Tightening Ties: Small Quarters and Sailing Give a Chance to Bond 同舟共濟Living on a boat brings about big changes in the Bach family by Mark St. John Erickson / © 2009, Daily Press
Inside the Bach home in Hampton, VA, it’s just another late Wednesday afternoon – with mom Lauren taking a break and most of the kids busy in their rooms.
It could be a scene from any place in the neighborhood. Then there’s the indisputable movement of the wooden floor as their 75-foot-long seagoing home rolls up and down in the swells kicked up by a southwest wind. After more than 2,500 miles of sailing, however, no one pays much heed to the modest sway of the boat wintering in Hampton, VA, before continuing on a three-year, round-the-world journey. The Bachs and their kids have seen much worse. And they expect they’ll have to deal with many more challenges as they attempt to circle the globe together.
And they expect they'll have to deal with many more challenges as they attempt to circle the globe together.
"After their first sail. they were all ready to get off- and some of them still get a little seasick." Craig Bach says, "But with each new place we pulled into, it just kept getting better and better. And now they're all in it for the long haul.”
"My husband asked me if I wanted to do this with him .. we've always wanted to raise our kids to be independent, self-sufficient, global-minded citizens, " Lauren says. "We needed to do something more about the global part. And this was it."
Preparation to sail
Selling off their businesses as well as the family's farm, the couple started their endeavor with Craig leaving first to begin replanking the bull of a ketch in the Caribbean. Lauren and the kids followed later to lend a hand in a time-consuming overhaul that cost come $500,000 and stretched out over two years.
"The whole idea sounded cool and then-when I got there-it really looked like a lot of work,Alexis says. "Who's going to do it?" I thought-and we figured out pretty soon that it was going to be us. Moving aboard the gutted boat, the family put in 10 hours a day, 7days a week for months slowly reviving the decks and interior of the nearly 50 year old vessel. While Craig made major changes to the masts and sail plan, the girls focused on the woodwork, with Tracy learning how to use a table saw and Sara applying a 12-coat marine finish.
Inside the big cabin that Sara and Alexis planned to share, the two younger sisters added to their workload by building a dividing bulkhead. That gave each girl a semiprivate berth of her own.
"We knew that if we were going to keep the family together, we'd need a separate space for everyone." Craig says.
Bonding under stress
Those new family ties became stronger after the Bachs began testing themselves under sail in November 2007. Though their learning curve proved steeper than imagined. Craig says, they've become increasingly adept at handling the ketch in open water, where they've successfully weathered squalls of 40 to 60 knots. They've also learned to watch out for each other whenever they explore a new port. Other changes have taken place, too, as the family of six has adapted to living together in such tight, often inescapable quarters. In most cases, the kids have learned to give and take, and small annoyances have disappeared.
Equally dispensable is the lust for stuff that governed so much of the life they left. Pared down to a few square feet of living space, each of the Bachs has had to radically readjust their ideas about what they have to have. The impulse to simplify became even stronger after the family visited a struggling orphanage school in Haiti. The need for basic items convinced them to adopt the charitable venture as a fundraising mission. Even without the influence of their visit to Haiti, however, the unalterable lack of space aboard the boat has changed their attitudes for good.
More Information
20 years ago, Craig Bach was a workaholic. In one seven-year stretch, Craig worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week, month after month-all in an effort to reach his dream of being a success. Then, one morning, Craig woke up and realized he had four children and a wife he hardly knew. From that moment on, Craig decided true success would come through making his family his number one priority.
Grammar
Inside the Bach home in Hampton, VA, it's just another late Wednesday afternoon...
just another=" ordinary" or "usual"
This card is just another piece of junk mail.
It's just another ugly picture with an expensive price tag.
Vocabulary
indisputable (adj)-毋庸置疑的，无可非议的，无可否认的。in-否定意思 dispute有讨论余地的。
It is an indisputable scientific fact that hot air rises.
*One fact is indisputable. This mistake cannot happen again.
*indisputably (adv)-Their product is indisputable the best.
heed (n)-不可数名词。-注意，当心。
Jack never paid any heed to his parent's advice about money and now is in big financial trouble.
"pay heed to something " or "take heed of something" 留意某件事。
*We didn't pay much heed to the warning sign and bumped into the roadblock's.警示标志，撞上路障
long haul (n)-漫长的旅程（时间） ，haul-距离，carry a load for some distance.
the long haul-a long period of time that not easy give up. a long haul-travel journey,
If people invest their money for the long haul, then they don't pay attention to the daily rate changes.
*The training is harsh, but he performed well over the long haul.严酷的，整个长期过程中，表现很好。
*It's a long haul traveling from Chile to Japan.很长的旅程。
global-minded (adj)- Coming into contact with different cultures helps people become more global-minded.
swell-
sail-"smooth sailing" (idiom)-water calm , no big wave, it means everything going well and smooth.
"sail through" (idiom)-passing through fast, quick go through. Test is really easy, I sail through. or I sail through my homework, it only takes me 10 minuets.
don't rock the boat-rock the boat can cause a boat go side by side, finally it turns over and gets into the water. means-don't so something that the result in something bad. -"don't cause trouble"
don't make waves-don't make trouble.-the boat sailing in the waves sea is more likely will turn over and gets into the water.
endeavor-
replank-plank is a long wooden board that lay down on the boat to make a floor for people walk on it.
hull-the body of the boat. a half of hull is in the water and a half of hull is above the water.
ketch-"e" not catch, is a small boat.
overhaul (n)-completely repair all the damages.拆开检修,大修,检修.地
My car engine needed an overhaul after I had driven it 100,000 km. Then I drove it another 100,000 km.
*Our old truck is in the garage for an overhaul.在修车厂大修
*The bus is scheduled for an overhaul next month.排定..定期检修
*The engine of the car was overhauled. (当动词)是检修过了.
gut (v)-内脏,此是毁损某东西的内部,内部装璜 all the old or original thing need to moved & replace.+tted
The war-torn town was full of gutted buildings and empty streets.
*The hotel was gutted by the fire.
*The car was gutted by the thief.
revive (v)-复兴,复苏,恢复,brought back. re-再一次, vive-生命.
Samuel's dream of reviving the family farm began to come true with his first sale of produce.
*The architect revived the chapel and many tourists come to visit now. 建筑师
*A hot bath can revive me instantly. 立即充满活力.
semiprivate (adj)-I stayed in a semiprivate room in the hospital with two other patients.
bulkhead-a wall or a dividing wall between two rooms or two compartments.
berth-a place that someone can sleep. we are use this word on ship, boat or train.
learning curve (n)-steep learning curve-learn the hard skill quickly in a short time.
Because she had no experience, Sally had a steep learning curve when she started teaching.
inescapable (adj)-无法避免的,免不了的.in-否定的escapable-可避免的
The consequence of robbing the jewelry store was inescapable. Same spent three years in jail.
*It seems inescapable that we have to move to a bigger house.
*Larry has to face the inescapable fact that he will be laid off.
dispensable (adj)-非必要的,不重要的. dispense (v)-免除或省掉.
The boss treats his employees as if they are dispensable, It's like he doesn't need them.
*The money can only be used on necessities, not on those dispensable things.
*He felt that he was a dispensable member of his team.
radically (adv)-very radical in extremely way. 澈底地,完全地.
Will's casual approach to work is radically different from Simon's serious approach.
*The company decided to take a radically different approach to sell the new product.完全不同的方法来卖这产品.
radical (adj)-澈底的,完全的. a radical shift of attitude-态度上澈底的改变.
unalterable (adj)-unable to be change. un-not, alterable-changeable.
Mr. Sparks had one unalterable rule in his classroom. You had to show respect to everyone.
squall- sudden and strong wind, fast wind.
governed- control.
ropes-sailing require a lot of ropes, sailor knows tie the knots, untie the knots, good sailor knows their ropes. someone knows the ropes means they have experience and skill. If you know the ropes, that means you know how to do the things. sea sick.
overboard-falling off the boat into the water. doing way too much,
Chat Room
to deal with it (something)-to handle something.处里，应付某件事情 can't deal with it=cant' handle itdeal- make a deal with someone. 交易，和某人作交易。deal (v)-及物动词deal the cards to everybody.发牌给每一个人。cut someone a deal-和某人交易，卖方cut买方a deal 是卖方给买方一些优惠的交易。
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lend someone a hand-Can you lend me a hand-借某人一支手，帮助某人，助人一臂之力。
hand-me-down-穿人家穿过的衣服，尤指小小孩承接大小孩穿不下的旧衣服。
used clothes,secondhand clothes-旧的衣服.
take something off someone's hand--把东西从某人手上拿去，即帮他处理掉他手中用不着的东西。
take them off my hands
hand it to you-承认某人的优点，长处，I have to hand it to you, you are a hard worker.
get out of hand-out of control 失控. The situation got out of hand.
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give and take (idiom)-相互让步,一方让步give,一方得到好处take what you want. compromise/cooperate.
give or take (idiom)-差不多,差的有限.差不倒那儿去.$25 give or take a couple of dollars 只有二元的差异.
take someone for --将某人误认为什么人.误以为他是小偷. He takes her for thief.
give up-放弃, 什么用"on" -give up on something-give up on English.
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