A bit of history. In late October of 2000, Eric and I left our jobs and Seattle and flew to Wilmington, NC. Why? Because there was a boat there waiting for us (a friend's boat) and we decided to have a sailing adventure before we started our family. We took a couple of weeks to get the boat ready and sailed south on the Intracoastal to Florida, eventually making it to the Bahamas. It was a wonderful adventure and at the end of that trip, in May of 2001, we dreamed of what it would be like to someday repeat the trip with our family. See some of the pictures from that trip to the right. There were a few changes we'd make 1) A shoal draft boat for better exploring/anchoring options in the Bahamas 2) A bigger anchor (ask me to tell you anchoring stories sometime) 3) A longer trip - 8 months flew by, we agreed 2 years for future adventures So, for the past 13 years, we've talked about, saved for, and (sort of) planned for this trip. What's the plan? We plan to spend the first sailing season in the Bahamas (Jan-Jun of 2015), the US east coast from June - Nov of 2015, then head to the Caribbean until June of 2016. Then head back to Seattle in time for Ava to start high school, Reed to finish his last year of elementary school, and Eric and I to take stock of what is next for the two of us. The most commonly asked question for this trip? What about the kids' school? We are boat-schooling Ava and Reed while we are gone. There are several things in our favor, as well as several challenges I know we will face along the way. In our favor: Ava and Reed are great students and learn new things quickly, there are a lot of online resources available to supplement the curriculum we have, and the opportunities for learning new things (not just school-related) are endless. The challenges: getting into a routine (which we have not yet done), access to printers and materials along the way, and having the kids get used to their parents as teachers! Will keep you posted as we go along. Any ideas/experience anyone wants to share is very much welcomed! | |