We enrolled our kids into the Cobourg Yacht Club’s sailing program. And decided to live on the boat while they were taking the course. We thought it was an awesome way to take sailing lessons, living on a sailboat and walking over to the club each morning.

Lori works in Port Hope and Lindsay and would commute each day and spent some of the nights at home. Since my work is flexible, I can work from pretty much any location that has a decent internet connection I stayed on the boat the entire time. Here’s what a typical day looked like for us.

Morning

  • Wake up, walk over to the Cobourg Marina office. Shower and get cleaned up for the day.
  • On the short walk back to boat, grab a free coffee from coffee cart.
  • Make breakfast. Kept it simple, cereal, bagels, muffins.
  • Kids would grab their lifejackets and walk over to the Yacht Club.
  • I would grab my running shoes and go for a quick run to explore Cobourg. Lots of great trails for running.
  • After my run, would jump right into Lake Ontario to cool off.
  • Back on the boat and work until lunch time.

Lunch

  • Kids would wander back from the Yacht Club and ask for dinner.
  • Again usually kept things simple, scraped together a quick lunch for them and we hung out and talked about the sailing lessons.
  • After lunch they would head back and I would continue working.

Evening

  • Kids arrive back from lessons, and spend their time reading or staring at their devices while I finished up work.
  • Started up the BBQ and prepped dinner.
  • Quick run up to the LCBO, one block away to grab a few beers.
  • Sit down and have dinner.
  • Go for a walk and explore Cobourg with the kids, usually things I found on my run in the morning. There always seemed to be something going on in town that was interesting for all of us. Or we hung out with some of the other boaters.
  • As night fell, we sat out on the boat, reading books and got ready for bed.

It was amazing, something I want to try to do more. Living on the boat is so simple and peaceful, surrounded by others that are happy because they are where they want to be. And despite the change in routine, I believe I was more productive on the boat. Less distractions and a much better spot for sparking creativity..

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