Our family is living on a four-bedroom boat while cruising the eastern seaboard for a year. It's not like the 'fabulous lifestyles of the rich and famous' that might come to mind.

• Atlanta-based Cinda and Mark Boomershine planned a year-long boating trip for 15 years.
• Starting in Florida, the Boomershines took the Great American Loop, which goes as north as Canada.
• The adventure and ever-changing scenery make up for bad weather and the constant boat maintenance.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Cinda, 50, and Mark Boomershine, 51, about their experiences buying and living on a boat with their two children, 11 and 9, while cruising the Great American Loop, a waterway that goes from the Atlantic Ocean up to the Great Lakes, and down the Mississippi River out to the Gulf of Mexico.