Giving up the ranch in Colorado and moving to a live aboard sailboat in the Keys

[sillybilly]

I have never in my whole life met so many disturbed and rejects from society as I have living up here.
Drugs alcohol meth, no money homeless types and antigovernment
My God get me out of here.
At least when I lived outside of Philly they were diluted

[sillybilly]

Sometimes it feels like the cowboy version of Deliverance

[bobofthenorth]

Originally Posted by sillybilly

Ok lets put this one out there. I believe boaters to be certainly more social and friendlier than the folks in bumble F Colorado

My experience has been that the people you encounter in life will be more or less similar to the people you have already encountered. The biggest influence on the people you encounter will always be the guy in the mirror in the morning.

[sillybilly]

Bob,
LOL yes yes I hear you but my goodness you should come out here to Westcliffe Colorado!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Remember I moved here from the burbs of Philly and I had very good friends there and a great customer base.

[fjwiley1]

SB.....when you move down here to Florida, have you considered Home Schooling your son? We have "Florida Virtual" provided by the state for those of us that home school our kids. Take a look as it might be a option. As long as you have a " Internet connection" he can stay "in class" any where. Obviously you must be a Florida resident but a Marina address might suffice. If not there are "mail services" that will qualify as a home address. Just some thoughts.

[samsiam]

Originally Posted by fjwiley1

SB.....when you move down here to Florida, have you considered Home Schooling your son? We have "Florida Virtual" provided by the state for those of us that home school our kids. Take a look as it might be a option. As long as you have a " Internet connection" he can stay "in class" any where. Obviously you must be a Florida resident but a Marina address might suffice. If not there are "mail services" that will qualify as a home address. Just some thoughts.

Interesting....I just posted a new thread about homeschooling, but we will not be anywhere near Florida.

Have you any thoughts/knowledge on internet on boats for such things as schooling purposes ?

By the way to the OP.....go for it, you only live once, we are doing it also if we can put the plan togehter we want.

[fjwiley1]

Samsiam

Sorry for taking so long to respond as I've been away for a bit. As to " homeschooling" onboard, I don't expect it to be a problem as that is my intention with my son.
The current requirements are that we must have internet for curriculum, a phone to communicate with teachers and we are Florida residents. At our house or onboard we meet the requirements. If grades are not maintained, one could expect parent/ teacher face to face meeting therefore one must maintain good standing if in the Bahamas, as we plan to do.

Hope this helps....:-)

S/V Water Wings

[sillybilly]

Ok my turn. My feelings on home schooling is that is may be very nice and most likely works well BUT I feel the interaction with other kids and socializing is very important.

[sillybilly]

I am adding this. I would love to find a single member of the opposite sex sailor to maybe join this future crew and adventure.

[captain58sailin]

There will plenty of opportunity for interaction. Most kids that I know that were shipboard raised and educated, were superior to land based educated kids. The problem solving skills alone are off the chart. The whole socialization thing is vastly overrated and usually a distraction from the real purpose of schooling, which is education.

[Tingum]

I have to agree with Capt58. All the boat schooled kids we have met were far more polite and worldly than their land based counterparts. They were more outgoing and had met many children from different cultures. Upon returning stateside they were far ahead of their counterparts, many skipping grades or entering college early.

[sillybilly]

Well I in part agree with you. Here in Westcliffe most of the kids I would prefer he avoid BUT in that he gets to see positive and negative things about the community and it's folks. He will learn some street smarts. But yes IF he were like most American kids and the what I call delayed maturity I am old fashioned and not happy with most of what I see. BUT his having grown up in Germany for 11 years he is a bit more worldly. But yes Captian I do in great part agree with you.

[sillybilly]

Tin I like your response even more. YES. Yes so much to outgoing and a better cultural experience

[captain58sailin]

Yes Tingum was able to articulate what I was trying to get across better. As far as street smarts go, you don't get a better education than haggling with the street vendors in Pappete, or Mexico, or any of the Caribbean islands. Not to be overlooked is the math skills you can obtain by celestial navigation, and terestial navigation. There is also good interation with the other sailing kids, plus they learn to interact with adults in an arena that is less authoritarian and more educational, as well as learning to communicate with adults in an acceptable fashion and being accepted and having their input being welcomed by adults due to a shared experience on the water. Plus they will learn to seperate the real deal from the BS in a hurry.

[sillybilly]

Wow I agree as they say I believe "here,here"