Cruising Consultant Service and Private Coaching for New Boaters

Looking for some help answering the tough questions, like where to find the right boat, or what is even the right boat?

We’re Lucy and Matt, and we founded Boat Life Academy to give you the confidence to enjoy your first year of cruising. Read more about the site and why we started it on the About Us page.

There are many excellent professionals working in the marine industry, but very few of them are equipped to help and educate new boaters. It’s not the job of your broker, surveyor, dockmaster, or mechanic to teach you what you’re supposed to ask for or what you’re supposed to be doing. Most boating and sailing instructors can show you how to sail or how to dock, but not many know about the intricacies of living on a boat and traveling.

This is where we can help. Contact us using the form below to set up a custom, one-on-one boating and cruising consulting session.

Our Story

We currently liveaboard our 38-foot Cabo Rico sailboat and cruise the US East Coast. We started in Florida about 25 years ago on a 32-foot sailboat, a real project boat that got us in more trouble (but did set the hook on the cruising lifestyle).

After the problematic project boat, we spent many years with trailerable motor boats for camping trips and diving in the Florida Keys. We took our 21-foot Sea Fox cuddy cabin everywhere and had a blast. We even had a few marina nights in it, always lusting after the real liveaboard boats that dwarfed us at the docks.

In 2014, we had the bright idea to take a sailing sabbatical — to sail away from steady jobs and a secure future and just enjoy life for a few years.

We sold our house, quit our jobs, and purchased a Lagoon 380 sailing catamaran. We had a blast, lived our best lives, and learned a lot about these big boat maintenance, passages, sailing The Bahamas, and life aboard on the hook or at the marina.

But, man, was that first year tough! The learning curve is steep, and having an experienced mentor to help guide us through would’ve meant the world.

We kept the Lagoon for five years, but it became clear to us that it was not our “forever” boat. We wanted something saltier and cozier. Admittedly, we also wanted something smaller that would cost less to keep in the long run!

In 2019 we purchased our current salty bluewater monohull cruiser, a Cabo Rico 38. We’ve taken here from the Exumas to Maine, and love every minute. We’ve outfitted her extensively, done most of the work ourselves, and made her into a cozy, safe, passage-making home.

Your Boating and Cruising Mentors

But that’s us, let’s talk about you! Are you dreaming of a similar adventure? Want advice on boats — motor or sail, monohull or catamaran, small or large? We might not have all the answers, but we are available to help newbies take their first steps and point you in the right direction.

Here are a few questions we can help answer during a one-on-one coaching session:

• Picking a good cruising vessel to suit your goals, how much to pay, and what to look out for
• The boat buying process, how it works, and how to navigate it
• Boat insurance tips and tricks
• Where can you liveaboard and how to find marinas
• Cruising with pets on board, from the logistics to whether or not it’s a good idea
• Places to cruise, and potential itineraries (from coastal hops locally to around-the-world voyages)
• Boat maintenance and refits
• Project boat woes
• Project management with contractors and boatyards

Contact Us Below for Cruising Consultant Services