Q. Where do you park the boat at night?
Boat Parking - Isle De Grosier, Guadeloupe
A. 90% of the time we are on anchor, and sometimes we are in a marina. When we are making passage (sailing overnight) we do not stop - that is the beauty of a sailboat - it sails 24 hours a day! You just have to keep watches (pesky cruiseships).
Q. How do you get internet?
A. Ah! Internet! The lifeblood of a techy cruising yacht. We work hard to get good internet. Sometimes we are in range of a source of wifi that we can pick up with our wifi range extender. Sometimes we go into a bar or a coffee shop to do do some quality internet work, and we also purchase local sim cards for our phones for each country as we go for roaming data.
Q. How fast do you sail?
A. Well, it depends on which direction the wind is blowing from, and what is the strength of the wind. In general, we prefer broad reaches and downwind sailing with the winds between 15 and 30kts and the waves below 2m. With those conditions we can enjoy 7.5 to 8.5kts of steady speed. If we are trying to go to windward, and we have a counter current like the mighty gulfstream
Q. How do you guys do school?
A. We have been home schooling since 2012, here is how we do it homeschooling on Ad Astra.
Q. Where has been your favorite place so far?
A. Los Roques, Venezuela has to be the most lovely place we have visted: warm, generous people, 400 sandy movie-set perfect tropical islands to have to yourself, with just 3 of them populated with 1000 souls, a single town with powder sand roads.
However, for the first half of 2018 we have fallen in love with the Hermana Republic of the Mayan! Where is that? I am talking about the Yucatan and the Mayan Riveria of Mexico. Imagine a place with world-class history and culture including more pyramids than anywhere else in the world, plus thousands of beautiful cenotes to swim, chill and if you dare - go cave diving! Plus you have great beaches with warm Caribbean water, nightlife and fabulous Mexican food and provisioning at great prices.
Q. How many guns do you have to handle all of the pirates?
A. Hah! The world is so much safer than (American) news media wants to sell you. For the last two years we have slept with our cockpit door wide open. We do not carry firearms as they are impractical to handle checking into other countries as nowhere but the USA will permit you to have a firearm, and then you need to go back to your port of entry to pickup your gun as you leave - completely impractical for true, long-distance cruising. I know some folks who carry but simply hide the guns aboard and roll the dice that they will not get caught. That is a risk I am unwilling to take. Instead we keep up to date with the security bullitins and avoid areas of poor security and civil unrest. (e.g. mainland areas of Venezuela, Honduras, St. Vincent).
Q. Where do you shop for food?
A. Where ever we are! Sailing on a boat is such a luxury, if you don’t like your neighbors or the store doesn’t have the drink you like just sail to another place. Like moving but faster and waaay cheaper.
Q. Do you have a compressor on board?
A. Yes we have a Bauer air compressor on board that can fill up our diving tanks fast! so we
Q. Where do you get water?
A.
Q. Where do you wash your clothes?
A.
Q. How do the boys get social without a school?
A.
Q. What sucks about life on a boat?
A.
Q. What would you do differently?
A.