Sophia at Sea

Hello friends! My name is Sophia. I’m 10 years old and I’m a boat kid.

For as long as I can remember my parents have been taking me sailing.

I started when I was 3.5 years old I think? Back then we had a a little sailboat we

took out on a lakes for a day trips. As I got older our boats got bigger ???? and my

parents sign me up for summer sailing classes. I’ve had such a good time meeting kids from all over the state sailing Opti  dinghies and hanging out on a beach. I’ve been sailing on my own Opti when I was about 6-7 years old in New London Yacht Club. We then bought a bigger sailboat and sailed around the Long Island Sound for couple of years .But deep down as a family we had a bigger dream to travel farther into the beautiful blue waters of Bahamas ????????. There is no better feeling then going there and see that blue water for a first time. Back than we begin search for a cruising worth boat.

About few months later we found our dream boat in Vermont which meant we had to bring it back home and get it ready for our big journey. it took us two weeks to bring it back down the Champlain canal down the Hudson River into NYC and back to New London CT. That was a great trip and we really enjoyed staying in different places along the way, and seeing Statue of Liberty from a water was just incredible experience.

After that we begin refitting our new boat and getting her ready for our big journey. Fallowing year in September we packed everything we needed and said our goodbyes to our family and friends as our journey

were to begin. At that time I was 9.5 years old I left my school, friends ,dance studio and everything that was familiar to me for so long .We were officially living aboard our sailboat.I had my own bedroom I decorated to make it feel like my room at home. Our family felt closer together then ever before. We sailed the East Coast of USA visiting many incredible places I’ve only ever heard about.We took our time exploring and learning about there history and culture. We’ve met a lot of nice people along the way. Many boat kids from all over the world.

As being on a sailboat full time I’m homeschooled which is so great because school only takes me 2-3hours a day and then I have freedom to explore, pick a new place to visit with my mom and dad. I love being able to spend so much time with them and also have time to do other things  love. On a boat I have my keyboard I like to learn to play new music, I also love to draw lately a lot of animation things. I love to read and spend time with my dog Bolt. I still keep in touch with some of my friends from home but to be honest sometimes it feels like some people don’t understand what we do and we are doing this!? And it’s ok. One of my favorite things about sailing is going swimming and snorkeling just watching all the beautiful fish and ocean creatures. I like fishing with my dad and doing for all kinds of interesting things . I like cooking in a galley with my mom and go helping with some boat chores. Yes on a boat there is still chores to do ,we like to keep our boat clean. Its kind of important since we are all in a small space together. We spend little over months in Bahamas last year and made a lot of friends. We had a blast sailing from the island to island and hanging on a beach and swimming lots of swimming. When our time there came to end we had a huge sense of accomplishment our big dream of sailing there came true. We made a lot of unforgettable memories and I will forever cherish them. Going back home felt like our journey wasn’t over yet like we supposed to keep going. We visited Washington DC spend over two weeks there visiting every museum I dreamed to see.it was a wonderful experience to be able to anchor a boat in a middle of a city. I think that’s supposedly other thing I love about sailing time feels like it’s slowing down we are never in a rush unless there is bad weather and we had to find safe place to stay. Most kids my age don’t get a chance to travel like this or to do what we do. I’m no different then other kids I love to play games meet new friends and just be silly. But most of all  I’m very grateful for my parents for giving me this gift of adventure. Letting me see the world with my own eyes and not just reading about it. I’m only 10 years old and I’ve seen a lot of the world and had some great experiences. If you ask if I miss my family and friend the answer will always be yes! But they are just a phone call , video call away .They are always welcome to visit us wherever we are. Guess what ? This year we are on another adventure we fell in love with this lifestyle. We also got a bigger boat lol…honestly we are not really sure where we might go so far we are heading south

we are meeting back with our boat friends and we are happy to be together. Family is everything and as long as we are all together our boat is our home. We hope to see the world where ever our boat can take us. The adventure continues…

Bye ???? talk soon!

Sophia at Sea