Family Cruising: Meet the Montague’s Navigating The World And Raising A Newborn
An alternative seafaring family's story of raising their son aboard a boat. Think ‘Captain Fantastic’-on-water.
June 4, 2024
Sailing Spirits: A Couple Wild At Heart
Nina and Nathaniel departed the US in 2017 aboard their custom-built steel-hulled cruiser, Poppycock, living on anchor as much as possible.
Since their son, Io, was born, their sailing travels have taken them to eight countries across the Atlantic Ocean, and they have racked up over 5,400 nautical miles and counting. We Facetime from Porto Santo, a thumbnail-sized Portuguese island just off of Madeira boasting a pristine nine-kilometer-long beach in Europe with barely a sand-bleached footprint in sight.
Above: The Montagues enjoying liveaboard life in the Salinas, Puerto Rico. Image via Nina Montague. Image via Colin Mealey.
From Las Vegas Gaming Management to Liveaboard Life
Nina and Nathaniel met in their late teens and early twenties in Boston, but soon moved out to Las Vegas to work in the hospitality industry, namely in some of the world’s most prestigious casinos. A familiar tale among the sailing community for couples with an appetite for adventure to meet, with one partner having grown up sailing. In this instance, it was Nathaniel; nevertheless, his sailing skills were rusty, and together with his wife Nina, they relearned the basics of sailing on Lake Mead, formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River. "It was an ideal place to start because you're constantly trimming and learning to read the winds since the patterns are notoriously unpredictable," says Nathaniel. “We learned to sail on a Catalina 27, which is an ideal boat for any beginner since it is large enough to stay overnight and you can learn the basics of boat maneuvering while being light enough to manhandle if you make a mistake.”
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Above: Lake Mead in Nevada makes an ideal training ground for beginners learning to trim. Big Boulder and Littler Boulder Islands, Rock Island and Colorado River in the background. Image via Pond5.
Once they became confident in sailing, they began to reimagine their lifestyle, rebuffing social conformity and its constraints in search of a less-trodden path of voyage and discovery. It was on their honeymoon in 2010 on this really small island in the Caribbean Barbuda, sitting on the beach, admiring a double rainbow with drinks in their hands when they turned to each other and asked,”What do we have to do to be able to do this forever?”.
Above: The Montague's with their newborn bundle enjoying liveaboard life. Image via Nina and Nathaniel Montague.
Earning a Living Onboard
Before cruising, Nina and Nathaniel put graft into making their dream lifestyle a reality, saving for several years working at the casinos in Las Vegas. They also delayed having children for several years to enable them to fit out the boat while they were not working. During the housing crisis, Vegas was one of the worst-hit areas, enabling them to secure three properties relatively inexpensively. When they weren't at work, they were renovating houses, sailing or refitting their boat. "Every minute of the day was filled."
Their hard work has paid dividends. Since revonating the properties they have turned two of them into rentals and sold one. Their shrewd property investment brings in half of their income, while the other half comes from index funds in the stock market. While cruising, much of Montague's time is spent in countries where the cost of living is low: "You don't need to be constantly spending a Western income to be happy," says Nathaniel.
Navigating Pregnancy And Birth While Cruising
Rather than using insurance, the Montague’s paid for medical health services as and when they need it, which included Nina's pregnancy and their son's birth in Panama City. They report to have had an excellent experience in a brand new hospital—the Panama Clinic—with a fantastic and supportive English-speaking doctor who was present for the entire 29-hour birth. They estimate that the birth was cheaper than if they had done it in the states with insurance, yet with a superior level of care.
Newborn Io: From Bundle to Boat
Raising a newborn can make one feel lost at sea. Nina and Nathaniel took their newborn son Io, named after one of the Galilean moons of Jupiter (a reflection of their passion for space and exploration) straight from the hospital on their boat, bravely raised their sails, and set on a voyage between the Panama Canal Zone to Cartegena, Colombia and then on to the ABC’s (A trio of islands that includes Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao).
For the last few months of the pregnancy, Nina and Nathaniel were at Shelter Bay Marina, where they met a great community of supportive cruisers. “Unfortunately, they transited before Io was born, so we were mostly on our own for the first few weeks, which was really tough," says Nina.
Another challenge they have faced has been organizing Io's vaccines. Every time he was due for a new round, they were living in a different country. However, they made it possible and, most of the time, administered the vaccines free of charge by local healthcare services.
Above: Io on board, learning the ropes at anchor in Puerto Rico. Image via Nina Montague. Photo via Colin Mealey.
Storage Management
"We take a minimalist approach to buying baby-centered toys and equipment, which saves us a lot of space and hassle if we have to find a way to get rid of unnecessary items," says Nina. A wide variety of books are something the Montague's value highly and didn't skimp on. They rarely use screens, and Io and Nina read their entire way across the Atlantic for countless hours every day.
Baby Proofing The Boat
Nina and Nathaniel added lifeline netting around the aft deck to enable Io to play there safely; however, he still requires constant supervision. To make it fun, they added an inflatable paddling pool that he enjoys playing in while they lounge in the cockpit watching him.
Io's bedroom is located in the bottom sea berth, forward of their master stateroom. To provide them peace of mind that Io cannot get up and attempt to leave the boat at night, they created a full zip-up enclosure that can only be opened externally as well as trip alarms, just in case he finds his way out while they are sleeping.
A Child-Friendly Cruiser: A Steel-Boned Boat
When choosing their ideal vessel safety was of the utmost importance which is why they se;ected a 47-foot steel monohull designed by Bill Dixon custom-built to explore. It's ICE-class and can cruise at high latitudes such as Antarctica and beyond "It is maintenance-heavy but incredibly rugged and robust in rough seas and gives us peace of mind when we're out there raising kids." says Nathaniel.
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Cruising With A Baby
For Nathaniel and Nina, the biggest win of cruising as a family is being completely present in Io's life. Living aboard a boat encourages Io to think deeply and independently, and he is exposed to a wide range of cultures. "Io enjoys star gazing, building, climbing, and making art. He constantly has a change of scenery, loves to walk, and now that we have folding bikes, we ride everywhere," says Nina.
Above: IO enjoying the freedom of the beach. Image via Nina and Nathaniel Montague.
Diaper and Washing Management Control
Fortunately, the Montague’s installed a wall-mounted washing machine on board just before Io was born. They also invested in a watermaker, which is used to obtain drinkable water by reverse osmosis of seawater. While the devices can be expensive to acquire and maintain, they are valuable because they reduce the need for large water tanks for a long passage and are incredibly convenient, particularly for families living in a small space. The costs of washing onshore can be prohibitively expensive.
Keeping mold at bay anyway in the tropics is a constant challenge, and it doesn't take long before the bottom of a washing pile becomes extremely rotten. Adopting reusable washable diapers was the natural choice for the Montague's for ecological reasons and they also worked practically incredibly well. Since it made waste management easier, reducing the load. “We experienced no issues using them onboard.” says Nina. She pre-rinsed solids using a marine head and a pump flush. Then the diapers would go on in the washing machine, and they averaged one load daily. "I do less washing on the boat than back home, which is far better for the environment,".
Above: Poppycock cruising Punta Ballena, Puerto Rico. Image via Nina Montague.
Nina and Nathaniel's Tips for Socializing Cruising Kids
Sail High-Traffic Destinations
Most sailboats tend to head in the same direction. In the Caribbean, they would often be in an anchorage when suddenly six more boats would arrive. “Very quickly, a mob of children would disembark and play on the beach because these six boats were all families traveling together.” says Nina. French Polynesia is a major sailing destination that attracts families. When you're hopping between islands, cruising alongside other boats is easy since these small islands are short distances apart.
Using Social Media To Help Children to Stay in Touch
Family cruisers often let their kids connect on social media, utilizing platforms such as Facebook to stay in touch, helping them to track each other's journeys, allowing them to reconnect later on in their cruise. Parents are often keen to enable their children to meet up. Cruising alone can limit children's social development, so extra care and importance is placed on getting groups together. Since so many families are cruising the same grounds, it is easy to set up.
Above: Io the outskirts of Taganga, Colombia. Image via Nathaniel Montague.
Reconnect With Like-Minded Families Off-The-Beaten-Path
For cruising families who want to avoid spending time in busy sailing destinations, you can connect with other families who are like-minded and share a similar parenting style or the same cruising ethos and reconnect with them at a later stage of your journey, diverging off the beaten track again.
Image above: Nina and son Io. Nina and Nathaniel want to let Io make his own decision on whether he wants a digital footprint. Costa Abajo, Panama. Image via Nina Montague.
The Montague's life off-the-grid has allowed them to rebuff expected societal norms and live a life free of selfies, rat-race working hours, and screen time. Since February, they have been 'on the hard' and hope to launch Poppycock again in July. Despite the multiple practical challenges and hurdles they experienced living on a boat, they wouldn't change raising a baby aboard for the world. Io is a thriving social explorer in the making, orbiting Earth and shining as brightly as his namesake, one of the Galien moon’s.
Above: Io, One Of The Moons Of Planet Jupiter. Image via Pond5.
Are you interested in liveaboard life? You might be interested in reading:
Landlubber to Sailor: Live-Aboard Lessons From A Digital Nomad
Living On A Boat Full Time: How Much Will It Cost You
Buying A Liveaboard Sailing Yacht: A Rollercoaster Journey
Are you looking for a family cruiser? Find out which are the Top Ten Sports Cruiser Brands.
Popular Liveaboard Catamarans
Some of the most popular catamarans suited to a liveaboard island lifestyle include Lagoon, Leopard, Fountaine Pajot, Sunreef, and Outremer.
To learn more about liveaboard yachts, read The Liveaboard Life: Best Liveaboard Yachts.
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