Off The Grid: How I quit the rat race and live for free aboard a sailboat

Disclaimer: I am a rookie sailor who plans to go “ off the hook” in five years with my lovely ex-Navy Husband. I may be a novice to the ways of marinal life (we just made our first voyage from Florida around the Abacos in our 35’ monohull) but I appreciate a motivational read. This book was educational in sharing exactly what it’s like to live on a sailboat full time from one man’s perspective, but also the philosophical ponderings on life that the Author shares throughout the book are inspirational. They urge one to look at the high maintenance lives our culture mandates are the key to happiness in contrast to a life where we prioritize our peace of mind over anything else. The style of writing matches this philosophy - there was clearly no overpaid editor assigned to “sculpt” this book with clever syntax. The Author’s stories are unfiltered, simple and uncomplicated. Well done!

Fun and easy read with excellent perspective lessons. Wife and I moving to St. Petersburg and will be going to a larger sailboat to live aboard and cut most ties to the “grid”, “matrix”, or “sheeple farm”. Thanks for sharing Mark!

AMAZING book!! I couldn't put it down. If you are in search of inspiration in your own journey, then you MUST get this book. It was an easy read, and very inspiring. I felt like the book spoke to me. perhaps i should mention that I am currently on my own journey; so i was in search of solace in discovering my new passion and journey in life. I contacted Captain Mark to see if he really meant what he said in his book, and the fact i was so touched by his book that I had to reach out to him. He has been nothing but gracious in helping me with resources and giving advice along the way. He has been a huge inspiration and I cant be more grateful. AND.... he meant what he said in the book. Reach out to him! Hes a great person and very knowledgeable and a loves to help people with the same love for living "off the grid." Im going to read it again; and look forward to the next book!

This guy just talks about a bunch of disjointed stories, and uses LOL all the time. I only got through about four chapters.EDIT: I was too harsh in my initial criticism of this book. I hadn't planned on reading the rest of it, but I ran out of books to read, and so I went back and finished this one. The author is not a writer. He's just a regular guy telling us the story of how he entered middle age and was able to disentangle himself from everyday society. If the subject matter interests you, this book is worth reading, and I found myself enjoying it after I got used to the way he communicates. Like I said, he's not a writer, but he does have a message, and after giving it a chance, I think he's worth hearing. I'd be interested in a follow-up if he ever decides to write one.

Absolutely a blast to read. Obviously written by someone of the younger generation & from Florida. Us Floridians just speak different from other areas of the USA. After reading the first 10 chapters & remembering some of the reviews, I was like, duh a sailing adventure book is not supposed to read like Shakespeare. So shame on the negative reviews.This is an awesome book with clearly a super cool down to earth “real” captain. Not some silver spoon privileged rich dude sit on his brand new yacht in say Bal Harbor. The story is real, honest & relatable. It gives a laugh & some hope to the rest of us younger folks that don’t make a consistent 6 plus figure salary. Love this book & hope to meet Capt. Mark oneday. Great job brother 👏 ⛵️

Good book to follow along on travels through the islands. It will want you to consider packing up things and heading south. One day!!!

This book is inspirational and humorous. I know Mark from years past and I enjoyed reading about his adventures, including the one about me being e frantic girlfriend thrown in the hull of his boat. Mark has a great perspective on life's journey. One that I too am trying to work on daily with staying positive and going for my dreams. I hope to someday have his book signed and to chat over a good rum drink! Way to go Mark, you fulfilled a dream of writing a book, going off grid, and always staying positive. This book is a good read

My expectation was to read about an old friend's path to living off the GRID. Although there are passages that suggest how to, the book is not about that. The book could easily be titled "In Search of Mark Reinhardt". I am an active reader but I like to read by dropping out. I don't want to think. I want to be entertained. After the first couple of chapters, I was thoroughly immersed into discovering Mark while traveling with him on his journey.This book peeks inside the life of modern day philosopher. Will Rogers said, "Good Judgement comes from experience and a lot of that is bad." Surely, this minstrel has had his share but then I began to see that his destiny was the experiences he shared with others. The positive impact on the lives he touched. His quest to live off the GRID provided him that opportunity. Divine intervention, maybe? If you are a Christian then you'll recognize that God has a plan for everyone. When the subject of purgatory has come up I've often said, maybe we are living in it right now. Placed here to get it right. I'd say Captain Mark is on his way out.The book is an easy read. It is inspirational at times speaking volumes on not quitting. It's one man's quest to find his greatness in a world that too often measures success by monetary weight.Buy it, share it, give it as a gift especially to teens but if you are in sales buy it, use it as motivation. Often said and rarely understood but this book is also about not quitting following your dreams............ That failing is just another stepping stone towards finding success.Qudos Captain, you've made me want to read more..........................

I am so jealous. Now I need a boat, but I don’t need facebunk haha. Ready to quit tomorrow except for...the wife

Well, what a breath of fresh air it was to read this book. So many sailing books are "how to" or sailing logs, that tend to preach or become mundane. There's a lot of salty anecdotes here, but most are used to break up the storyline or to illustrate a point.This author writes about what he knows, and it shows that he is an independent thinker and doer. He hasn't just followed all the lemmings into the zoo, he's stayed wild outside the box Or "the grid" as he calls it.I've lived off grid on the water and the land, but as approach a similar vintage to the author here, I plan to return to a floating off grid lifestyle in the next five years. But even for one that has tasted the freedom of the good life, I really found this book informative, enlightening and entertaining.