It has been about 6 months since the Waters family took to live-aboard life with their young family. They have been sharing their beautiful images of life on-board Pacific High with their Facebook followers and inspiring many a family to set sail. Not to mention showing us what a Lagoon kitchen can create!

We checked in with Kristy to see where the wind has taken them.

‘The furthest north we’ve been was to Port Douglas. A few family members flew over from WA to join us, and we had great fun heading to the outer reef. My 87-year-old grandad came out and impressed everyone with how well he got around the boat.

‘We love showing the family around. We took them snorkeling out at Michaelmas Cay, kayaking, standup paddle boarding, and fishing. The kids are off the boat as soon as we anchor. There’s always something to do. And we usually spend most of our time out of marinas, preferring instead to anchor offshore.’

Fun with the ‘goonies’

When they were at the Lagoon Escapade in the Whitsundays in July, Max really enjoyed spending time with other live-aboard families who attend remote schooling. They met up with some of these families again at Magnetic Island after the event.

‘The Escapade was amazing. Seeing all the other Lagoons and meeting the other owners for the first time was fantastic. It is such an awesome idea to get everyone together. It was a really beautiful couple of days. We loved meeting such a diverse group of owners too, from retirees to young families, a great mix of people.

‘It was also great to chat with other live-aboard families and see what they’re doing to keep their kids entertained, especially on long hauls which can be a challenge. Tyler will read all day but Max needs a bit more activity! He loves board games and gets the fishing lures out at every opportunity.’

Magic moments

‘There have been some magic moments in the last 6 months. Around Airlie Beach, we were motoring along and a whale popped up. So we stopped the engine and the whale hung around the boat for a good 15 minutes which was lovely for the kids.

‘We’ve seen so much marine life around the reef. The green zone is full of fish and turtles, it’s really gorgeous.

As well as Kristy documenting their sites and experiences with her beautiful photography and Facebook page, Tyler is keeping a diary and is working on a video montage for Max.

Learning through challenges

‘We’ve learned that we work really well as a team. Not having any sailing experience could have been a challenge, but we’ve faced up to that well.

‘The other night there was a big storm south of Cairns. We were anchored in a river, and the anchor dragged in 4m of water. Fortunately, someone alerted us with a torch that caught my sister’s eye in her cabin at midnight. I stood out front and Darren navigated through the river, and we got onto it quickly.

‘My sailing skills have really improved. My dad was with us for the first 7 weeks and during that time he and Darren got a handle on working the sails, and I had to take up the deckhand role. It has been such a great learning experience.’