From Florida to Thailand and beyond: Nate and Megan’s Journey on Sailing Scout

January 22, 2025
January 22, 2025 annika

What does it take to transition from life on land to sailing across oceans? For Nate and Megan from Sailing Scout, it started with an ASA course, a bareboat charter, and a dream to explore the world with their two children. Step by step, aboard their 1992 Privilege catamaran Scout, they’ve sailed over 20,000 nautical miles in just two years.

In this episode of the Liveaboard Sailing Podcast, we explore their impressive and inspiring journey. From learning the ropes in a Florida marina to crossing oceans, Nate and Megan share what it’s been like to embrace the cruising lifestyle. They discuss their choice of a “vintage” Privilege catamaran, the realities of travelling with kids, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

We also delve into the family dynamics of life at sea—how they’ve grown closer as a family, the lessons their kids have learned from this unique lifestyle, and their plans to return to the US via Europe and through the Red Sea.

Tune in to hear Nate and Megan’s impressive journey and practical advice for anyone dreaming of the cruising lifestyle.

You can find Nate and Megan on YouTube at Sailing Scout or on Instagram at Sailing Scout Family.

 

Transcript:

Nate and Megan – Sailing Scout

So let’s go. You had no boating experience when you started this adventure, or at least very little of it, and choosing the right boat must have been quite daunting. And I’m curious, could you tell me what drew you to your catamaran, and did you have any help or guidance in making that decision?

Megan: So we knew we wanted to catamaran for space and stability. I wanted a very stable platform, and so we knew we wanted to go in the direction of a catamaran, and I wanted to have a wide beam.

I thought that was gonna just be a more stable comfortable ride. And so we were looking for boats that had over 24 foot, beam. And that narrows the pool down, and at the time that we were searching for our boat There was very little inventory out there, so we didn’t have a ton of options, and we found Scout, and we loved her because she was really beamy, she was a proven cruiser, she had already traveled around the world, and she had vintage charm.

She wasn’t a production boat, so she had just this this look of kind of like an old school boat, which I fell in love with.

Nate: Yeah, and I’m the budget guy. So we had to have something that fit in the budget. And knowing nothing about engines, I like the idea of having two. So I was definitely on board with a catamaran.

And then ideally would have loved to buy a boat that had cruised already, as opposed to something that was coming out of a charter fleet that we were going to have to equip that we were just going to be fumbling around about what to do and what to buy and what spares to have on board.

And so getting a boat that had just come out of cruising was a real benefit for us given that we didn’t know much coming in.

Megan: Another thing actually thinking back on it that was really important to me at the time was having a galley down. Knowing that we were going to be homeschooling on the boat and we had two active kids, I wanted our salon to be really open and have space for craft activities, but also just moving bodies. And I didn’t want to have worry about having the kitchen or the galley right in that space. And Scout had that galley down and so, yeah, it was it kind of felt sort of like magic when we found her, like, we just sort of knew she was our boat.

Yeah.

Annika: The galley up or down debate is definitely ongoing in the catamaran world. I’ve heard a fair share of that as well. What kind of boat is it then? And now knowing, what you know after 20 something thousand nautical miles, would you still make the same choice?

Nate: Yeah, so it’s a 1992 Privilege, 482. So 48 feet and like Megan said, it’s over, it’s almost 27 feet of beam, so it’s real beamy. I for sure would, and we’ll probably maybe talk about this more later, the prior owner has been amazing. So he took her 10 years around the world with his family and just loved the boat and knew every inch of it.

He’s been so supportive of us answering questions. You know for months and now years all my questions, so he’s just been amazing So I definitely now knowing that there’s no way I would consider any other boat. The one thing that we’ve learned about her that I didn’t really appreciate coming in and again, I would still be that would be the boat.

She is Overbuilt the hauls are super thick, there’s just they didn’t know basically how good fiberglass was and how little you really needed in a catamaran back in 1992 the cruising catamaran was, it was just coming into its own in the early nineties. So she is heavy.

She’s great. She feels wonderful in the open seas. She is not going to win any races. So that’s, that’s definitely what we’ve learned. And I wouldn’t choose a different boat, but when you’re cruising with somebody else, it’s like, Hey, look, we’ll, you know, we’ll see you when we get there.

Annika: Yeah, but you know, pros and cons, right, like with everything and actually the Privilege boats are built right here where I live in France. I go walk by the factory basically on a daily basis. I see they’re now very modern boats, which are ridiculously amazing

Megan: Yeah,

Annika: Very nice to look at.

Megan: Very different from our old girl, but it’s a great company. They know how to build solid, sturdy boats.

Annika: Yeah,

a quality boat company for sure. Now Nate, in one of your videos you said something about it’s not about sailing and that maybe weekend sailors are probably better sailors than you are. And I’m wondering, can you unpack that for us? And what does that mindset mean for you when you approach this lifestyle that is all about sailing?

.

Nate: Right. So first off, I really enjoy sailing that moment when you get the sails up and you turn the engine off and it’s just the sound of the waves in the water. It’s magical. So I really like sailing at this point. And when I say it’s not about sailing, I guess, it is a, so first off, the weekend sailors, if you get out in your bay and you’re sailing around and coming back to the back point and doing figure eights or whatever, you’re hitting all different points of sails and you’re tacking and you’re jibing and you’re doing all this stuff that we don’t do right? So when you make passages you typically have a pretty consistent wind angle and you just go right. So we get sails up and we get them about right and then that’s that right now you have to be able to react and if conditions change and get getting canvas down when you need to like that’s super important you got to be able to do that. But no, like if we were going to do a you know figure eight race in your bay back home You’re going to destroy me for sure.

And when I say it’s not about sailing also we’ve met boats that yeah, I mean almost everybody has more sailing background on us. It’s impossible to have less sailing background than us but there are times where like oftentimes it’s the the guy that either the dad or just the husband if they don’t have a family whose had a sailing background..

Maybe he’s had racing in his background and he just loves it and he sort of convinces the family to come with him. Well, really being out here, you’re an anchor way more than you’re moving. And then when you’re moving, like I said, you’re not doing all kinds of fancy sails stuff. So it’s a nice coincidence if it works out that like somebody who has this passion for literally the sailing, it also, translates to maintaining the boat and living and anchor off grid and all this kind of stuff that cruising is about.

But when you think about, when I think about, in my opinion, the totality of cruising, the literal sailing part, you know, working the sheets, etc., is a pretty small piece of the equation. .

Megan: We have this sort of motto set it and forget it. That’s the beauty of it. When you’re just making that passage.

Annika: No, that actually makes sense. So it’s actually nice a little bit reassuring to hear that it’s not that Not much about all that. What I’m hearing from you it’s about life on on water. Not so much about the sail trim. Yeah,

Megan: But I will make the distinction that we would not like to have a motor boat. You know, we love having the sails because it lets us be more gentle and simple. The systems are more simple and just what Nate said, turning those engines off and just letting the wind do its work is so gratifying.

Nate: Oh yeah. And also there’s people that will, if, Hey, you’re going below a certain spot, like we sail when we can sail. I mean, we filled up in Panama and we didn’t fill up again, until Australia, right? So we used the wind, no doubt. It’s just, that’s not what drew us into this lifestyle.

Megan: Yep.

Annika: right. Exactly. It’s not about the speed, right? It’s about the journey.

Now, Megan, you’ve described the boat as your home, but not as your house. And that’s such an intriguing way and I’m sure an accurate way of putting it. But can you share a little bit more about that distinction and what it means to you and how it maybe influences the way you live on board?

Megan: Yeah, absolutely. So, obviously before we had been on the boat or living on the boat, I had no idea what it would be like. And I sort of just had this vision of transferring life in a house onto the sailboat. And the longer that we’re out here, the more disconnected those two things become. What we’ve done is made the choice that journeying is more important than day sailing or staying in one region for a really long time and being at anchor more often.

So when you are journeying more or voyaging more, it puts more wear and tear on your boat. And I think that has really helped me, to shift the mentality of this is not a home. It’s not about decorating the space or having everything be really comfortable. We’re constantly battling with the elements.

Water gets in the boat. Sun destroys everything. Salt water is so hard. the wind and just the movement of the boat when we’re underway. Things are creaking, and grinding. Things fall off shelves. Underway cooking a meal in the galley can be challenging. Those types of things have really shifted in my mind from, the first few hundred to even few thousand miles to now, being more of a seasoned journeyer, I guess.

The other thing that’s really different is when you live in a house, you have predictability and stability, you know, you go out your front door, you know, what you’re going to see, you know, where the grocery stores are and, you know, your neighbors.

That’s constantly shifting and changing for us. Community is different. Every, every place we go, knowing where to get the things that are really important to you, your groceries or a doctor or things like that, that’s constantly shifting and changing. And I think, that’s an important aspect of what a house is.

Knowing that when you come home to it, those things are going to be stable and predictable. And when you’re in your boat, even just that anchor, the wind shift, And your boat is constantly spinning the way that the sun is coming in. We’ll be eating breakfast and all of a sudden the sun will shift and you’ve got the sun in your eyes on one side.

So you move your sunshade, and then the wind shifts again and the boat shifts. And so we have to move the sun shade over to the other side to prevent the sun from being in your eyes. You’re constantly battling those things and it’s also one of the greatest beauties about living that way is we’re so close and connected to nature.

We shower outside, our car is a convertible, no matter what the weather conditions are, you know, so it’s just things like that, that have, that have shifted in my mind.

Annika: Yeah, that’s really well said, and it’s a good observation that, you know, when you go on cruising, you’ll probably end up Googling where’s the closest grocery store all the time. Which us landlubbers don’t need to do. I did a eight way road trip this summer through Europe, and I ended up Googling a lot, where’s the next nearest grocery store.

Grocery store, and I did think of active cruisers. I was like, yes, this is what it is all the time. You’re in a new country. You don’t know where anything is. So you need to get a restart all the time, but at least on a boat, you have your home with you, you know, you can take your home. You don’t need to find a place to sleep, which is so much better than traveling from a hotel to a hotel.

Megan: Absolutely. And she definitely is our home. It’s where our heart is.

Annika: Let’s take a short break. When we come back, Nate and Megan discuss adjusting to living off grid and what that transition looked like for them.

This episode is brought to you by Mahina offshore services. If you’re preparing for the cruising lifestyle, Mahina Offshore Services is here to guide you every step of the way.

Whether you’re looking for hands on training, expert advice, or practical resources, John Neal a friend of the podcast and a frequent guest on the show, offers three invaluable ways to help you get ready.

First, Offshore Sail Training Expeditions. These hands on experiences are designed to help you build confidence and refine critical skills in real world conditions. In 2025, these expeditions will take place in Scotland, a stunning and challenging sailing destination where you’ll learn seamanship, heavy weather tactics, navigation, and more all the while sailing alongside an experienced mentor.

John also offers personalized boat selection consultations because choosing the right boat is a big decision and John’s personalized consultations are tailored to your cruising plans, your budget, and your preferences. With his decades of experience, you’ll get expert guidance to make a decision you can feel confident about.

And last but not least, the virtual cruising seminar. This comprehensive seminar is ideal for anyone preparing for offshore cruising. It’s packed with practical advice and comes with a 260 page offshore cruising companion book, giving you just about everything you need to learn at your own pace and plan your dream adventure.

Visit mahina. com to explore these resources and download the free guide called Selecting and Purchasing an Ocean Cruising Boat.

Annika: So, obviously, you are traveling as a family, and I’m imagining living off grid with the family of four might have been a bit of an adjustment, and I’m curious how has that transition been for you, and I’d love to hear what do you find or found challenging, and has there been anything rewarding on the other side of more off grid living?

Nate: I can start. So what’s been challenging? We added a fair amount of solar. We added a solar arch over the dinghy davits. So we have 2, 600 watts of solar, which is a good amount at this point. We’re fortunate on a big wide catamaran with the dinghy davits to, to be able to put more back there.

For me, the challenge has not been like, Oh, turn the lights off, use less water type of thing. The challenge, and it’s something I didn’t fully think about before getting in, is that I have to maintain it, right? Meaning, at home, the water never went out in my faucet or it tended to work.

Whereas now, we’ve blown the main fuse so the whole boat went completely dark right? Early on where we just, we had too many things going in the kitchen and Boom, the main breaker went and like, okay. Well, where’s that? How do I deal with it? But if the house water pump goes out or you know a connection to the solar charge controller goes like, you know, all of those things happen and you know there’s nobody to call like it’s like, okay now you don’t have any power on the boat, Now you don’t have water.

Like Maintaining those systems that’s been the challenge for me And that’s the learning curve. Like when I think about living off grid and making that transition it’s oh now I got to be conservative and there’s that too, but that was less hard for me. And then the rewarding part is the obvious of where You know, some boats kind of hop from marina to marina and we don’t we just stay out there We’re on anchor for months and months and months and months and that is just so Empowering not having to think about External infrastructure in terms of the grid, whatever that like we’re just good.

We bring our own power. We bring our own water we can go where we want to go for how as long as we want to go.

Megan: it’s true freedom. It really does feel like that. And when we first moved onto the boat the kids for the first year or so, talked often about missing home, and everything was a comparison to land life versus boat life, but it’s been really awesome in this last year to see the change in them, instead of talking about wanting to go home or the things that they had at home.

Um, now that they. Talk has changed to more. Oh when I’m older and I have my boat and when I have my family and I’m going to be sailing around the world with them. It’s been so cool to see that.

Annika: That’s so great to hear. How cool. Um, I have to ask since you guys now are then the plumbers and the electricians and the mechanics and everything that you might need. Did you guys study anything or have you just learned as you go as you things pop up or do you have some I don’t know guidebooks bibles that you refer to when things go south?

Nate: Yes to all the above except perhaps we didn’t take any formal classes on any of that. And I do have some of the old like, the mechanics of everything but in this day and age and we have Starlink like almost everybody does. So now, something pops up, oftentimes I’m online googling it.

But I learned as a go and what you really, I mean, you hear it said and it’s true. I, you learn your boat as things break. So the systems and the portions of systems that have broken that I’ve had to figure out and repair, those are the ones that I understand really well. And then there’s things that are on our boat that have worked for the two and a half years we’ve been on it.

And I don’t have a clue how they work. But when they break, I’ll figure it out. And you hear that a lot. You learn the boat as it breaks.

Megan: You can’t underestimate the cruising community either. If you have a problem and you don’t know how to fix it and you haven’t been able to find the solution online you pop on to WhatsApp groups or talk to the other boats in the Anchorage and somebody usually can help you or point you in the direction.

Annika: Yeah for sure and I’m sure there is like you said there is no reason to Start learning everything if nothing’s broken yet So don’t fix it if it’s not broken and there’s so many things that could potentially go wrong that that would be just a waste of time and i’m sure As we know, things break all the time.

So you probably have your hands full, even with the things that do break on schedule.

Nate: For sure, and as I start out, a problem would pop up and I would break two other things in trying to fix that problem. Which was frustrating at the time because I realized that after I finally solved the initial thing, it’s like, oh, yeah, those are two other problems that I felt good when I solved.

I realized that I had created, and there’s kind of, I mean, at least coming at it as a novice, there’s no way around that. But I definitely created some of my own problems. So yeah, the cardinal rule is if it’s not broken, don’t mess with it. Yeah,

Annika: then as you said, there’s always a helpful community that can step in if things go beyond our understanding. So that’s great as well. I’ve heard that from a lot of cruisers for sure. now, before your first ocean crossing, which was the Pacific, a small little pond to start with, you encountered some naysayers and what kind of feedback or were there warnings were they giving you?

And how did you handle that? And I’m wondering, did their words have an impact? Did they cause you to doubt yourself or were you just going with confidence ?

Megan: We were ready to go early in the season earlier than most boats go across. It was early January and sort of the herd if you will of cruisers that we knew were coming from the Caribbean hadn’t arrived in Panama yet. We knew from experience that we just couldn’t sit around and wait for everyone.

So we made the decision to go. I was terrified. And we had some good friends and just other people saying, you’re going too early, you’re, going to be exposing yourselves to weather and no wind and conditions that are going to set you up for potential danger. Uh, you’re also not going to have a community of boats that are out there with you.

So if something goes wrong, you’re going to be alone. And I mean, some of the feedback was quite severe that we’re putting our family in danger, we’re being irresponsible… and I was already nervous to cross. And that was really hard for me. Nate and I had a lot of soul searching conversations about whether or not we should wait and if we were even ready to do it at all.

I mean, with such little sailing experience, maybe we weren’t ready. And we decided that we were, and we trusted ourselves, we trusted our boat, and we went. It was the best experience that we’ve had in the past two years. We had just such a beautiful journey across the Pacific. The weather was great.

The wind was wonderful. It was slow. We didn’t have, we didn’t have strong winds. We didn’t have big seas. But it was beautiful. It was a beautiful time for our family. And I think that was one of the places where our kids had a mind shift. Just being the four of us together on the boat for 31 days across the sea, they loved it.

Annika: Yeah that’s a decent amount of time to spend with just your family and really get into the lifestyle, I suppose. And I’m sure there were highs and lows, even on that journey, but obviously you’ve gone well beyond the Pacific now, but I’m wondering, I’m sure that the highs and lows continue.

Everybody tells me that cruising life is all about the high highs and low lows. And I’m wondering, what keeps you motivated and gets you through those tough times?

Megan: So, I think for us , we had really struggled during hurricane season in the Caribbean when we were stuck in Grenada. I call it stuck. We were there for a long time, it really worked on our morale lower and lower and lower the longer that we were there feeling that we were just confined because of weather or because of you don’t leave before this time period.

And when we left finally, and we’re journeying again, we just felt like this big weight lifted off of us. And then when we had crossed the Pacific and we were in French Polynesia, we met a lot of boats. We were only allowed to be in French Polynesia for 3 months because of the visa. And then there was a lot of cruisers that had applied for extended visas 1 or 2 years.

We knew a lot of people that were going to do their entire cruising life that they had 2 years that they were going to do it. They bought their boat in French Polynesia and they knew they were going to sell their boat in French Polynesia and 2 years exploring French Polynesia. That was what their, their goal was, and their journey was, and we sort of had this light bulb moment of.

Wow, that is just not for us. I had felt a little bit jaded that we were only going to have 3 months there and disappointed we weren’t going to be able to see more. It was this sort of shift of, as a family, what keeps Scout motivated and what keeps Scout going is moving. And once we decide, once we kind of hit that our eyes wide open, that’s been our motivation.

Knowing that we’re not going to be able to see everything, no matter how much time we have out here. There’s no way that we’ll see every island, every atoll, every reef. Every culture and knowing that we will be done at some point, seeing as much as we can in that period of time and being excited about what we are able to see and what’s gonna be next instead of being regretful about not being able to spend more time in one place.

And really also enjoying the time when we’re on passage. I think that’s a real difference that some people hate being underway. They just get seasick or just wears them down with fear or other things and we, we really, as a whole, I think our family enjoys the movement and sort of the wild freedom of being out there.

And once we were able to pinpoint that it really helped us to have a target of what’s going to keep us going.

Nate: I agree with all that. And for a long time it was like, there’s this sort of traditional route and oh, you should do this and you should do there and oh, you’re all the way to here.

Like, you’re so close. You got to see this. We had the realization, like, you can’t, there’s no winning or losing that game, you know what I mean? Like, you see what you see and you miss what you miss. And the people who stay a long time and really thoroughly explore one place are not seeing whole other regions, right?

So. That’s just a trade off we made. And we’ve been fortunate, jumping into this. Like I said, we didn’t have the background to know how it was going to go, what we were going to like and dislike. And we, I feel like we’re fortunate in that I only got seasick a bit in the beginning. And now, none of us really get seasick.

Kyren and I don’t ever get seasick at all. And we like being out there. And plenty of other cruisers like, sort of the passages are the necessary evil to get from one amazing place to another amazing place. And that’s not the case for us. We like the passage and I love like the first time strolling down a street, in a new place is one of my favorite experiences of cruising.

And so yeah, it’s fortunate that it’s sort of, we’re all a bit simpatico in that in the sense of like, we move at a quicker pace. We do more miles per month than most boats do. and it works for us. It’s not a better or worse. We’re not necessarily advocating that for others, But really figuring out what works for you and what your true north is I think helps avoid the big slumps and then yeah cruising’s got the day to day ups and downs that just You know, you got to take a deep breath and enjoy the good and hopefully the good outweighs the bad.

Annika: Yeah. And I mean, even those slower cruisers, they’ll never see everything. And I think it’s just so great that you just do what you think you want to do. That’s what the whole lifestyle is about, right? Like you choose your own adventure, whether you go fast or slow or both depending on the destination.

I think it’s just great. And you’ve already, you’ve seen a lot of countries already. Could you tell me a little bit, where are you cruising at the moment? And what are those cruising grounds like?

Megan: So right now our boat is in Thailand and Thailand’s awesome. It’s one of my favorite places that we’ve been culturally. It has beautiful water, beautiful islands, but the people are so, so kind. The food’s delicious,, the landscape’s beautiful, and the history, and the architecture are just, just so awesome.

It’s the most exotic place that I’ve ever been before, so it’s been really exciting for me to get there and to be there.

Nate: Yeah, that’s right. I love the remote islands and there’s the beauty but I also really love being to places with also culture. And Thailand has it both. Singapore was great getting to a city.

I like cities, and Indonesia too. I mean, just so it was, whereas Indonesia and Thailand, especially, it’s, it’s a really cool combo of, Heavy culture, but also, you can get remote and the beauty there too. So, , Southeast Asia has been a nice combo in that regard.

Annika: Yeah, I mean you guys have seen a lot and your kids have seen so much and they’re just so young still they’re 11 and 13 thereabouts? So for their age They’ve seen so much and i’m sure there are a lot of kids who can just dream about doing all these things by their age And you touched on Megan earlier that they’re already talking about the future like oh when they have their boat and they have their family So maybe this lifestyle is already shaping their World view as well, but I’m wondering what have they taken from this lifestyle of traveling?

Megan: Well, that’s, that’s a great question. But what I see from them is the connection to nature. They both absolutely adore the water. They have no fear. Sharks are in the water and they’re like, Oh, we can’t wait to get in.

And Kyren can free dive to almost 60 feet. So they just have such an appreciation and a connection to being out in nature that I think is so wonderful. And they have, their fear factor. So, just going by themselves to an abandoned island, where there’s a jungle and no people.

They’ll just set off on their own, bring a backpack with some provisions, water, a flashlight, and some snacks. And they’ll go exploring. They’ll be gone for a few hours, and then, They’ll Here they come back on their paddle board with just these glowing faces. I think that’s a real wonderful aspect of this lifestyle where we can send them out and you don’t have to be as worried about traffic or some of the things that happen in bigger metropolitan areas.

Nate: And I think, you know, the jury’s out. I mean, we’ll, we’ll see, and we talk about it a lot with other cruisers with kids. It’s a trade off, right? I mean, Kyron loved being on a Little League baseball team, right? And he’s not able to have those experiences and other land based experiences.

But there’s, like Megan mentioned, there’s so much else that they are able to get. I really think it’s going to be a big long term positive. I love, just in terms of the nature Megan mentioned, but also, We go to some really remote, off the beaten track restaurant in Indonesia where there’s a menu that we don’t know what the food is.

And I know when I was their age, I would have, like, No, thanks, uh uh. And they just dive in and eat everything, and I think that is just so amazing. And, you know, we’re both Americans from the U. S., and I don’t know what the percentage is, but it, but an unfortunate, in my opinion, percentage of Americans don’t even have a passport.

So, being able to, to give them the breadth of cultural experiences that we’re able to give them it’s for sure going to shape them, and obviously Megan and I are very optimistic that it’s for the good.

Megan: Yeah, and just their exposure to seeing how other people live. We come from the United States and, we’re so privileged in that.

And I think so many kids are raised with sort of this entitlement and having our kids see that the rest of the world is not like that. And just like Nate said, going to a restaurant where you can’t read the menu, you don’t know what the food’s going to be, the restaurant really almost doesn’t even look like a restaurant.

These experiences, for better or worse, are definitely going to shape them, and they’re going to have a wider view of what the world as a whole really is, versus just growing up in one community, one neighborhood, going to one school their whole life.

Annika: Yeah, absolutely and that’s a really good point, but it sounds like you are raising some really active open minded and educated Kids there so well done to the parents there as well Now as we touched on before you didn’t come into this lifestyle with a lot of experience But now you’ve got 20, 000 miles Under your keel.

So you are perfectly qualified to answer the next question, which is what would be your advice to somebody who is at the beginning of the journey now?

Nate: I would say, it’s daunting. And the things to learn on a boat, things to learn with the lifestyle, etc. And if there’s however many things to do, sort of view it as a mountain, not as a wall, meaning there are people and mentalities that have this long checklist of a hundred things that like I’ve got to do and know before I get out there.

And if you look at it that way, you probably never will. Right? Versus like hold on like I got this checklist of five things that yes, I have to know, to be confident I’m not gonna go sink this boat the second I leave the dock or even before I buy a boat but then you learn as you go, right?

So that’s my big advice is just Get out there. Now be smart about it, right? The first jump you do shouldn’t, you shouldn’t be on a dock with zero experience in San Francisco and then head out for 5, 000 miles to the Marquesas, right? But, and that’s where, you know, we spent a year in the Caribbean, and months and months before we ever did our first night passage. But we get out there, right?

And you can’t do 20, 000 miles before you do mile number one. So be okay with the fact that it is a journey and you are going to learn as we go. We have, we’ve learned a lot and I still got a ton to learn. So when I say that a mountain versus a wall, like you’re walking up a slope, as opposed to if you feel like you’ve got to get everything before you go, well, that’s just a wall that it’s really, really hard to get up.

Megan: I would just say the exact same thing. Just baby steps, take it slow. We used to just spend a whole day taking Scout off the dock, moving her a couple feet off the dock, and then moving her back again. And it was terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. But one thing led to another and we just crept our way up the Florida Keys and and finally felt confident enough to make the jump over to the Bahamas and then island hopped from there.

That was great training wheels ground, a great place to learn and so baby steps, trust yourself. Yeah, that’s it.

Annika: Yeah, absolutely. You know, use common sense and, and go, but don’t wait too long, I guess. And there’s a saying that goes something like you don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. It’s a little bit of that mentality like eventually you’re just have to go and learn the skills as you go, right?

And so your long term plan, as I understand it, is to return home, of course, through the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, which sounds absolutely fabulous. I’m so looking forward to seeing you guys go through that, and I’m wondering what excites you most about this route, and are there any particular challenges that you’re anticipating in that long route home?

Nate: No, for everything I’ve read it should just be smooth, smooth sailing the whole way. Nothing to worry about. Just when you say what am I looking forward to, first just pops in my head is like, I mean getting out there where, so, from Thailand we will probably hit the Maldives, sort of kind of halfway across the Indian Ocean, and then on to Djibouti and up the Red Sea, but, from what I’ve read macro wise about that passage, we’re going to be doing it at a lovely time of year with what should be great and smooth sailing conditions.

You’ve got to knock on wood when you’re talking about an ocean here but yeah. It should be the right time to do that ocean journey and so i’m Looking forward to that just getting out there. And then there’s always concerns going through that section of the world.

Right now Eritrea is um, They want boats to check in there and boats don’t want to check in there so they can Harass boats that go by um we’re we’re in the right networks with the other boats that are going to do it this season and they did it last season and what the feedback was from them and so you know, we’ve got some more learning to do but that’s the biggest concern ultimately I mean up the Red Sea the second half is all beating into the wind but that’ll be Challenging but doable and the geopolitical seems okay for now, but obviously we keep an eye on it.

Megan: That’s always been my biggest, uh fear zone, I guess thinking about the circumnavigation That area of the world gets me a bit nervous.

Nate: Got to interrupt. We would be out in the Bahamas. Hasn’t been a pirate around for hundreds of years and we’d be at night and some boat would be on the horizon And not on AIS and I’d get woken up.

Hey, it’s a pirate. There’s a pirate over there Megan. It’s not a pirate They don’t have AIS that doesn’t mean they’re a pirate So she’s come A little bit of a way on that, but it’s still, when there might actually be hostile boats out there, I think it’ll be some sleepless nights.

Megan: I have come a long way in that.

It is my biggest fear out here, unfortunately. I feel like I can handle a lot that Mother Nature throws at us, but the Interactions with other humans can sometimes be unsavory, and we haven’t had anything like that. We’ve heard some stories, but we haven’t experienced anything.

But unfortunately, that’s my biggest fear factor, and I do think I’m going to be on pins and needles going through that area of the world. But I Also, do not want to let the fear of the unknown hold me back when I embrace it and go through and really try to have a positive outlook as we do it. I think it’s going to be amazing to see that side of the world and to see that culture and just super, super excited to do that journey.

Annika: Yeah, there are a lot of cool countries along that route, and if you can pair up with some other cruisers who are heading the same way, that should certainly bring a little more safety in numbers kind of mentality into it, but I do love the, the mentality of yours, that you don’t want to let fear hold you back, because it certainly could, it could have kept you in the Bahamas or, or back in Florida,

Megan: Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. We could have just been still on the dock there or never left Panama. So it’s a big world and in general, people are amazing and kind and I know that. And, so, yeah, I just wanted to embrace that.

Annika: Yeah, for sure. And then you’ll have the whole Mediterranean to explore with like so many countries in relatively small area like that’s gonna be a lot of fun, I think.

Megan: Yeah, I’m so excited to show the kids that part of the world too. And it’ll be so different from the areas that we’ve traveled so far. And yeah, we have a lot to look forward to.

Annika: Yeah, you might be in for a bit of a culture shock after spending so much time coming from Asia and Africa, sort of Middle East and then popping up in Europe. but that’s the fun part of travel, right?

Megan: Exactly.

Annika: Now cruising obviously as I’ve heard from you say as well It brings families like yours closer in some ways, but I’m sure you can also test the relationships and in some other ways.

So I’m wondering could you tell me a little bit how has this lifestyle of Traveling and sailing and adventuring and homeschooling affected your bond as a family?

Nate: Hopefully this answer doesn’t affect our bond. When I got out here, I sort of thought naively that the time and proximity alone would bring us together. So before, before we started this journey, I was working and long hours and not seeing enough of the family, which is one of the reasons that, that we wanted to do this and do this when the kids were, you know, young.

But time and proximity is not enough and some of the specific challenges like Even with Megan and I, where, yes, we’re in close proximity almost all the time, but that doesn’t mean we’re having quality time. And then even specifically, the two of us having alone time, like just one on one connection time, I mean, it’s hard to even have a conversation on the boat that’s not heard by all four of us type of thing.

So, we really have to be conscientious about not just being in the same area of one another, which we are, but actually having quality time. And it’s the same with the kids. another challenge that we’ve dealt with that I didn’t think about or see coming is, , on land life, we were partners just like we are now, but there was much more division of labor.

Where I was out working and she home schooled the kids for a while before we left, but just maintaining the house and being the primary caregiver for the kids. And so, it was a bit of a separation. Whereas now, when we’re on this boat journey, it’s all munched together and we’re working together on the same stuff.

And that’s been, has been a challenge because our work styles, are quite different, as in terms of how I approach things and how she approaches things. And we’ve had to be partners on that as well, which has been, it’s been a challenge. So yeah, obviously we feel that the net is going to be positive and I believe that to be true and that we are closer as a family.

Certainly I’m closer with the three of them than I might have been had we not done this. But there, there are challenges that come with living on a small boat.

Megan: Yeah. Going in with your eyes wide open on that, just because you’re doing it doesn’t mean it’s gonna make you closer or make your family function better.

And being kind to another, making time and space for one-on-one quality time is so important and just being aware and recognizing the differences in how your kids, what, what they need in terms of learning or interactions, what we need in terms of, the space and the time to tackle a task and I think awareness really, really helps and sharing, being able to talk openly about what’s going on is so important because if you bottle things up, it will have a tendency to explode.

Annika: Yeah, communicating well when you live in such a small space with even if you were just two people, but especially with four, I’m sure that is absolutely crucial for everybody’s well being. And now you have given a ton of good advice already, for our listeners here, but I will squeeze you out for last little bits.

Because I know there are a lot of people out there listening who are considering this lifestyle, and maybe they’re thinking like, Oh, well, we got kids and they’re this and this age. I don’t know. Should we go now? Should we go later? Should we go never? Should we go when the kids are old and flown the nest?

So would you have any last Advice for someone who’s thinking about this lifestyle and whether to do it with kids, whether to wait and what age of kids and all that that they might be thinking about. Probably some things that you were considering as well before you left.

Megan: Yeah, my biggest piece of advice is to go and go now, do it while you’re motivated, do it while you’re young whatever age your kids are, there’s going to be challenges and there’s going to be advantages too. We’ve seen shifts in our kids definitely in the last two and a half years since we bought Scout and Pluses and minuses, and we’ve traveled with kids of all different ages and seen that.

So I don’t think that there is a right age for kids. I think just now is the right time and getting them exposed. And with the kids on board, getting them active, making them feel like they’re an active, important, givers and participants in the boat, having them have chores and getting them involved with trimming the sails or whatever it is on your boat so that they have a sense of responsibility and ownership of some things no matter how old they are. I think that that can be something with helping with dishes or sweeping the floor, to taking night watches depending on how old they are. I think that’s really, really important.

Nate: Yeah, I agree with all that. I mean, a little bit to reiterate what I said, but just, yeah, go. really pare down what you think you have to do or have to know and just get out there and use the community, ask all the dumb questions and learn, be open to learning, put yourself out there. But I used to think like, you read books or watch YouTube videos and it’s like, there’s this massive gulf between you and them, right?

This is, there’s a cruiser that I’m reading the book that has written a book about it, right? And it’s educational, but it’s also like, I can’t relate to that, right? Because that person’s just in a different category of me. And I guess if somebody hasn’t sailed or hasn’t gotten out there and now, here we’re talking with 20, 000 miles, gap isn’t there in the sense of, I thought, like, okay, here we are, the newbies.

Everybody’s gonna be like that person who wrote the book. And that’s not the case. You get out there and it, and you instantly can meet, or maybe not instantly, but very quickly you’ll get in the circles of meeting people who are just like you and just getting out there and you learn together and it just even on the dock man when we first got our boat like sort of walk like try to not make eye contact with these sailors that clearly know a bazillion things that I don’t know And like you gotta just leave that mindset because yeah, some people have been around the block and a lot haven’t and a lot know less than they Think that they know and so you just get out there ask all the questions learn, but You’re not gonna be alone if, you know, you just get out there, get the community, and, you know, we cruised down the Caribbean with a bunch of boats.

This was our first season, you know, so it’s, believe it or not, it’s not as intimidating, as it seems sitting on the couch at home.

Megan: Yeah, and so along with that sort of like the blinders that can be a little bit of an ego thing You know, you don’t want to make a fool of yourself. You don’t want to embarrass yourself. Check that out the door and same thing with your boat you know if you’re ready to go now and you can only afford a certain type of boat or a certain size of boat I would strongly encourage people to say that’s what I can afford now.

I don’t need to make my kitty bigger to, to get a bigger fancier boat. It’s about being out here and journeying and go small, go now,, I forget who wrote that book, but it’s so true. Go

Nate: simple, go small, go now. So It’s Lin and Larry Pardy. Yeah,

Megan: yeah, exactly. And, um, it’s not a competition about how fancy your boat is or how big it is or how fast it goes.

It’s just about being out here.

Annika: That is so well said, that’s excellent and you guys also share your adventure on YouTube and on Instagram. Do you want to remind everybody where people can go follow your adventure because clearly you have a lot of cool stuff coming up.

Nate: Yeah, uh, that’s right. We’re going to go around the other half of the world and the side that probably gets less chronicled a bit on YouTube. So, follow along, at Sailing Scout on YouTube. Video every Tuesday afternoon, U. S. time, Tuesday evening. Yeah, we’d love to, love to have you follow along.

Megan: Yeah, and Instagram is Sailing Scout Family.

Annika: Fantastic. And I will link those both in the show description and on the website as well. So people can go and click those links easily. Now Nate and Megan, thank you so much for joining me today for the podcast.

Megan: Yeah, thank you so much for having us. It’s been great meeting you and yeah, we’re just happy to share our stories. Hope we can inspire somebody out there.

Annika: I am sure you have already.

And just before we wrap up, I have a small favor to ask you, dear listener. If you liked this episode and found it helpful, it would mean so much if you could take a moment to rate and review the Liveaboard Sailing podcast on your favorite platform, wherever you listen. Reviews really help the podcast reach more aspiring sailors and liveaboard dreamers, especially now that we are relaunching after a break.

So if you can help me refresh those ratings and reviews, that would be amazing! Thank you so much for tuning into this week’s episode. If you’d like to explore more about Sailing Scout and their future adventures, check out the links in the show notes or on liveaboarsailingpodcast. com, where you will also find a full transcript of this episode.

Next time, we’ll hear a story from a couple exploring just about all of Europe, so be sure to tune in. Until then, take care and enjoy the journey. Bye for now.

,