Ken Cripps and Edith Kraus are both Marine Biologists who have had a passion for the sea and nature most of their lives. Their passion has lead them to some amazing experiences, such as a great sailing adventure from Canada to Antarctica, over a decade ago. But this passion did not fester away once they had a family. Rather, it grew and the couple realized that their previous sailing adventures were experiences they desperately wanted to share with their two children.
Did they sit back and talk wistfully of their dreams, only to shake off the desire and tell themselves that it was no longer possible with a family? Absolutely not! This couple set to work, creating a life that they believed would allow them to spend more quality time with their children and provide them with experiences of a lifetime.
Living on a small budget, taking advantage of their training and careers as Marine Biologists, and maintaining an open and positive mindset have allowed the family to pursue their dream of sailing the world together.
Let’s learn how this family of 4 is traveling the world by sail…
Tell us about yourself: Who are you? Where are you from?
Hello! Our names are Ken Cripps and Edith Kraus and we have two daughters named Zoe (age 12) and Naomi (10). Currently, our home is a 50 year old 44’ Spencer named Alondra and she is taking us around the Pacific Ocean for up to 6 years.
Our family was born in British Columbia on a wonderful island called Gabriola. But, this is not where the story begins. It begins with Ken, who grew up in the flatlands of Saskatchewan, and Edith, who grew up in the forests of Vancouver Island, Canada. We both pursued careers in marine biology, which enabled us to live out our dreams of exploring the BC coast and living amongst the wildlife.
Ken lived most of his adult life aboard a sailboat working in remote First Nations communities on the BC coast. He has helped First Nations develop elaborate fisheries stewardship programs and, more recently, has supported them in the development of comprehensive marine stewardship plans that have been the driving force behind all their planning and management activities with government.
Our family was born in British Columbia on a wonderful island called Gabriola. But, this is not where the story begins. It begins with Ken, who grew up in the flatlands of Saskatchewan, and Edith, who grew up in the forests of Vancouver Island, Canada…
Edith has worked as a laboratory technician for Fisheries and Oceans, as a field biologist for the Kitasoo First Nations and as a public educator involving outreach programs in the field of marine sciences.
Due to the nature of our jobs, it was easy to follow another dream of sailing halfway around the world for seven years from Canada to Antarctica aboard our 37’ ferro cement sailboat named Zephyrus, and to do it again, 10 years later with our two daughters aboard Alondra. However, this time, we are staying in the warmer climates of the southern Pacific Ocean.
Where are you right now? What do you see when you look outside?
Currently, we are living aboard our sailboat, Alondra, at an island called Huahine located in French Polynesia. I am at an internet café, on a balcony, overlooking the turquoise lagoon dotted with a handful of ivory white sailboats. The lagoon is protected by a coral barrier reef that is being pounded by southwest swells and the local surfers are catching the perfect waves near the entrance of the lagoon.
The temperature is a balmy 32 C (89 F). By all accounts, this is the tropical paradise that you read about in books or see on post cards.
What does your day to day life look like?
Wow! That is a tough question. Our day to day routine consists of no routine. Most of the time, anything we plan, usually ends up with something not planned. We roll with the punches and make the most out of every opportunity.
The best part of boat schooling is the “life skills” that happen outside of “formal school! Our daughters learn how to tie knots, navigate, sail the boat, how to repair outboards, and maintain the boat. They learn how to interact with adults, work in a team to bake delicious treats and how to interact with other cruising kids and local kids who do not speak the same language…
We have no school bell, but we try our best to put in 2 to 4 hours of “formal” school 6 days a week for our daughters. Good luck on passages, though!
The best part of boat schooling is the “life skills” that happen outside of “formal school! Our daughters learn how to tie knots, navigate, sail the boat, how to repair outboards, and maintain the boat. They learn how to interact with adults, work in a team to bake delicious treats and how to interact with other cruising kids and local kids who do not speak the same language. They learn how to snorkel with sharks and manta rays, how to SCUBA dive and learn about the marine environment first hand, walking off the plank, getting up early in the morning and having to row ashore to buy baguettes for breakfast,…. and the list goes on!
Don’t forget…. The grownups do get to spend a lot of time meeting Alondra’s needs as gear wears down and needs maintenance. But, we too get to go out and play, SCUBA diving and exploring new islands.
Has your life always looked that way? If not, what was your life like before?
We have to admit, our life has always consisted of no routine. Our work was either in the field, in the office, in the laboratory or on the road/water. We enjoyed the lack of routine, because every day was something new.
However, with children, the occasional routine is always welcome. Even when our daughters were tiny, we lived part time in our house and part time on Alondra.
What changed?
Our dreams began when we were children.
When Ken was in grade 5, living as far away from the ocean as anyone could, there was a dusty SCUBA tank in the corner of the classroom and a fishing net full of dusty shells hanging from the ceiling. He knew then, that he wanted to become a marine biologist. By the time he was 17, he had landed in Victoria and enrolled in a SCUBA class, and then university. The best choices in his life!
Edith has always dreamt of working outdoors with animals her whole life. It all started with watching all those nature documentaries on the TV and spending time in the woods behind her house. Many people told her that there is no career in marine biology, and a high school teacher said that Edith should not limit her job opportunities by only applying for jobs that kept her working outdoors, especially with animals. It was a good thing that she stuck to her dreams!
What were your challenges when you first started pursuing this lifestyle and how did you overcome them?
Our biggest challenge in pursuing our lifestyle is financial. The only way we have been able to overcome the financial barrier is to live as minimally as we can. As biologists, we do not make a lot of money but we worked hard to not live beyond our means. Most of what we have; we made, we fixed, or we built. We try to do everything ourselves and we minimize what we buy for ourselves.
We used the money from the sale of our first sailboat to buy land and we borrowed money to build our house. The house is our financial struggle that we are not ready to give up, therefore, our house is rented out and the rent is just covering the mortgage and other house expenses.
People think that you have to be rich to sail the world. We have found that it is not true, as we have been able to sail on a very small budget.
While cruising, we are living off our savings and we occasionally leave Alondra and fly home to work short term contracts. People think that you have to be rich to sail the world. We have found that it is not true, as we have been able to sail on a very small budget.
What are your challenges today?
Our challenge today is still financial, and we are on the edge of making it work. We are not giving up!
Since you have been living this lifestyle, what personal dreams have you been able to accomplish?
Our personal dream, currently, is to share this amazing cruising lifestyle with our daughters. We are constantly reminding them how special the world is and how we need to take care of it, because the world is constantly changing and unfortunately, much of the beautiful wildlife is disappearing.
What do you do to support this lifestyle?
To support our lifestyle, we live as cheaply as we can. We do not use marinas, we rarely eat out, we shop where the locals shop and we make and fix everything ourselves. Our home, in Canada, is rented out so we do not have to worry about the mortgage and we periodically go home to work short term.
What’s the number one reason why you are still living this way?
The only reason why we are sailing the world, a second time, is for our girls. When we cruised the first time, 20 years ago, we met many sailing families and we saw what a positive and amazing up bringing those children were having.
In the end, following a dream can work out or you may realize that it was not what you expected. It is all good, because attempting to follow a dream is the most important step in one’s life and you cannot have regrets for trying.
We are still in contact with some of these families, and the children — now adults — have said that those years were the best in their lives. We knew, back then, that if we were to have children, we too would take them sailing to other parts of the world and spend quality time together as a family.
If you had it all to do over… Would you do it again?
We would most definitely live our life the same, all over again, if we could!
What would you do differently?
We can’t think of anything that we would do differently. We did the best we could and it seemed to have worked.
What advice do you have for others who are considering this type of lifestyle?
The only advice we can give other people is to live within your means and don’t feel that you need loads of money to pursue a dream. Following a dream, no matter how small or how big, takes courage, hard work and sometimes sacrifices. In the end, following a dream can work out or you may realize that it was not what you expected. It is all good, because attempting to follow a dream is the most important step in one’s life and you cannot have regrets for trying.
Also, we have met many people that are still tied to the dock because their boat is not “ready”. The sooner you realize your boat will never be ready, the sooner you will go. Extra gear on board is not going to make the boat safer. They will just be things you need to repair later and will become a burden. Unless you have cruised before, you will not know what you really “need” to be ready so it is best to untie the lines and have amazing adventures!
Is there anything I may not have asked that you would like to share with others who are considering this lifestyle?
No, you have already asked a lot of good questions.
Where can people find you online?
Currently, we are trying to set up a website but life has kept us very busy and the lack of internet has been challenging. We really want to reach out to people to share what an amazing world we live in, especially the wildlife. We are getting better at it and hope to have something set up where people can find us easily.
However, if people are interested, we have made YouTube videos for friends, family and schools back home. You can send people to the Ken Cripps Channel on YouTube.
We are calling ourselves Biology Family Afloat and we will keep working on trying to get out there. We will keep you posted when we have success!
I want to thank the Biology Family Afloat for sharing their story with us at Prepare to Tack. Perhaps they have helped to inspire you to begin searching for ways to pursue a lifestyle that you previously thought impossible.
*All photos are courtesy of Ken Cripps and Edith Kraus.
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