Two? I have that before the sun comes up. You know what they say about us old folks, we don't need as much sleep...

I think you may've missed the reference...

Didn't I?

Wooden i?  (old, old joke ref)

I have a new plan on how to live cheaply.  Get a rich boyfriend.  My plan cannot fail!

I think you may've missed the reference...

Airplane?

"Don NEVER has a second cup of coffee at home..."

Thanks for the replies, this is something I've really interested in. My wife and I are trying to plan our lifestyle for the next 5 years and I want to plan this as effectively as possible, especially since there's a chance I'll be spending part of each week as a stay-at-home dad

You're going to raise the child as your own ?!! That's really cool. +1 headbangin'

I wish I had read this 25 years ago, but then it wasn't written then.

Into The Light: A Family's Epic Journey

A remarkable story of a conventional family of five living a very unconventional life afloat.
Into the Light chronicles the inspiring adventures of Dave and Jaja Martin and their crew of three young children as they refit a 33-foot sailboat on a shoestring budget, then test their limits sailing to the pack ice above the Arctic Circle.

With their rugged self-sufficiency, commitment to family, and warm sense of humor, the unique approach to life chronicled in Dave and Jaja's book will resonate for sailors and shore-based families alike.

Whether you're looking for an outdoor/adventure page-turner, or for the inspiration to choose an unconventional path of your own, you'll find in Into the Light one of those rare books that has the power to touch your heart and soul - while keeping you on the edge of your seat.

"Welcome to a radical world of adventure. We realized our dreams by maintaining a spontaneous lifestyle while raising our family. We hope our stories will inspire you to take a chance and live for today." - authors Dave & Jaja Martin

(This is the book that inspired the PBS documentary Ice Blink.)



About the Author
Dave and Jaja spent seven years sailing around the world (1988-1995) aboard their 25-foot Cal 25 DIRECTION.

Dave purchased the boat in 1985, gutted her to a bare hull, and then went to work beefing up the structure. He glassed in stringers, added keel floors and extra bulkheads, and then re-designed and re-built the interior. "I built a new rudder, re-stayed the mast, built a smaller cockpit, and then christened her with a bottle of warm Bud in an effort to get the mood right for the intended circumnavigation" is the way Dave puts it.

Dave was 22 when he started this project, and 24 when he finished. He met Jaja shortly after starting his cruise in St. John, USVI, and they finally got together in the UK (after a solo Transatlantic) in the fall of 1988. They were both 25 when they left England on their circumnavigation.

From England they headed West to the Caribbean, via the Cape Verde Islands. They were married in Barbados, then transited the Panama Canal, visited the Galapagos; and did the usual trip through the South Pacific, spending several seasons in Australia, New Zealand, and the nearby cruising paradise to the north. A trip through the Torres Straits, Indonesia, and then across the Indian Ocean had them rounding South Africa before arriving back in the Caribbean and then the States in 1995.

Along the way they had two children (Chris and Holly). A third (Teiga) was born aboard DIRECTION at the end of the voyage.

The Martin family set sail again in 1997 on their 33-footer DRIVER in the journey that became the inspiration for Into the Light. Their three-year, 11,000-mile voyage took them north to the pack ice above the Arctic Circle, visiting the Bahamas, Bermuda, Iceland, the Faroes, Northern Scotland, Norway (including Spitsbergen), Greenland, and Newfoundland along the way.

The Martins are currently settled down (for the time being) in Maine.

wicked

Thanks for the replies, this is something I've really interested in. My wife and I are trying to plan our lifestyle for the next 5 years and I want to plan this as effectively as possible, especially since there's a chance I'll be spending part of each week as a stay-at-home dad

Just look at it as a a long term investment. In about 8 years (if you train it well) you'll have two Japanese people to cook and clean for you!

"It?"

Are y'all having an hermaphrodite?

tricky thinks of people as objects

I think tricky is just trying to help you define your future "investments".

Kids are its. Fuckin' aliens.

Now, now. Just because when you were a lad...

Anyone ever read Chocky?

I don't believe in sacred cows,but please don't fuck on Dave Pelzer. That book made me cry even though I don't like children.

"It?"

Are y'all having an hermaphrodite?

I can't exactly call the baby a he or a she if it hasn't even been conceived yet. Or if I'm somehow wrong here, please feel free to correct me.

And I read that book A Child Called It. I'm so emo.

Too many people in my year 9 class read that book.

I don't believe in sacred cows,

They don't believe in you either!

I just looked that kid up on google. Child abuse is past whatever limits I have for online banter

Try to get a nice one at the supermarket for less than $8.

I have a great resource here. There is a supper market nearby that sells cooked chicken from one of those commercial rotisserie things. The normal prices is good, $1.25 for three thighs or $2.50 for a half chicken depending on what they made that day. It's nicely seasoned and the best part is that after 4:00 it's half price. So day before yesterday (at around 4:20) I picked up a dozen precooked thighs for $3.00! You can't fucking beat that deal. I fed the cats some, gave 4 to my son for lunch yesterday, ate a bunch and still have some left in the fridge. 

I wish I had read this 25 years ago, but then it wasn't written then.

Into The Light: A Family's Epic Journey

Sounds like a slight variation from what my aunt and uncle did. They finally settled down on land about 3 years ago after living on the sea for about 30 years. My cousin is a feral 16-year-old, and the three of them live in farm country in the center of the US now.

Try to get a nice one at the supermarket for less than $8.

I have a great resource here. There is a supper market nearby that sells cooked chicken from one of those commercial rotisserie things. The normal prices is good, $1.25 for three thighs or $2.50 for a half chicken depending on what they made that day. It's nicely seasoned and the best part is that after 4:00 it's half price. So day before yesterday (at around 4:20) I picked up a dozen precooked thighs for $3.00! You can't fucking beat that deal. I fed the cats some, gave 4 to my son for lunch yesterday, ate a bunch and still have some left in the fridge.  

If you tear the meat off the bones, you can use it in Chicken & Dumplings, Chicken a la King, or just Chicken mixed with Lipton Noodle Flavor of your Choice.  Add veggies for a casserole meal.

Fast.  Easy.  Delicious.  CHEAP.


Oh, wow.  And, No.

Couldn't read a book about child abuse.  THAT would kill ...

I got some eggplants at the farmer's market last Saturday and made lucky's dish.  It is really very good.

It's quite possibly the most horrible first person account of an abused child ever written.

I got some eggplants at the farmer's market last Saturday and made lucky's dish.  It is really very good.

Eggplant Parmesan?  i lived with a Jewish family as a nanny while attending the computer programming vocational course way back when, and the lady made the Most Fabulous Eggplant Parmesan i've ever eaten, and it was EASY!!!  They did Chicken Parmesan, also ~ easy, and delicious, also!

That's one of the beauties of living, as family member, in families, right here in the U.S.  It's like being a something-or-other student, trade? no Or wait, IS it?  EXCHANGE.  An Exchange Student, getting to see how other folks live, on a day-to-day basis, as a family unit.

Did the same job for some WASP's (White Anglo Saxon Protestant), also.  They were fuktards.  Their kids, two of which were adopted before she Conceived the Little Prince, were sort of cool, but the LP?  (ReadThat: Little PRICK)  Was a spoiled rotten brat of the worst sort.  'Nuf said.

<~ STFU'ing

I think waste when I read, "computer programming vocational course."

Well, i was second in the class, and we're talking. like, '75, before the world even THOUGHT about computers, because the only one's that actually worked were considered Super-Computers.

i learned Cobol when it was the hottest prog language out there, using PUNCH CARDS, on a Uni-Vac 3000?  Well, some thousand ~ it's been a while

That's why i did Cobol in college ~ i already knew it, and it is a language i find easy to understand.  Also, USAA started trying to recruit me in my second semester, after the GPA's and Honors and Scholarships were given.  i was already Majoring in MIS, and doing great; Biz Admin i hadn't really gotten into, other than Accounting, but when i was really good at THAT, the prof got me a summer job that was killer, and paid well, working for a graphics company.  She also talked me into adding another Major or minor, i don't remember which right now, in Accounting.

i know one of my Majors didn't pan out because of lack of preparation, on both of our parts:  i HAD to take a course that was already full for the beginning semester, and not being able to get in would have set me Back a year, on the 4 year prog, 2 YEARS, because i'd missed this required course.  i wasn't going to do that.  i had a full boat (18 hours) my first semester, in three of the levels to keep me from becoming bored ~ Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior.

So, no, it wouldn't have been a waste, and ended up NOT being a waste ~ too bad i got married to someone who was subsequently thrown into the brig for being a deserter...  <sigh>  That sort of ended CompProgTraining.