Quote from: K-Dog on Jan 02, 2024, 10:01 AMRay is an 'exceptional' man who from an economic point of view has only had to worry about himself.  Ray has been able to earn when he need pay for boat supplies or he has had other means.  Ray has been able to quit and walk away when he wants to.

All true, and single men do compose the majority of people who pursue the Yachty lifestyle.  However, there are quite a few couples who do it, both same sex and opposite.  I met several lezzie couples during my brief vacation yachting in the Greek islands one summer in the 80s.  I also met 1 family with 3 girls, age 6, 9 and 11, but they also were only doing it for the summer.  Periodically if you read Cruising World (the magazine for Yachties), they feature a family who does it as lifestyle, homeschooling the kids aboard while circling the globe.  Those deals usually take a couple of years while they do a circumnavigation.

Over the last 50 years or so, it's been possible to do this in reasonable safety, although a few Yachties have been kidnapped and held for ransom over the years.  Usually these folks did their cruising in dicey areas in SE Asia or around the coast of Africa.  The Mediterranean, Bahamas and Pacific Islands for the most part pretty safe.

Yachty families really into it let their kids go off on their own quite young to adventure this way.  Laura Dekker started her solo circumnavigation at age 14 and finished it at age 16.  That's remarkable independence and says a lot about the lifestyle for raising kids.

RE