This spring, fly to St. Maarten or one of the other Caribbean islands and buy a sailboat. Then, next Halloween (or so) pack up the family and move on to the boat for the winter. You and your family can spend the first month learning to sail, then explore the islands, home-school the kids, and enjoy tropical living. If things go well, when you return home and sell the boat you might even make enough to pay for the trip.
Sound far-fetched? This family of four from Camano Island, Washington did exactly that. Although they were experienced powerboaters (having spent years boating Puget Sound) their sailing had been limited to charters, friend’s boats, and lake sailboats. They had never been offshore. Overcoming that lack of sailing and cruising experience with research, good advice and attitude, they had a great time and a great adventure as they sailed the Caribbean and the Bahamas. That adventure is now available to your family on video or in an entertaining book.
Cruising World calls the video "An inspirational primer on how to cruise the Caribbean with kids." Perfect for a family evening, the half-hour video shows what to expect on a cruising trip. Well edited, with digital quality video and professional production values, the fast-moving video covers buying and preparing the boat, typical days at anchor and on passage, favorite activities, and things to watch out for. Shockingly beautiful scenic and underwater pictures bring the tropics into your television. There’s even "insider" footage of Open Ocean sailboat racing from the Sint Maarten Yacht Club Heineken Regatta. The video can also be downloaded for purchase or rental.
The book interleaves practical and emotional issues from the trip. Twenty-three topical chapters on buying and provisioning the boat, anchoring, customs, and all the other issues that must be addressed while cruising are seperated by the actual email messages from the trip. The emails provide a glimse into the crew's day-to-day ups and downs and the chapters provide more complete information. A trip planning calendar, equipment list, voyage calender with ports of call, and recommended reading list are also included. With 156 pages full of pictures and reference charts, the perfect-bound book is a great companion to the video. A kindle version is also available.


Click here to see a low resolution version of the video's introduction.