We had so many wonderful experiences during our 3 months in New Zealand that we have split it into two videos. This first video is of our time in the North Island. We celebrated birthdays, New Year’s Eve in Auckland, Christmas on Kawau Island and American Thanksgiving in Whangarei. Family and friends flew across the globe to share with us an appreciation of New Zealand’s natural beauty and friendly people.
At the end of our time in New Zealand we packaged Lyrae up and shipped her home to Orcas Island. The Miller 6 flew home February 2025 to catch a good ski season in the Pacific Northwest. The kids are back in school and we are very happy and busy with music, sports, dance and community. We wish you well in the holiday season and hope you enjoy this latest video that the kids have edited. Hopefully part 22 of the South Island will not take another year to edit!
Our 2026 adventure will take us to Nepal for the entire month of April to celebrate a milestone birthday for Mike! Sierra is excited to create some video logs of that adventure to document a project she is working with Forrest, Coral and Aurora on to give school supplies to children in the villages that we will pass through.
John, Eunice and Marshall flew all the way from Maine!“School photos” from fall 2024We stayed at Pinnacles Hut, Coromandel, for our final night in New Zealand.
The final stop on our Trans-Pacific adventure before making our way to New Zealand was Fiji. What an incredibly welcoming place! When you arrive at a new anchorage or island group, you present a gift to the village chief as a polite way of asking for permission to come ashore and experience the beauty. Our experience highlights included impromptu chess games with villagers, swimming with manta rays, camping in the mountainous interior, singing with local villagers, and Forrest and Sierra getting PADI Scuba certified. We loved every minute of our time in Fiji and found it hard to fit the highlights into a 10 minute video. Sierra worked hard on these edits to keep it as short as possible! We sailed through Fiji during September and October of 2024.
Forrest and Sierra snuggles on deck during our passage from Tonga to FijiMy night watch buddies during passage from Tonga to Fiji as we threaded our way through the Lau Group at midnight. We returned to the Lau 2 weeks later after checking in at Savusavu.Heading ashore with our visiting friends Jon and Sue at a new anchorage in the Lau Group for sevusevu, where we meet the village chief and ask for permission to visit the island.Forrest and Sierra completed their PADI book learning, tests, and required dives in time for us all to do several dives together on Rainbow Reef and White Wall. Their course was all the same material as an adult would be required but their depth is just limited to 42 feet until they are a little older.Lau group, Vanua Balavu Island, had some incredible hiking and views. We anchored for several days in those beautiful islands below.Overlooking Sawa-I-Lau Caves in the Yasawas.The three of us anchored at this wonderful spot 37 years previously, in 1987! It was so fun to revisit these locations with John and Eunice.Savoring the views overlooking Namosi Highlands Eco Lodge
School is a big part of our life on the boat. So far we have completed 1st and 4th grade and when making this video we are half way through 2nd and 5th grades. Thankfully the kids have a great attitude most of the time and we get through a lot of material. Some days are more challenging than others and there never seems to be enough space to spread out for an art project or a pencil sharpener that works. Imagine trying to practice piano, be on a zoom call or take a math test when your sibling is practicing trumpet in the same room! But we figure it out by taking turns or using headphones. We really enjoy mixing it up and doing work in a local coffee shop or public library.
In May 2024 we explored the Tuamotus Archipelago of French Polynesia. What an amazing experience to snorkel in such a remote setting and share time with new friends. We visited Raroia, Tahanea, Fakarava and Toau atolls.
Highlights included windsurfing and octopus encounters in Raroia, drift snorkeling the passes of Tahanea, diving and snorkeling with hundreds of sharks in Fakarava, and riding on other peoples boats for day passages.
After 17 days of sailing from Mexico, we made landfall in Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia.
Part 14: Marquesas by the kids!
We were welcomed by fragrant smells of flowers and ripe mango. The lush green cliffs turn into gushing waterfalls when the rain showers come. These are usually a welcome change to the otherwise baking sun. One of my favorite memories of our time in this remote island group was when I got stranded at the town soccer field/ playground in a 2 hour torrential downpour and the kids and I got in a line and jogged the 30 minutes back to the dinghy, laughing and giggling the whole way. They are like my own little cross country team!
We visited four islands, Hiva Oa, Fatu Hiva, Tahuata and Nuku Hiva. This video shows the highlights of our three weeks of exploring.
Landfall at daybreak after 17 days at sea
Hiva Oa, Atuona: check in with the gendarme, provision fresh stuff, guided all day tour with Yoan with Kaoha Excursions (https://www.kaohaexcursion.com/) to I’ipona cultural site in Puama’u, Gauguin Museum, lunch out, ice cream!
This small bag of trash was all we had after 17 days at sea.
Fatu Hiva, Hanavave: anchoring a challenge and dragging boats, windy, 1 hour hike to Vaieenui Waterfall and swimming hole, 1 hour hike up steep single lane switchback road to viewpoint, soccer ashore.
Hanavave Bay or also called “Bay of Virgins” in 2024Hanavave Bay in 1987 with sv Harmony
Tahuata, Hanamoenoa: great water clarity, manta rays, snorkeling, beach play, no village just other cruising boats, had a water taxi deliver us fresh produce and eggs, finally met up with SV Impossible and SV Terikah!
Hanamoenoa
Tahuata, Hapatoni: day stop, hike along road to Vaitahu for views of the boat in the bay.
Hapatoni
Tahuata, Vaitahu: sleepy town, ate ashore, sketchy dinghy access at a surgy pier.
Nuku Hiva, Anaho: snorkeling in murky water but there are corals, fish and another octopus. Hike over the ridge to Hatiehu town, cold drinks, ice cream and restaurant lunch. Hike east to beautiful and exposed Haatuatua beach with lots of fishing and plastic trash including a dFAD (floating aggregation device) beacon. Kids and adults playing on wind and foil toys for numerous days!
These are the visible microplastics that we found in 1 square foot of Haatuatua beach
Nuku Hiva, Taiohae: we provisioned for the next 6 weeks, topped off diesel tanks with 18 jerry cans (almost 100 gallons), bought Coral a pareo, and rented a car for a full day driving tour of the interior and Controleur Bay.
100 gallons of diesel and mikes workout for the day
Nuku Hiva, Daniel’s Bay: a spectacular setting with lush cliffs surrounding the anchorage and along the hike to Vaipo waterfall. Walked an ancient stone path and passed many tikis and stone platforms.
We are enjoying our final days in the Tuamotus and it has been so wonderful! We have visited Raroia, Tahanea and Fakarava Atolls. The kids will make a video but we are a little behind and I just wanted to share this snippet from just one amazing 24 hour period at the south pass of Fakarava Atoll. It’s called “the wall of sharks” and no joke, it is an unbelievable coral canyon filled with lazy swimming gray, black tip, white tip and some lemon sharks. I never thought I could enjoy a dive like this, but wow, it was incredible. The fish and water clarity on the edges of the pass were also spectacular and the kids are happy and excited to be exploring it all.
It has ben six weeks since we rescued four olive ridley turtles from the Pacific Ocean nearby Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. My siblings and I have worked hard to raise money to donate to a turtle foundation in Puerto Vallarta called Encampamento Tortuguero La Boca de Tomates. We chose this organization because it is located close to where our encounter occurred and local residents recommended it. We have raised almost $600 dollars so far and still have bracelets and earrings if you’re interested in joining our community of support! 100% of the money you donate will go to the “Turtle camp.” Thank you!
We made a video that people watched to learn the story about the trapped turtles. You can watch it here. We made earrings and bracelets from the long line that the turtles were tangled in and sold them to people who could help share the story.
Our primary goal was to help raise awareness about how fishing long lines can tangle boats and animals. We hope that the money donated to La Boca de Tomates will help new young turtles have a safe and healthy life. Fun fact: Olive ridley turtles can live up to 50 years old! We learned a lot about turtles from our experience that day when we rescued the 4 olive ridleys. We appreciated that they were calm when my mom was removing the line and hooks and so happy that they swam away safely and energetically.
I am also working to earn a Girl Scouts of America Bronze Award by creating a video capturing our encounter, making jewelry to sell, and sharing our story with the people that we meet. My team for the Bronze Award includes my two younger Girl Scout Brownie sisters, Aurora and Coral, and my twin brother, Forrest, who is a Boy Scout of America Webelo.
Maybe you can help the turtles and other sea creatures by sharing this story also?
i love snorkeling with my mom. I like seeing all the creatures. They make me happy. I like diving down and seeing them. Then I go back to our boat and identify them. I like having hot chocolate after I go snorkeling, it makes me warm up. Then I hang up my gear so I’m ready for the next time I go snorkeling. It makes me happy 😊 🤿.
Guinea fowl puffer fish!Guinea fowl puffer fish Porcupine fish My mom and I  Sunflower SeastarGreen turtle Parrot fish Dolphin 
We spent a little over 2 months exploring the Sea of Cortez, Baja Sur Mexico between Isla Espiritu and Bahia Conception. We encountered fewer kid boats than we had expected, so we ended up gravitating to where we had made friends or where there were homeschooling RV families like Bahia Conception. Lots of great hiking, beaches, big wind and short choppy seas, and my favorite part: snorkeling with Coral. Every single anchorage she just begged to go and explore and was always so excited regardless of the conditions or the frigid water temps. We always found something memorable to document in the science journal. Her favorite find was a guinea fowl puffer fish.
Did you know that rock formations take hundreds to thousands of years to form. In fact we just went to a rock formation of sandstone.sandstone is a rock made out of sand.it forms by having layer after layer.and then something like a river flows threw it and watches it away.and then the water stops and it leaves a giant crack in the rock. And then that sand dries and over hundreds of years it becomes rock and that is how sandstone is made. We climbed the sandstone. It was tricky to climb. because the sand on top of the rock was loose.because some o the sand did not get wet means it is still loose another way is the sand from the beach.which one is it.it is actually a trick question because it is both.but this one particularly was a sandstone that was made by sand blowing layer after layer.and then turned into stone.
There were two typse of sandstone where there was a smooth and a jaggid.the jagged sandstone was like an overhang except it was really spikey and it hurts if you hit it.i know that because i hit my hand on it and it hurt.and the smooth sandstone feels nice when you rub your hand on it and why the smooth sandstone is smooth is because the water went threw it.and since we are in mexico it means it barely ever rian`s. but when it did that rock got a lot of water to make it a rock.
Sandstone is amazing. These are just some cool facts about sandstone. I wrote this paragraph dedicated to my mother, a geologist.
Smooth sandstone At the top of a trail above the anchorage at Los Gatos
UPDATE! Thank you for your support! Kids have chosen a local turtle education / rescue place to give some of your donations! It’s called campamento tortuguero boca de tomates. To make direct donations to them you can PayPal nakawe.ac@gmail.com. Don’t forget to tell us if you’d like earrings or a bracelet! Hand deliver sometime during the next year would be ideal but shipping is a possibility. They are great conversation starters to help raise awareness.
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The kids made this video of four turtles that we encountered tangled in a fishing gear ball of trash. We were about 60 miles north of Punta Mita/Sayulita/La Cruz/Puerto Vallarta. We were able to remove the hooks and line from all turtles and they all seemed to be strong when they swam off. It took about 30 minutes to untangle them and thankfully the conditions were very calm and we just drifted with engines off while carefully dealing with the mess.
We believe they were Olive Ridley turtles. We saw many (~50?) this day swimming in the ocean as we motored past. I am learning that one of the challenges turtles are facing is that sea temperature is connected to if they are female or male and the warmer oceans is producing too many females for the populations to balanced appropriately.
Aurora, Coral, Forrest and Sierra are making some earrings and keychains out of the ball of hooks and line that we removed from the sea. We are planning to visit some local sea turtle sanctuary/ non-profits to learn more about these creatures and the kids hope to donate some of their savings and any profits from their creations to help support conservation efforts in the local area.
Mike and I were in a daze after the experience. It was thrilling to be helping these creatures in such a tangible and immediate way, yet we were saddened by the reality of how frequent this accident happens. We are grateful that the kids were able to participate and feel the euphoria of helping these innocent creatures. We hope that this video might inspire you to donate to your local organizations and seek opportunities to volunteer.
Hello my name is sierra I am 9 years old. I am excited to go on this adventure.
I am glad that my mom is teaching me we are learning a lot Building a tower that would stand up in an earthquake out of toothpicks and marshmallows.Me jumping off a sand dune on a remote island.
And if we want a break from the boat trip we can just leave the boat at a marina. Like when we went to Disneyland and I went on the incredicoaster for the first time and then went on it three more times.
Me on the incredicoaster
We were also part of the Baja-haha rally where boats get together and race down part of the coast of Mexico. There were about 7 other boats with kids.
I learned how to start, stop, and drive our dingy. (we’re planing)
Mom says we can only have an engine that has the same number as how old her youngest child is.
We write cards for our friends pretty often because we miss them a lot.
We had a great time during this 2 week journey south. We covered a lot of miles and had some unique experiences. We had dolphins pods, sea lions in our anchorage and intense lightning storms.
If you have met me for even a few minutes, you’re probably aware that I am slightly obsessed with planning and spreadsheets and wringing every single drop of life out of every second we have on this planet. Sympathy (or pity?) may be one of the first emotions that you feel towards the 4 kids that have transpired from the 10 years of marriage that mike and I have shared. I feel incredibly lucky that all 4 of them have good attitudes *most* of the time and are generally eager to participate in whatever shenanigans we have planned.
I’m trying to savor the moments of this adventure, remaining focused on observing the present. Yes we take videos and photos often and I’m looking at my phone more than I care to admit. But I’m not reaching for the selfie stick or setting up the camera for every experience we have. These videos are essentially research project presentations created by 6 and 9 year olds. You’ll see interviews of visiting crew and friends, demonstrations of our safety gear, explanations of how we produce electricity, lessons on how to wing foil, what we eat, what boat-school is like and if you’re lucky, the names of the 10,000 stuffed animals that occupy most of the volume of the boat.
Enjoy these short glimpses into our life and come along on this adventure with us!
Hello! If you are reading this, then you probably received a Holiday Card with a link to this blog and are thinking “what crazy idea are the Millers planning now”? Welcome! This website doesn’t have much on it right now and that’s because we aren’t actually cruising yet. We are still living on land, shuttling the kids between kindergarten, gymnastics, soccer, drum lessons, church events, rock climbing, cub scouts and playdates. Mike and I are focussed on working in the boat yard getting s/v Lyrae ready for this adventure that will start in September 2020. So maybe you have a few questions? This post will briefly say how we arrived at this choice to do a big trip, how we found our boat, and what the next year could look like!
When did you get this idea?
I will give Mike credit for making this dream move forward. Even though I circumnavigated the globe with my parents when I was a kid for 6 years, I will admit that I didn’t really want to do it with my own family. I hadn’t yet explored the opportunities that cruising kids have today to meet other kids and stay in touch. In 2017 we decided we would start looking for a boat and planning out a potential route. We didn’t know where the boat would be found, what the boat would be, or where we would go. Mike had never sailed off-shore or done an overnight passage. I was daunted by the idea of homeschooling 4 kids. We had a lot to accomplish before embarking on this adventure responsibly.
How did you decide on an Outremer 49?
For 2 years, Mike and I entertained the idea of basically every boat ever designed on earth. Nothing seemed to fit our long list of criteria. Criteria like “large and center cockpit” “fun to sail” “four staterooms” “two seating areas” “safe” “simple systems” “separate engine room” “manageable sail area” “shallow draft”. We had help from an amazingly patient broker that eventually found Lyrae for us even though she wasn’t for sale. We eventually settled on either an aluminum lifting keel monohull under 55′ or a performance catamaran (with daggerboards). Our research involved viewing dozens of boats, hundreds of hours searching yachtworld on our phones, attending boat shows (we even went all the way to Sweden for one!), and I made a whirlwind trip to France to visit manufacturing plans of the top contenders. Since I had never really sailed a catamaran, I was initially hesitant to consider anything but a monohull. Most of the two years was spent educating and convincing me that they are the ideal yacht for equatorial cruising! So thats was we got. A 2010 Outremer 49 catmaran with 4 staterooms. “Baloo”, as she was called then, literally sailed right past our house on Orcas Island this summer by her previous owner. I saw her and said that’s our boat.
What does the name mean?
Lyrae (pronounced Lee-ray) is a double-double star in the constellation of Lyra. This means that it is four stars grouped in two sets that are all orbiting one another. Like double twins! Lyrae is visible to the naked eye right next to the bright star Vega (also part of Lyra). With a telescope you can see the split of the binary pair. Also, in mythology, Lyra is the harp that Orpheus plays so loudly on the expedition of the Argonauts that the sailors are not tempted by the music of the Sirens.
What do you need to do before you leave?
We have a list (of course!). It’s over 400 items long. Items like “sell cars” and “learn how to homeschool”. But right now, Mike and I are focusing efforts on preparing s/v Lyrae for her next adventure. Lyrae is hauled out for approximately 4 months while we inspect, clean, install and provision every inch of her insides and outsides.
Will the kids go to school?
Forrest and Sierra will be boat schooled starting with First grade. I have a lot to learn about curriculum but I have great resources and friends available to me and I’m excited to use my organization skills to incorporate our daily experiences into the basic math and language standards. They are good kids, focus well on things they are curious about, and love the water. And I only have to teach 2 grades for 4 kids!
Can we visit you?
If you like sailing and kids, then this could be a fun opportunity to help us stay connected with friends and family! We will have additional crew with sailing experience on board for passages. We know generally where we will be when, but weather and other circumstances can always change that.
Meet the Millers 