Want to find out more about living and sailing on a boat with children before you commit to a change of lifestyle or find some tips and tricks you could use yourself if you already live aboard? Read on to find out how Leah manages it!
Leah (33) & Jonathan (34) live aboard their 1989 Sabre 42, ‘Brio II’, with their son Zephyr (2.5). After falling in love whilst living on opposite coasts, they decided to buy a sailboat together in 2011 ‘somewhere in the middle’. They spent time cruising Pacific Mexico and Central America before transiting the Panama Canal, sailing through the Western Caribbean and up to Maine, USA, where Zephyr was born a few years later. Following a boat upgrade to Brio II, they are currently on the hard and thinking about where they’d like to go next.
Tell us a bit about yourself...
What are your names, where is home and when did you leave etc?
We are Leah (33), Jonathan (34) and Zephyr (2.5) on the sailboat Brio II, a 1989 Sabre 42.
Jon and I started living aboard and cruising in 2011 on our Nor’West 33, Brio. I’m from Vancouver, Canada and Jon is from Maine, so after the inconvenience of long-distance dating (something I’d never planned on, but hey you can’t dictate love, right??) we decided to buy a sailboat together.
Since we were on opposite coasts already, we figured anything “in the middle” was on the table. In the end, we bought Brio in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, and were incredibly lucky to spend our first three years of live-aboard life cruising Pacific Mexico and Central America. We found Mexico to be the ideal first cruising ground – warm, cheap, delicious food, friendly people, and tons of experienced cruisers to lean on when the boat breaks down (which ours always seemed to be doing!!).
In 2014 we sailed through the Panama Canal, up the Western Caribbean and then up the US East Coast to Maine. At this point we were *entirely* broke and the boat was desperately needing some love, so we had a few goals for our time in Maine: get out of debt, fix up the boat, save some money to go again, and have a baby.
Accomplishing these goals took a little longer than planned – turns out making a baby isn’t always as easy as you’d hope – but after four years of living aboard (through some verrrrry cold Maine winters and incredible Maine summers), Zephyr was born in Portland, Maine and we were ready to head south again.
We cruised the US East Coast on our 33’ sailboat until Zephyr was about 18 months, and then we hit a bit of a wall: I’ve been super lucky to be able to work remotely throughout almost all of our cruising, but the juggle of trying to work and live and cruise and raise an increasingly-active toddler all within the same 33’ space just felt like too much. So we set about on a hunt for a “Brio II”, and found her – a 1989 Sabre 42 – in the Chesapeake about a year ago.
We’re currently on the hard in St Marys, Georgia (so I’m looking for any tips about living on the hard with a toddler!), and while we have “intentions” for the coming years, I wouldn’t say we have plans anymore… COVID-19, having a kiddo, continuing to juggle work and cruising… we’ll let the plans write themselves 
Why do you choose to live this lifestyle?
Oh gosh, how long of an answer can I give??
Let me start by saying that we both grew up sailing – Jon on classic wooden boats in Maine, and me with my sister and parents on a Fraser 41’, Synchronicity, that my dad built. My family actually spent four years circumnavigating, so I had the huge advantage of having grown up with this lifestyle ingrained in me.
We’ve always known we wanted to live on a sailboat together – we love being on the water, being more connected to nature and the weather (sometimes too connected, as when it’s pouring rain and we’re discovering all the leaks in our new boat!), meeting other like-minded cruisers with their incredible stories and backgrounds (cruisers are such colorful characters!!), the freedom to choose your location and neighbors while always keeping your “home” with you, and honestly the satisfaction that comes from the sometimes-freaking-hard choice of living on a boat.
Given all that, I always knew I wanted to raise our family on a boat too. Granted, I thought I’d have two little giggly girls and instead I got one adventurous boy and now feel we are very much “one-and-done”, but I love raising the little guy in this lifestyle.
We spend SO much time together (sometimes too much, I’ll be honest) and seeing the world through his eyes has honestly brought a whole new level of wonder to our cruising. Not to mention kids are amazing door-openers and conversation-starters, and I feel like making connections with others is even easier than it was before.
What do your friends and family think about you living and travelling on a boat?
I think because we both grew up with this life, they’ve always half-expected we would continue it as adults.
We did get a few “but you’ll move off when you have kids, right?” comments but for the most part we’re lucky to have understanding family who support us and our dreams.
I think this might be a good time to note that living a nomadic lifestyle does mean you don’t get the benefit of built-in babysitters and community. In hindsight, I think our newborn days might have been easier if we’d been more planted in a community, but you live and learn, right??
We try to prioritize spending at least a few months each year with our families, and this serves the double-purpose of bonding time with Zephyr as well as a little break from boat-life for us. I was lamenting how hard it was to liveaboard year-round to someone in the early days, and they made the comment, “you know you don’t win an award for spending every night on the boat, right?”
Somehow I’d felt like I was cheating when I wasn’t on the boat, but this comment helped me realize that actually a little break can be exactly the refresher I need to be invigorated about life afloat again.
Did you spend any/much time aboard while you were pregnant?
The whole time! Too much information I’m sure, but Zephyr was conceived on the boat and we lived aboard for my whole pregnancy. We would shrink-wrap in a clear plastic “bubble” for the cold winters in Maine, and we actually “debubbled” and moved the boat on my due-date. He was two days late
I had two concerns about being pregnant onboard: would I still fit in the head?! And would I be able to get in and out of the v-berth (the bed on the Nor’West 33 was super high up)? Thankfully the answer to both of these was yes, and while I was super slow and ungainly at the end, I could still get into my own bed!
How old was your son when he moved aboard?
We came home from the hospital with him.
What modifications have you had to make to your boat to have your son onboard safely?
Oh gosh, this is an ever-evolving list. What’s that thing they say about kids? “Just when you think you have them figured out, they change all over again”?
In the early days the list was pretty short – a ring-sling, a baby wrap, and a safe little spot (that used to be a cupboard) for Zephyr to sleep. We were also super anal about introducing him to lifejackets and sunhats, so he’s always been good about wearing both without complaint.
As he became more mobile, our “keep the baby in bed” systems became more complex. We added a lee cloth with a zipper, and then when we moved onto the bigger boat we bought a pop-up tent for him to sleep in. The tent has actually been one of the best parenting hacks ever as we still bring it with us when we stay in hotels or at friends’ houses, and it’s his one “familiar” bed that he knows.
What pieces of equipment do you have onboard for your son that you consider to be vital?
Salus lifejackets are fantastic for little babies, and harnesses are nice for extra peace of mind underway. We also loved our jolly jumper (bouncing inside while the boat bounces around outside was a nice way of knowing Zephyr was secured but also having fun!) and clip-on highchair (again, to keep the kid in one place!).
Now that Zephyr is a toddler, I realize more and more that almost nothing is vital. We don’t have a ton of toys but I try to hide at least half of them so that I can “surprise” him with something new when the occasion calls for it.
Honestly he likes exploring tools, kitchen items and the world around him more than any specific toy he’s been given. This feels like a huge relief to me, as it’s nice to know you really don’t need a ton of stuff to have a happy kid.
Do you have any funny stories that involve your son you'd like to share?
I swear was an excellent parent before I had kids! 
All of my funny stories seem to reflect very poorly on my abilities as a mother!!
Like the time Jon told me Zephyr was getting really good at riding his balance bike on the docks, so I let him ride down the (slightly steep) ramp… and, yep, you guessed it, *straight* into the ocean!
Luckily balance bikes float, and the kiddo always wears his lifejacket when he’s outside or on docks, so other than getting wet (Zephyr) and feeling incredibly guilty (me), no lasting harm was done.
How do you keep him occupied onboard?
How do you keep any toddler occupied? It was definitely easier when he was smaller and only really needed a bed and a boob to be happy.
These days we spend a decent bit of time playing LEGOs, finding magnetic magformers, setting up art projects, and encouraging “independent play”.
We’re fortunate that Zephyr is a pretty easy-going little guy, so we try to set him loose as much as possible.
How does he cope when it gets rough?
We try *really* hard to pick weather windows and plan passages that won’t include rough stretches. I’m not giving him any say in where he lives or why he lives this lifestyle, so it feels like my responsibility to ensure he has the best possible experience.
That being said, you know how weather planning goes… when it has gotten rough, it’s been critical to get Zephyr outside and in the fresh air as much as possible. If he’s inside, or spending too much time looking at a screen, he gets super mopey and sad which I’m guessing is his early indication of seasickness.
We haven’t had to deal with a puking toddler (yet), so my fingers are crossed he’ll grow up to have a strong stomach too!
What are you doing to make sure your son is able to socialise with others?
I was stressed about this before he was born, but honestly I’ve found it easier to socialize with a kid than I did without. Just try to stop him from saying hi to strangers!
In all honesty, we spend quite a bit of time going to playgrounds, looking for other boat kids, interacting with strangers and Facetiming with family.
I also try not to stress about finding kids that are exactly his age or gender – he’s been having an amazing time playing with the 7-year old kid who lives here in the boatyard, and it turns out “let’s dig in the dirt” is a universal game.
As someone who has been a cruising kid (I was 11 when we left and 15 when we returned to Vancouver), I can also say that finding other kids to play and bond with was certainly important to me, and isn’t something I want to trivialize.
My parents made a point of buddy-boating with other kid-boats as much as possible, and today I have the benefit of having life-long friends all around the world – so I hope we can do half as good of a job as my parents did!
Have you had any surprises along the way?
Potty training? I never expected to carry a potty around with me everywhere I went, but when your 2-year old says he needs to go you have about, um, 10 seconds to find a potty? Our marina neighbors took great enjoyment in making fun of my new “potty-purse” accessory, but Jon and I proudly carried that potty everywhere for a while.
Thankfully he’s now at the point that he can “hold it” a little longer, so the potty-purse has been retired.
On a more serious note, the other surprise has been just how little time Jon and I have had together. I know people talk about how hard kids can be on relationships, but I think when you’re used to waking up and drinking a relaxed coffee in the v-berth together, or enjoying a simple dinner in the cockpit while the sun sets, or just simply spending 24/7 together, losing that focused time to concentrate and enjoy each other can be hard.
At first I tried to just deny this impact – “Zephyr just ADDS to our relationship!”, “we don’t NEED date-nights!” – but in the last year especially I’ve come to realize that finding babysitters is actually really important, and carving out time to just be “us” is also foundational to our trio’s success.
What's the best thing about living onboard with your son?
So many things! I love that he’s getting to meet people from all different walks of life and experience new places constantly. I love how adaptable he is already. I love how boat kids all seem to be independent and adventurous (two qualities I aspire for Zephyr to have!!). I love that we get to spend so much of our time together, and that we can influence how much commercialism and materialism he’s exposed to (at least for now!). I love that we spend so much time outside, in tune with nature and appreciating the little things like dolphins swimming by the boat or an osprey nest with new babies. Honestly I love it all, and am so thankful we’ve been able to live this way!
What's the worst thing about living onboard with your son?
For me the hardest part is being away from my parents and sister. This was hard before we had a kid, but it’s even harder when you want to share in the joys of your child with your family and friends. There’s a part of me that would love to see Zephyr grow up with his grandparents down the street and his auntie taking him on adventures every weekend… but life is a series of trade-offs and for now I’m happy with the choices we’ve made.
People often ask us if we’ll live on a boat “forever” – I always think this is funny, like the only options are “not at all” or “forever”. While I have no idea what the future will hold – there may well come a time when a land-based life is appealing – for now we are 100% happy to be living aboard and have zero plans to change that!
What tips and tricks have you picked up along the way to make your life easier?
I thought this one was silly, but a friend pointed out that it was a surprise to her – I don’t bother folding baby/toddler clothes, EVER!
I bought a few of those zippered “storage cube” things from Amazon, and we just use one for tops, one for bottoms, and one for socks and undies. The added bonus is that we use the exact same cubes to help keep suitcases organized when we’re flying to visit family for extended periods of time.
On a broader level, I really appreciate the friend who encouraged me to try baby-wearing (I was terrified of the ring-sling and thought a wrap seemed way too complicated) – Zephyr basically lived ON me for our first year of cruising, especially when I needed hands-free or to keep him safe.
I also appreciate the idea of feeding your kid whatever you’re eating, rather than going the “baby food” direction – we’ve tried to just offer a little bit of what we’re making for ourselves and now have a kid who will eat just about anything. His current favorites are olives, mushrooms and sardines!
What does the future hold for you?
I wish I knew! Haha I’m a huge planner so this year has been a good test of my ability to flex. On our list of intentions for the coming year are things like “get out of the boatyard”, “find warm waters to continue teaching Zephyr to swim in”, and “take on a longer passage”.
Eventually, I would really love to sail to Sweden, where some of my friends from my own early cruising days live, and maybe explore the canals of France as well. Of course I also dream about returning to Tasmania, exploring Alaska, and enrolling Zephyr in a Mexican school for a while, so there are more than enough dreams to keep us busy for a lifetime!
What advice would you share with a sailing Mumma-to-be?
Connect with other sailing mommies! Or daddies! (Jonathan has been primary care-taker on our boat from really early on, so don’t forget the daddies) 😊 Facebook groups like “Kids4Sail” and Instagram have also been wonderful sources of inspiration and support.
If anyone is considering raising a baby onboard, I would also share that it’s honestly way easier than you might think… you won’t need a crib or a change-table or a high-chair or a playpen. You won’t need diaper genies or huge numbers of toys or nurseries or any of that.
I’d also add that newborns aren’t always that much fun – I thought I loved babies, but once I had one I discovered that actually they can be little energy-sucking sleep vampires (and it turns out I like toddlers 100% more than babies)!!
I share this just in case it helps someone else realize that it’s okay to not “love” the stage your kid is in right now – it doesn’t mean you don’t love them, it’s just a recognition that being a parent can be hard and it’s okay for us to admit that – and this is true whether you live on land or afloat!
And last but not least, please reach out and be my friend! I’m always looking to make new moms-on-boats friends, and would love to connect.
Find out more...
I hope you enjoyed reading this interview and finding out more about living on a boat with children.
If you’d like to find out more about Leah and follow her on her journey, you can visit her website here and follow her on social media.
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