Find out what type of boat other cruisers have, who they’re sailing with, what motivated them to leave land, their biggest learning curve, sailing with kids and advice for sailing mom’s. In this edition of Liveaboard Cruiser Insider you’ll get all this and more from Kelly Hauquitz, the author of CruisingMomBlog.com.
1. What boat do you have, who’s on the boat, where have you been and where are you going?
We’re a crew of 4: me, my husband, & our 2 girls 11 & 8. We have a 2003 47 Leopard. We’re U.S. East coast/Bahamas cruisers. We spent this summer in New England, so we’re currently heading South trying not to freeze our pigtails off in the process.
2. What motivated you to set sail?
My husband is a former cruiser kid. We’d always talked about ‘what if’ we could give our family that experience. So, after lots of saving & planning…here we are! We’re on year two of a one year adventure.
3. What was the biggest learning curve or lesson you learned when you first started out?
I thought meeting other kid boats would happen organically. I was wrong. We had been cruising for 3 months and hadn’t run into a single kid boat. We finally met our first in St. Augustine (a kid boat haven) & shortly thereafter found the Kids4Sail Facebook group. Their monthly ‘roll calls’ are a great tool. (I’ve also written a blog post about this. http://cruisingmomblog.com/boat-kids/finding-other-kid-boats/)
4. Put your mom hat on now…What advice would you give other moms that are thinking of setting sail with children?
This is exactly Cruising Mom Blog’s mission: sharing resources with soon-to-be cruising families. It’s filled with research and advice from experience. My biggest piece of advice…strive for balance. Cruising is filled with highs and lows. Treasure the highs & know that lows are gonna happen, but they’re temporary. Positive experiences will overcome the negative ones & finding that balance is key.
5. What has been your most favorite sailing memory to date?
Last winter we waited for a weather window for over a month to cross to the Bahamas. We grew impatient and decided to explore the Keys while waiting. We ended up sailing to the Dry Tortugas and LOVED it. Exploring the fort. The amazing snorkeling. And the rangers, seriously top notch. It’s a haul out there, and there is no cell service, but it’s totally worth it.
For loads of helpful resources head over to CruisingMomBlog.com now 😉 And if you’d like to read an article that Kelly published on me, check out Sailing Britican: Add The To Your Cruiser Learning Network
For More On Other Liveaboard Cruisers
For more Liveaboard Cruiser Insiders, check out Julia Weeks from PrepareToTack.com. She lives on a 35 foot Richard Woods Design Flica F3 sailing catamaran built in 1987 in Cornwall England. Find out who’s with her, what motivated her to set sail, Julia’s biggest learning curve, surprises, memories and what she’d change if she could.
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