What is a day of boat schooling like?  

V: I’m typing this in the dark, it’s a warm and blustery night and the kids are asleep.  And if the boats batteries weren’t completely toast I’d put on the lights, cool the fridge and pop on the fan next to me.  Luckily we have three new batteries on order hopefully being delivered to the shore tomorrow..or the day after…hopefully!!  

We are currently on anchor in the Mar Menor, it’s on Spains Costa Blanca and is a large lagoon almost entirely cut off from the sea behind a narrow spit of land covered in high rises.  The lagoon is some 10 miles long and 5 miles wide and at its deepest only 6m.  Prefect for long term anchoring as there are no oceanic swells which creep into the other anchorage’s on the coast and roll you out of your beds at night.  

The lagoon does however have a drawback, warmer than the sea and saltier it unfortunately has a big jellyfish problem!  So no swimming from the boat but the beach near where we have anchored is manageable for a paddle in the shallow waters.  The jellyfish numbers are incredible and the ‘jellyfish soup’ provided huge amusement the first day in the lagoon as we motored on through the never-ending swarm.  Many specimens were pulled from the sea in the ships bucket and examined, a whole morning of boat schooling was hatched about jellyfish - pictures, biology, even mythology.  

I did love AI before but I’ve now turned its hand to homeschooling.  Copilot has been great for whipping up quick quizzes for kids, interrogating ideas, anatomy of invertebrates (yes jelly fish are invertebrates), linking to curriculums, scavenger hunts to make historical sights fun and even kid friendly versions of gruesome historical events!  Although of course it’s not always right!  

So what is back to school like onboard Canopus?  Well truth is we’ve been at boat schooling since we started our adventure at the end of the summer term.  Sorry J and S but no summer holiday.  If we can do some learning we will and in addition to the plethora of colins workbooks we’ve found our own pace.  

Today the boat is staying put on her anchor so we spent the morning sorting the boats new main boom preventer before hitting the shore for boat schooling ashore.  PE consisted of a decent hike along the beach to the local go kart track and a number of races to ascertain a winner (L!).  Science and History was conducted in the walk back through Las Salinas where S spotted wild flamingoes in the salt pans and J learnt the historical importance of the rise and fall of the salt trade.  

V and L studied viniculture in the lovely beach bar Maloca while the kids did ‘growing time’ making their own seashell-clad Salinas and irrigation systems on the beach shore. After two hours, some evidence of salt crystals but not a box of Maldon! 

Next was a wild dinghy ride back to the boat past the kite surfers and wind foilers (why do I always park in a windy kite surfers spot?) and a bit of pen and paper time with maths and writing practice while dinner was cooking.  The evening was topped with a glorious sunset over the hills and all tucked up before dark. 

So not every day is like this, especially if the boat is moving or changing location.  But still, it’s a day that happened.  We all agreed a pretty perfect one, nearly! 🪫