh, if I ever do, I would, I would rather raise them like that.

75:56
You know, now it's too late.

76:00
But I mean, I would, I would say there's probably a few 100 cruises families that are actually doing it all the time.

76:10
Yeah.

76:13
That is just, that makes me very happy to hear.

76:17
Yay to y'all.

76:19
Shout out to y'all for doing this.

76:22
I was extremely nervous about homeschooling because I felt like I wasn't the greatest student in school.

76:28
Like I I graduated because I did the bare minimum.

76:32
And so I was concerned about that.

76:35
But especially if you're using the software that helps you it's it's not that difficult.

76:41
A lot of it.

76:42
As a parent.

76:42
Are you talking about as a parent.

76:44
Yeah As a parent.

76:45
Part as I thought it would be.

76:47
And because a lot of it falls on the kids.

76:49
They have to be responsible for doing their homework and turning it in.

76:53
So I don't know.

76:54
I don't.

76:55
Well, do you think that you would have been more interested in school if you were being, if you were doing it this way?

77:00
If you were.

77:01
Yeah, yeahI would have been more interested in knowing, especially history, if I was going to different places.

77:10
and like seeing a place, then I want to know, well, how did this get here?

77:14
How did that happen?

77:16
Did you learn all about the pirates and everything around Nassau?

77:20
Oh, no, we haven't been to Nassau yet.

77:23
Oh, my gosh.

77:24
It's a total-- it was a total pirate kingdom there.

77:27
It was just infested with pirates.

77:32
So many, so many good stories about it.

77:35
I mean, I've read so much about it, you know, but.

77:38
All right.

77:38
Well, I guess we we've been on here for over an hour.

77:41
We've been over an hour and 18 minutes.

77:43
I sure do appreciate it.

77:44
Do you mind if we if I catch up with you again on down the road before you come back on, people will have questions that people will have lots of questions.

77:54
So thank you so much.

77:56
I really appreciate it.

77:59
And So what we say here on Salty Abandon is Salty Abandon out.