Couple explains how they live full time on 40ft boat with kids and dog

A couple who live on a 40ft catamaran with two kids and a dog say being able to just sail to the Bahamas is incredible – but people always ask how they fit everything in.

Dale Arbogast, 38, and fiancé, Kristina, 28, have embraced boat life since May 2024 and after an upgrade live full time on a $450k catamaran based at a Florida marina, with her kids and their dog Atlas.

And while it has given them the kind of freedom most of us can only dream of, it’s not all plain sailing.

Kristina says the most asked question the face is “what does it look inside your boat?” – and she revealed that while they have space for luxuries – like a teeny bar and even a Nespresso machine, they do have to make sacrifices.

“Every single” bit of storage has to be well thought out – and she says the “worst bit” is their tiny fridge which stores next to nothing.

Incredibly they had very little experience of sailing before they moved onto their boat.

Kristina, a photographer and marketing manager, from Florida, US, said: “Living on a boat, every single storage space is definitely used.

“The fridge is the worst part of this boat – it pulls out in drawers and there is just no storage.”

She joked: “I personally feel we aren’t missing a lot living on a boat. I mean there are little things like…water, and power hook ups, and limited space and a fridge that has no storage. Other than that – boat life is pretty amazing.”

The rest of her boat tour reveals TWO bathrooms, a gas stove and oven – but they use their Ninja “most of the time” as well as a kids’ snack cupboard hidden under a rug, and a bar area, complete with sea shells they picked up after sailing to the Bahamas.

Dale had been living alone on a motor yacht when he met Kristina on a flight to Orlando from Atlanta airport in September 2023.  

The pair began dating and just eight months later, when Kristina’s lease ran out at her rental property, the couple and her children from a previous relationship – aged seven and nine – all moved onto the boat together in May 2024.  

Having now upgraded the family is based at a Florida marina, but travel when they can – so far visiting the Bahamas before they head to the Mediterranean. 

The Leopard catamaran is complete with three bedrooms, a kitchen, living area and plenty of outdoor spaces at the front and back of the boat. 

The family enjoy their “nomadic and minimal life” and can “plug in” to local power when moored at the marina, but find power using a generator and solar panels while sailing. 

The couple are set to marry in December 2025 and have plans to sail their boat – called Arboventure – to Green Turtle Key in the Bahamas for their intimate wedding before setting sail on their honeymoon – three weeks island hopping.

Dale, a software engineer and AI company founder, said: “Right after the wedding we’re going to dingy out into the boat and sail off onto our honeymoon.”

Kristina, added: “Neither one of us had a really extensive sailing background at all.  

“We moved on in December and that was our first real sailing experience.  

“I think a lot of people are scared of doing something like this.  

“Our long-term plan in maybe five years is to make it over to the Mediterranean.  

“Our favourite parts about it are the ability to live a nomadic and minimal life.” 

Dale can see the family making their life at sea long-term.  

He said: “I feel like we deliberate on this but honestly the thing we keep coming back to is maybe we can do this forever.  

“We enjoy boat life and don’t see ourselves moving off of it.” 

Kristina’s children are able to attend school as the boat is moored in the marina for half of the year. 

For the remaining six months, the family take the Arboventure out sailing, going on trips to the Bahamas or different cities for “four or five days at a time”. 

Kristina said: “The dream is to home school them but it’s a hard thing to make that happen.  

“It’s definitely an adventure for them.  

“When we first started talking about it they were a little bit nervous.  

“They were saying ‘what do you mean I have to give up my own room and our trampoline?’.  

“Now they really love it.  

“They are just kind of learning how to sail, they can pull down the sails and they know how to read maps.” 

The family are able to buy groceries easily when moored in the marina and stock up for long trips away.  

The family’s fifth member, a cockerpoo, dog Atlas, enjoys life a sea too.  

Dale said: “It’s so funny, he has a life jacket.  

“We call him our little sea dog.  

Despite their idyllic life, there are some negatives to boating.  

“You have to be really up for things to go wrong,” Kristina said.

“There’s always something breaking and you have to navigate that.  

“We have limited storage space.  

“We can’t just take the longest shower in the world – due to limited water – we have to be really intentional about our resources.”