Before we left on our adventure Ryan, my oldest, was working in the Portland Maine restaurant scene and doing well enough that he was actively looking for his own place.

Then we had the covid lockdowns and he was out of work and there were no apartments to be had anyway. So he joined us on our adventure and we had the naive idea that once the lockdowns were over we’d sail back into town and he’s sail into a job and an apartment. Fast forward that year and we sailed back into town, he sailed right into a job, and .. .. no apartment. There just were any, not even that they were crazy expensive (which they were) but that there just weren’t I think that entire summer there were maybe four apartments total that came up for rent. Not a big deal, we thought we’d try the same in Florida and same. Job in 20 minutes and after three months of looking nothing. We were able to look at one apartment and it was already rented.

We tend to forget the time that goes into establishing ourselves in a new location, a job with a good history, savings, and persistence that goes into looking for an apartment. At least in the USA.

So we started to look at the different options. The first and probably the easiest is sending the kids to a university with a dorm, this gives them a traditional starting point where they can build from. Similar for joining the military. Well, with the college adventure played out for Ryan already that wasn’t in the cards and with a few less than exciting medical issues taking the military off the tables that shortened the list of options.

It seemed as though the only ways to go were either jobs that had housing built in or for us to park ourselves in one place for “as long as it takes” making us full time marina liveaboards for a while. While we were evaluating which city would be best, my vote was Boston, Ryan went and got himself hired on a cruise ship. The process was pretty straightforward but the waiting was extreme. He was hired in June 2023, was sent for his medical/drug test/TWIC in August 2023, sent for his STCW in January 2024, and then called to the ship in June 2024. The process took a full 12 months and all but two weeks of that was waiting around. In the end the cruise line was a “Grapes of Wrath” “Orange Farm” type opportunity where they run through kids and string everyone alone. Ryan is back home and working in pTown for the summer.

And Liam wants to sail professionally. His thinking is to start on the Tall Ships and eventually get his own boat or start a sailing school. With his high school graduation behind him and his brother launched, and me healed from this winter’s car accident a big part of the summer will be helping him get his STCW and his Launch License. Then this winter if he’s still around he should have enough days for his Captain’s License and then we just stay persistent with regards to looking for a boat for him to work on.

I truly wish I’d moved on board with the boys when they were 3 & 5 years old, but a serious consideration is when it’s time for them to move off. Two invalid assumptions many make is that either “college is for everyone” or “anyone can join the military” since both of those are fallacies that if you depend too much on can leave you high and dry. I have a feeling we may end up needing to take a year, possibly two, and just live in a marina year round to give the boys the time it takes to establish themselves in a market. Real estate is crazy on land.