For years, Marlene and Alex Lancaster had talked about selling their home on St. Armands Circle, buying a yacht and living on the water full-time. A few years ago, they realized it was now or never. “We said, ‘We’re not going to do this when we’re 80. If we’re going to do it, let’s do it,’” says Marlene.

So the couple hired a yacht broker, started hitting up boat shows and eventually purchased a 63-foot Hatteras yacht that they rechristened Adventure. To make it more livable, they tore down a wall separating the galley and the dining and living areas, replaced track lights with LED lighting, installed new cabinets and appliances, converted a stateroom into a laundry room and added office space. For three and a half years, they’ve lived on the water, docking the Adventure at the Sarasota Yacht Club.

The Lancasters do miss a few things about living on land. Marlene wishes she had a garage to pull the car into on rainy or windy days, and she and Alex both miss having gardens and plants around. “I miss some of the greenery,” says Marlene. “We don’t miss the yard work or caring for our swimming pool.”

The move to the yacht forced the couple to downsize, and the Lancasters have rid themselves of many of their possessions. “I won’t say that it’s carefree, because there’s a lot to worry about, and yet it is carefree in a sense, not having all our stuff,” says Marlene.

“It’s so simple now—kind of  like when you were in college and you could put everything you  own in a box and go,” says Alex.

Would they ever consider moving back to land? “We have no plans,” says Alex.