Read Online Seven at Sea Why a New York City Family Cast Off Convention for a Lifechanging Year on a Sailboat eBook Erik Orton Emily Orton
Download As PDF : Seven at Sea Why a New York City Family Cast Off Convention for a Lifechanging Year on a Sailboat eBook Erik Orton Emily Orton
A New York City family’s remarkable story of how they gave up their urban life, packed up their family of seven, and braved the difficult conditions of the Atlantic Ocean as they sailed more than 2,500 from New York to and around the Caribbean.
They thought of all the reasons why risking everything for year at sea was a bad idea they could go broke, get injured, be stranded at sea—maybe even die. More than likely, the only thing they would accomplish would be to embarrass themselves. Besides, only rich people sailed the world, right?
After all the deliberations, one thing was clear their children would either be an excuse or a reason. They chose to set sail.
Seven at Sea tells the story of a family learning to live together, simply and in harmony with the natural world. In doing so, they learned that giving up control can sometimes lead to amazing adventures. More importantly, they discovered how little they actually needed to be abundantly happy.
Read Online Seven at Sea Why a New York City Family Cast Off Convention for a Lifechanging Year on a Sailboat eBook Erik Orton Emily Orton
"I mostly enjoyed the book and the family’s adventure learning to sail and finally dropping everything to go on a 10 month cruising adventure. It wasn’t preachy, predictable or formulaic. I learned a fair amount about what is involved in a project like this, from preparation, equipment and critical decision making. In some aspects I felt the storytelling was uneven and could have been helped by better editing. Time jumps and lapses were a bit disconcerting and could have used some smoother transitions and connections. The family did not sugarcoat their personalities, but that also made some of them less sympathetic characters, a bit spoiled and self-centered. I wasn’t exactly sure at times why some agreed to go on this trip at all. The family and couple ricocheted from Kumbaya to nearly divorced.
I was also not impressed at times with their attitudes toward the Caribbeans they had to deal with. They bought a boat sight unseen, were woefully ignorant of boat and engine maintenance but blamed the systems and people they had to call upon to make the boat functional. I spend some time each year in St Martin and found their prejudices wholly unwarranted. A lot of their problems were self inflicted. If you go to the Caribbean expecting American schedules and service you will be disappointed. And it’s a small island. Everything must be shipped in so, yes, nothing is cheap.
In the end I finished the book but didn’t find it great literature or a story I couldn’t live without. I kept reading hoping something worthwhile was going to happen, but it seemed to just fizzle out as an ending. It’s not a book I’m passing on to family and friends, a usual standard."
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Seven at Sea Why a New York City Family Cast Off Convention for a Lifechanging Year on a Sailboat eBook Erik Orton Emily Orton Reviews :
Seven at Sea Why a New York City Family Cast Off Convention for a Lifechanging Year on a Sailboat eBook Erik Orton Emily Orton Reviews
- When I first heard about the Ortons and their fantastical, insane adventure, I thought, “Oh nice for them,†but dismissed any notion of have anything in common or that they’d have anything to say that would relate to my life. I was at a conference where they spoke and signed books, and their words ended up being the dark horse of the weekend. I quoted Emily no less than four times the following week. I have bought the book for two friends and an e-copy for myself. I still have zero desire to live on a boat, but I’m all the more motivated to rig some sails of my own, and inch my way out into a vast sea of unknown adventures. I now look at the world and terrifying choices differently because of Emily’s words, “We ask ourselves, after all, what could go *right*?â€
Just pick up the book. It’s a compelling story, and it’s well written. You never know, this could be the one key to your dreams that you’ve been missing all the time. - I mostly enjoyed the book and the family’s adventure learning to sail and finally dropping everything to go on a 10 month cruising adventure. It wasn’t preachy, predictable or formulaic. I learned a fair amount about what is involved in a project like this, from preparation, equipment and critical decision making. In some aspects I felt the storytelling was uneven and could have been helped by better editing. Time jumps and lapses were a bit disconcerting and could have used some smoother transitions and connections. The family did not sugarcoat their personalities, but that also made some of them less sympathetic characters, a bit spoiled and self-centered. I wasn’t exactly sure at times why some agreed to go on this trip at all. The family and couple ricocheted from Kumbaya to nearly divorced.
I was also not impressed at times with their attitudes toward the Caribbeans they had to deal with. They bought a boat sight unseen, were woefully ignorant of boat and engine maintenance but blamed the systems and people they had to call upon to make the boat functional. I spend some time each year in St Martin and found their prejudices wholly unwarranted. A lot of their problems were self inflicted. If you go to the Caribbean expecting American schedules and service you will be disappointed. And it’s a small island. Everything must be shipped in so, yes, nothing is cheap.
In the end I finished the book but didn’t find it great literature or a story I couldn’t live without. I kept reading hoping something worthwhile was going to happen, but it seemed to just fizzle out as an ending. It’s not a book I’m passing on to family and friends, a usual standard. - If you have a dream on hold, Seven at Sea by Erik Orton and Emily Orton may be a game changer. Without any suggestion that the reader should take up sailing, it ebbs and flows through a dizzying array of challenging concepts like acceptable risk, doing hard things, parenting, marriage, and the meaning of home. The book candidly documents a family’s yearlong sailing adventure; one that never should have happened. –At least not according to conventional thinking.
Erik, however, is a dreamer not a conventional thinker. His “soul sucking†just-pay-the-bills night job in New York’s financial district allowed him to eat brown-bag dinners on a bench overlooking the Hudson River. After months of longingly watching “rich people†sail up and down that river, Erik began to think…why not? …He knew he could count on Emily.
Emily was already living her dream of full-time parenting. She homeschools their five children, one with Down syndrome, in a fourth floor, two-bedroom apartment with the laundry in the basement. But, she is always open to discussing new dreams because the Ortons are a can-do family that eschews negativity.
In addition to the obvious family disruption and financial risk of Erik’s sailing dream, Emily was afraid of deep water. With his native positivity, Erik reminded her that the plan was to stay out of the water and on the boat, where parenting and homeschool would simply be relocated.
Baby steps took them on their first family sailboat outing – resulting in a lot of up chucking. They were undeterred. Exhaustive Internet searches found the very cheapest ways to learn to sail, rent to sail, and finally a bank wiling to loan them money for a boat with resale value. Planning and preparation took years. The goal was to create epic family memories before the eldest daughter, Karina, left for college. Spoiler alert They made it with a year to spare.
They made it through mainsail and engine delays. They made it through surprise squalls, evening drift, and near sinking. They were joined by dolphins, swimming pigs and luminous night waters. And, they discovered friends both in new lands and on adjoining boats. –All while testing their grit as individuals and as a family.
My favorite quote, page 261, shares Emily’s reflections on Karina’s response to a question about how their family sailing adventure had changed her
“I don’t think I’ve changed.†She said, “I’ve become even more myself. I’ve gone further down the path that I was already on.†Astute and articulate, she’d captured a truth I hadn’t even considered. When people say something was life-changing, what did they mean? Did they become a completely different person? Maybe, but that wasn’t my experience. Like Karina, I was myself, only more so. I had gambled on guiding principles. I hoped experiences were more important than things. I hoped making memories would unite us. I hoped struggling together would galvanize our relationships. I hoped trial and error would work. Putting my beliefs on the line led me to deeper self-trust. Through experience, hope compounded into confidence. …First, confidence that we’ll do what we say we’ll do. Second, the confidence that comes from learning new skills. Third, and I think most important, the confidence that it will emerge… Because [that] lets us get started. We don’t have to know everything. We don’t have to control everything. It lets us be patient while we’re figuring it out.â€
So, if your treasured goal needs a push out of the “someday†dock, consider one final thought from Seven at Sea “Better done than perfect.†- When you read this, you'll know your children are the reason you should live a bold, intentional life, not an excuse for accepting the status quo. While, at first, their dream seems big and unachievable for regular people, it turns out the Orton family actually took incremental steps over several years to get to the epic journey of a year at sea. They created a family culture built on being adventurous and inviting their children to dream big with them. They made sacrifices and lived on a shoestring budget because experiences were more important to them than things. I was moved by the love that grew even deeper with their children and their honesty about the strain put on their marriage by the challenges they took on.
I don't want to live on a boat for a year, but I have other dreams that feel more achievable to me now. I can do what they did. I'll embrace a vision for what I want, invite my family into it, take baby steps in the direction of my goal and ask all along the way, "What could go right?"
I also love their blog and their Instagram accounts for daily inspiration Fezywig.com, @fezywig, @emilyorton2020
