Ahoy! Family with local ties leaves land for open sea

So, it’s still summer and you and the family wish you had someplace to go — a little trip, maybe?

Nate Medland, a Bedford native, will tell you what his family decided to do. Speaking by cellphone on a recent Thursday morning from Grenada — that island-nation off South America — he reported they plan to sail around the world.

But they’re going to hang in Grenada for a while, and that’s just fine with the others: his spouse Megan and their son Kieran, age 11, and daughter Eily, 10.

Medland said the family dropped anchor at Grenada alongside similar boats from elsewhere, like South Africa and Israel, bearing families doing the same kind of sailing — aboard “kid boats,” so-named by the passenger lists. Kieran and Eily are happy to have playmates, their dad says.

The Medland family lived most recently in San Francisco, where Nate worked in finance. He’s 45 and holds an M.B.A. from the IU Kelley School of Business. His parents live in Bloomington.

His boat, named “Scout,” is a catamaran built in 1992 that has two 48-foot-long hulls. It’s 26 feet wide and has a 73-foot-tall mast.

“We have five cabins — bedrooms — on Scout,” Medland reported. “We make our own water via a water desalination system we have on board. We get our power from the sun — we have eight solar panels. But we have to watch power consumption — we only have so much, especially when it’s been cloudy!”

And — ahem — toilets?

“We have several toilets and a shower, though we usually shower outside,” he said.

“We recently got Starlink, so we have good wifi wherever we go, though we don't have a cell phone plan or any TV service, or a TV for that matter.”

Sailing out of Miami at the start of their voyage, the Medland group stopped first in the Bahamas, where they spent some time; then they sailed on to Turks and Caicos islands, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Antigua, Montserrat, Martinique, and down the Windward Islands to Grenada, which is known as “The Spice Island” for its nutmeg plantations.

“You’re kinda all alone,” Medland said about sailing the ocean. It helps to know how to repair your boat and keep it running. “I had to become a diesel mechanic and an electrician,” he said.

OK, what about keeping the kids happy during those long days at sea? “Ups and downs like other families,” he said, adding Kieran and Ely are enrolled in a home-schooling program that’s online based and can be completed anywhere.

The Medlands plan to continue their round-the-world sail sometime in the fall, heading toward Cartagena, Columbia, Panama, and beyond.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Mom, dad, kids and a catamaran: IU grad sailing the world