Newly Salted: An Interview with the RoundAbout Crew at 6 months

Newly Salted: Interview with the crew of Roundabout at 6 months

Roundabout Crew!

Meet the RoundAbout Crew: Hello! We are Jared, Stefanie, Matthew, Zachary, Cadence, and Sunshine (Sunny). We are a family of 5 who ditched suburbia for a sailboat to explore the world. Along with our salty sailing pup, we are adventuring while living life afloat. We have been cruising for 6 months now in the Mediterranean and are working our way west towards crossing the Atlantic. You can follow the adventure on our blog and facebook page.

RoundAbout is a 2012 Leopard 46 catamaran. She is the 4 cabin version, so there is plenty of room for our family. We made quite a few modifications, such as adding new tech equipment, water maker, washing machine, and the kids’ favorite, a swing. 

Roundabout at anchor off Hydra Island, Greece.

How did you get started with sailing and why did you decide to untie the dock lines?

Jared and I had a little hobie cat 16 before we were married and you’d often find us out on a lake somewhere sailing that boat! We both love the outdoors and brought up our kids this way. They were sailing babies from the start and grew up accompanying us on races or just out day sailing in the Monterey Bay for fun. We would travel a little throughout the year, with maybe one big trip here and there. With work and school schedules, it just didn’t allow for much in the way of traveling. This is one of the reasons why we decided to make a change in our lives.

Our motivation: This trip was 10 years in the making. It started out as a dream and over the years we slowly worked towards making it a reality. Then, the summer of 2016, Jared was hospitalized. For a few days, doctors didn’t know what was wrong. That was one of the scariest moments of our lives and we decided right then, we would make this sailing adventure happen no matter what. That was what really got the ball rolling. We immediately began to sell off things we didn’t need and finished remodeling the house. About a year later, we had sold the house, most of our possessions, and were on our way.

We road-tripped across the US before moving onto our boat in the BVI. We had lived aboard for only 5 days before two category 5 hurricanes destroyed it. Fortunately, we were insured and were able to start over, despite being in a totally different ocean! 

Roundabout Crew!

What are your plans?

The plan? Sailors have a saying: plans are written in the sand at low tide. We had planned on starting from the Caribbean and look where that got us. So for now, we are sailing around the Greek islands until June and will then head up to Croatia for awhile (we need to check out of the Schengen Zone for a bit). From there, we will work our way west to cross the Atlantic Ocean back to the Caribbean for the winter and transit the Panama Canal in the spring. From there, it is on to the South Pacific.

Sailing between islands

What do you like the most about living on a sailboat and the cruising lifestyle?

It is definitely a much slower paced lifestyle and involves less stress. The freedom to spend our time as we choose, without being tied to a schedule is amazing. We look forward to exploring each new place and immersing ourselves in new cultures. It’s the magic of this lifestyle. Living on a sailboat means we take our home with us wherever we go. No packing or worrying about what to bring; we just haul anchor or untie the lines and we’re off! While sailing, we can walk around, make food, exercise...it’s a much less restrictive method of traveling.

Sunsets and sunrises never get old!

What do you find most challenging about living on a sailboat and the cruising lifestyle?

Living on a boat means there are limits to everything; hot water, storage, power...we have definitely learned a lot about conservation, much more so than living on land (and we really were conscious about our global footprint then). 

Another challenge is the weather. Sailing means you can’t always just pick up and go when you want. We are constantly checking the weather to ensure we are safe and in a good spot. If the winds change, we may need to change our location. Sometimes, we can go a week without having to worry about hauling anchor, but usually we are moving every few days. In extreme weather, we go tie up in a port until it blows over.

Finally, missing our family and friends back in California. We stay connected digitally and with occasional phone calls or emails. Sometimes, we have some visit us, and we absolutely treasure those moments.

Relaxing during a down-wind sail.

What is something you think potential cruisers are afraid about that they shouldn’t fear?

Of all the fears out there, I think dragging anchor and damaging the boat is at the top. This was one of my (Stef’s) fears, and it took me until about now to finally sleep through the night while at anchor. We swapped out our old Delta 55 for an 85lb Mantus which made a huge difference. It is important to invest in good ground tackle. It makes it easier to trust it. A good anchor alarm program also helps (we use the one that came with our chart plotter software). 

Apollo's Temple. Aegina, Greece.

Is there something you wish you would have brought with you that got left behind?

Our SUP boards! We left ours in storage because we had so much stuff packed already. We figured we would just buy new ones when we got to the boat. So far, we have not had any luck (things are super expensive over in the Med), but with summer approaching, we are hopeful to score some used ones. We really love SUP boarding and windsurfing, so we are on the hunt!

Even Sunny loves paddleboarding!

How have you been able to finance this cruising lifestyle?

We sold our house and most everything we owned to finance this adventure. Jared is a civil engineer and can work from anywhere (he is self-employed). I am on sabbatical from my school district, but I provide STEM education classes for kids and  work as an educational consultant occasionally, for schools, teachers, and parents. 

Sketching and taking notes in a museum. Worldschooling!

How do you handle the education and socialization of your children?  

We are worldschooling our kids with some of the traditional curriculum thrown in. I am a teacher, so I use what I normally would in my classroom. The benefit of travel, is we really get to learn about the culture and history—this really brings learning to life! Living afloat also provides many hands-on learning opportunities, such as navigation, geography, mechanics, and many other important life skills. I share some of these resources on our education page. 

As far as socialization goes, we try to meet up with other traveling families as often as we can. There are a few sailing family groups that we belong to and it is easy to meet up with someone from there, as long as the timing works out.

Their favorite place to hang out.

How do the kids feel about their life aboard?  

They love this life! The freedom and fun in exploring new places is one of their favorite aspects of traveling. They are involved with our planning and enjoy choosing places to visit. You will often find them fishing or swimming around the boat. On the flip side, they do miss their friends and family. 

Lots of fun when we find other kids! Delos, Greece

What have been some of the highlights so far?  

There have already been so many! We love experiencing new things, especially food. The anticipation of arriving to a new place is a great feeling. Exploring and just getting lost wandering the streets, leads to so many new discoveries. Also, meeting new people and making new friends around the world. 

Fiskardo bay, Kefalonia Greece