"What kind of life is that?"

[C. L. R. Dougherty]

It's the kind that we've chosen.

I was asked that question years ago by an obviously pampered, sheltered lady who had just learned that my wife and I lived aboard our cruising sailboat. That encounter was in North Carolina, not long after we had embarked on our life afloat. We've thoroughly explored the East Coast by water, as well as the Bahamas and the West Indies. We've been doing this for almost 12 years now.

Both of us are avid readers with omnivorous tastes. We've recently discovered the ease of enjoying Ebooks, which has changed our reading habits significantly. We have always had hundreds of books aboard our relatively small boat, which was a problem from a space and weight perspective, and since we've been cruising the Caribbean for the last 7 years, books have been hard to come by, especially good books. Books in this part of the world are scarce and expensive, but internet service has become relatively common. The ability to download what we want and keep thousands of titles in a small database, to be read at our whim on an ipod touch is wonderful.

Besides sailing, tinkering with the boat, and getting to know the delightful people in this part of the world, I enjoy writing. I've published a novel recently. I am about to publish a non-fiction book about what kind of life this is, and have more fiction works on the drawing boards.

We both haunt the web sites that sell Ebooks, and welcome any suggestions you might offer as to either titles or sources of Ebooks. As I mentioned, we read and enjoy all kinds of books. I'm looking forward to participating here, but will beg your patience in advance if I don't answer posts promptly. Internet service is a sometime thing, when you live on a voyaging sailboat.

Bud Dougherty

[Dexter]

Very jealous, do you work to support yourselves?

Welcome to Booktalk.

[C. L. R. Dougherty]

Thanks!

Just living this way is work. We both worked hard and saved money before we took off, and when we were in the States, we had part time work ocassionally. Working in the Caribbean countries is difficult for a U.S. citizen. Once you own the boat, this is an inexpensive way to live, assuming you can do your own maintenance -- hence my comment that just living this way is work. Most people we've met while cruising will tell you that they never worked as hard for money as they work to keep the boat going.

[Chris OConnor]

Welcome to BookTalk.org.

Wow, what a life! I'm hoping you stick around and share stories of your voyage.

[Harry Marks]

Sounds great. Hope the books do well.

If you had kids, would you feel comfortable raising them in this unconventional life? I had a friend whose parents took him out of school for one year in high school to sail round the world. He loved it, of course.

[lady of shallot]

It is not an uncommon thing in this area for parents to do this. Take the kids out of school and travel around by sailboat for a year or more. My husband would love to be along on a trip like this. Could the woman have asked the question out of envy or interest rather than lack of knowledge?

I'm not sure what Ebooks are but if an assortment is readily available, two I would suggest are West with the Night and one about a woman who sails a boat alone after her husband is swept overboard during a storm. Oh another great book about sailing and murder is "And the sea will tell". I'm assuming you have already read a fair number of books about solo sailing trips?

[C. L. R. Dougherty]

Thanks, Harry and Lady of Shallot.

As to the question about children, we have encountered a number of young families living as we do, and the children seem to thrive. They are generally home schooled, using materials from one of several organizations that support home schooling. I dont' know much about that. The children are much more accustomed to interacting with adults in day- to-day life than most children who grow up ashore, as mine did, so they tend to be mature beyond their years. One of the activities that occupies some of our time is attending book swaps among the cruising community, as books are scarce and expensive in many of the places where we spend time, and many long-term sailors are avid readers. The children we meet at book swaps are willing to engage us in discussions of what they are reading, and what we are reading, and are well able to hold up their end of the conversation, just as an example. They tend to not spend much time watching television or playing computer games, given the environment. Instead they interact with the people around them -- other children, to be sure, but adults as well. I wish, in hindsight, that I had been able to raise my children this way. It's clearly a broadening experience, as well as providing the opportunity for them to assume responsiblility and build self confidence. We see many young children picking up their share of boat maintenance as well standing watches when under way.

Thanks for the book suggestions, Lady of Shallot. Ebooks are electronic books, which a great for us as they take up none of our limited space. They are also available to us via internet downloads, where paper books can be hard to come by down in the islands. We've read the books you mentioned, and second your recommendations. I can't remember the title of the one about the lady who lost her husband, either. "And the Sea Will Tell" was indeed a fine book, and a real thriller, considering that it was a true story. We read all of the sailing related books that we could find when we were at the stage of dreaming about the cruising life, but now that we are living it, they don't have quite the same appeal for us.

[Dawn]

Sailing and reading are perfect counterparts! We only do sailing 'sprees' locally (on the West Coast) but a book is an indispensable accompaniment for me. Have you read The Brothers K by David James Duncan? That was last summer's sailing book for me. Not to be confused with Doestoevsky's classic of a similar title! This could well be a modern take-off on it though--there are brothers and a dad working out the importance or insignificance of belief in their lives--set in the America of the 60's with brief excursions to Vietnam. It's thoroughly readable, loveable, laughable, poignant and thought-provoking. It's on the long side, (but enjoyably so!) and what will that matter if you don't have to drag around a heavy volume--hope you can find an e-book version!

[C. L. R. Dougherty]

Thanks for the recommendation, Dawn.

We'll look for it in eBook, although we're in Caliifornia visiting family right now, so maybe we'll find it in a "dead tree" book to read while we're living on the dirt.