Category Archives: boatschooling

Easter weekend in the Eastern Sierra.

A little vacay to the Kiddoo (Josie ‘s) family in Bishop, Ca for Easter. We brought the boat from the hook to a transient slip over the weekend, so that we could have peace of mind while we were away. While to boat was safely docked at Berkeley Marina, we drove (in the car our sister, Tara, loaned us) to Bishop, for a little vacation in the mountains. On the way over, we made a quick stop for a freezing dip in the South Fork American River, and then later, a warm dip in Mammoth Hot Creek. Friday night, we had dinner at Mountain Rambler Brewery and enjoyed a documentary by JB Benna called “The Long Haul” on treks of the John Muir Trail made in record time. I just have to say, “ultra running is truly amazing”. I need to thank JB for inspiring me to do some filming during our sail around the world!

My cousin’s brewery in Bishop, Ca “Mountain Rambler Brewery”

JB’s film by http://www.journeyfilm.com

Saturday and Sunday consisted of Easter egg hunts, and family celebrating Taj’s 2nd birthday and walks in the desert.

Paleo Maple Cupcakes with Chocolate “buttercream” frosting and Maple Bacon frosting. Taj’s first cupcake and he LOVED it!

Yummy!!!

Monday, we made our drive home as a “field trip day” for boat schooling this week. The Eastern Sierra is full of geologic wonders. We stopped at the Mammoth Hot Springs again for a quick dip in the tubs, then we went to Obsidian Dome for a hike and lesson on volcanic activity and rock formation.

Morning hot springs dip.

Ellamae suddenly turned into a Bighorn Sheep.

Nina and Ellamae standing beneath a spire of Obsidian and other igneous rock including Rhyolite and Pumice.

Obsidian Dome is one of many Mono-Inyo Craters

On the hook update and first commute to work from anchor.

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S/V Shawnigan on Richardson Bay

Our first night on the hook on Richardson Bay was seamless. The next day we woke up, did some boatschooling, then rowed to shore to go to the post office and get some groceries. We had duck tacos for dinner using our new 10 quart pressure cooker. Yummy. After dinner we cruised on over to Treasure Island to drop the hook next to two boat friends of ours. We’ll probably stay here for a few days.

raft up friends : Bob and Geoff

Today I woke up at 5:25 AM to climb off the boat into the dinghy with my bike. I rowed to shore, rode to the bus stop on my bike, rode the bus over the Bay Bridge to the city, then rode my bike to work. I think it was the easiest bike commute I’ve had in the last four years and definitely an adventure.

Boatschool report

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We have been thoroughly enjoying boatschooling. I am frequently asked “So, how is homeschooling going?” My usual response is “Great! I feel like our family is so much closer and that we work together more.”. Then, I ran into a friend from our girls’ previous school and she asked me how homeschooling was going. Out of my mouth I spewed “It has been so amazing. I feel like we can now give our kids the unconditional love that they need through the struggles they have with learning and throughout the entire day. Not that their previous school wasn’t loving, but just that receiving unconditional love from either or both parents throughout the day and through their struggles is so important and so rewarding.”. She looked and me and said “Wow!”, and then she said “You should write about that.”. So here I am writing about it. I highly recommend homeschooling as long as you have time. Our kids grow so fast and we are so happy that we can be involved in their upbringing so intimately.

Here are some pictures of some projects we’ve been working on:

This was part of Ellamae’s social studies. The topic was “Draw something about your community that stands out to you and tell us why you like it.”. This is her drawing of our harbor at Galilee.