PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES; ADOBE STOCK; SHUTTERSTOCKholiday,” owner Christophe Albin says. “It worked extremely
well.” The lesson plan included videos, books and field trips,
including a sleepover on Pulau Nangka, a dot on the map in the
Strait of Malacca.
The Dabbiere family set a schedule but also carved out time for
an Easter break during their eight-month adventure from Florida,
south to the Caymans, on to Panama, Costa Rica, Galápagos and
Fiji. They had already spent time at sea when their children were
younger but wanted to have a chance to do it again before their
children flew the nest. “Our daughter was in sixth grade when we
started kicking the idea,” says Dabbiere. “You don’t want to disrupt
the eighth grade, so her school schedule was the driver.” The trip
was set to take place from Christmas to the end of summer and they
flew home from Fiji in time for the autumn term. They knew a
teacher through their immediate circle and hired a second one
through Search Associates, a recruiting agency.
Finding a tutor with the required level of experience and the right
personality for the family – and with sea legs to boot – can be a
challenge. “I would say the hardest positions to find on a boat are a
good captain and a good teacher. It took a long time and I
interviewed a lot of people,” Mayer says. “When you have more than
one child, one of the challenges is to find
someone who can teach multiple levels.”
London-based Sea Tutors is one of the
companies that has stepped in to help. A few
years ago, Adam Caller expanded his company
Tutors International with a specialist placement
division. Even with all the experience he had as a
teacher, private tutor and then business owner,
he soon realised that finding teachers for
superyachts requires a special touch. He
remembers the day when a client called with a
crisis unfolding on a yacht. The trigger had been that a teacher his
company had placed had used a service call button to order cofee.
“Can’t you go into the galley and make your own?” Caller asked the
teacher. “No, the captain has forbidden me from coming into the
galley,” she replied from her cabin. The owner had no idea that the
relationship between the tutor and the crew, who had grown
resentful of her perceived special status, had become frayed.
“We learned as a company that the tiniest of events can damage
relationships,” Caller says. It isn’t enough to find the teacher with
the right skill set (which may include a Yachtmaster qualification
if the clients so require), it is very important also to discuss living
arrangements and the reporting structure. For longer assignments
especially, Caller recommends that teachers be considered part of
the crew but he leaves it up to his clients to decide.
On boardConstance, there were 28 people, including the family,
crew, teachers and naturalists from National Geographic. The 60
metre yacht’s layout allowed for private space for everyone but
living in close quarters was a bit of a balancing act, Dabbiere
admits. What matters, he adds, is that “it all worked out”.
In spite of the challenges, the unequivocal recommendation
from the families who spoke about their trips is to pull the anchor
and go. “I can only recommend yacht owners to
do something like that,” Albin says. “It brings
value to your yachting ‘investment’.
Circumnavigating Sardinia is beautiful too, but
you’ll never have the same experience.”
Back on land, Delisa Mayer says of their
15 months onThe Big Blue: “It was an amazing
experience. I would not trade it for anything. My
husband and I said that when our children are in
college we might do this again and our children
could come to visit us wherever we are.”BWhere to start
Kate Laird went from Harvard
graduate to tutor on a 22 metre
sailing boat and has since taught
her own children (now of high school
age) on board her family’s explorer
yacht, which charters in high
latitudes. She’s written a book
entitled Homeschool Teacher,
which is a comprehensive resource
for both parents and tutors.Follow these tips
and your child’s
education could
be in a class
of its own“I would be studying World War Two early in
the morning only to later go diving on a World
War Two wreck. Everything in the textbooks
I could apply in the places around me”Ask around
Your immediate circle and children’s
schools are a good place to start.
They may even provide a curriculum
plan. For older children especially,
check out their school’s
requirements. “It’s always
best to find out from
the administrator what
they want and put it in
writing,” Laird says.Allow for exibility
A set schedule helps keep studies serious
but you should make time to experience
the trip as well. “If you are trying to
go through a full set curriculum, you
will miss some of the adventure. It’s
a balance,” Laird says. “For short
periods of time, concentrate on
maths. If the children do a bit
of reading and keep a journal,
it will be fantastic.”Home schooling cheat sheet