Who was ever worried that our kids wouldn’t have a social life once we started homeschooling?

Well, fear not! Not having a social life couldn’t be the furthest thing from actuality for Justine & Colin. Over the past two school years, they have been able to play with their friends, either occasionally after school or on the rare weekend when we're in town. There have also been neighbor kids at grandparents’ homes, cousins to play with, as well as weekly swimming & guitar lessons. Of course, in order to prevent over-scheduling, we still keep time in check, and continue to make sure that there’s ample down time at home. I’m still resisting a full schedule that can so easily happen when one is still living amidst a landlubber society.

This winter marked the beginning of everything we'd been looking forward to for Justine & Colin in their roles as "cruising kids". We finally met another cruising family aboard a catamaran also on the hard in the boatyard. Another family with similar cruising plans & two kids practically the same ages as ours! We've known that we would eventually meet other cruising families along the way. And, I can't count how many times I've shared my “cruising kid” stories with Justine & Colin, letting them know, that one day they too, would meet other kids doing the same sort of thing.

It’s amazing how life at the boatyard has changed & become so much fun! Even though Wil & I work all day long on the boat, Justine & Colin both love being there. They have newfound friends with whom they roam the boatyard. For a while it was only the four kids, and then it wasn’t too much longer before two more families showed up in the yard. At one time, there were 8 kids ranging from ages 7 through 13. We even hosted our first birthday party aboard Full Monty, and we’re not even in the water yet! All the kid activity has me reminiscing about my old Masonboro Boatyard days as a 7-year-old living aboard a sailboat with my family. That was when I met someone who is still one of my dearest & closest friends today. Who knows? Maybe Justine & Colin have just met some new lifelong friends.

In addition to the kids playing together, all of them are Calvert homeschoolers. We get to share schooling experiences, as well as get ideas from each other. Some of us have been at it for 1 or 2 years, and some have just begun the homeschooling journey.

Kids aside, it has been absolutely wonderful to have the adult companionship within the boatyard . . . others with whom we can share boat work ideas, woes & successes, as well as evening drinks & dinners. It’s definitely “cruising” while on the hard! We are three catamaran families on similar schedules, so even if some are departing very soon, there’s hope that one day we’ll be able to meet up with them again somewhere in the South Pacific.