From Idaho to Open Ocean: How Captain Brandon Morse Turned a Family Adventure Into a Life’s Work

Brandon Morse grew up in Idaho, about as far from saltwater as you can get in the continental United States. He had no nautical experience to speak of, no boat, and no obvious path toward a life on the water.

Then, in 2021, he and his family bought a 46-foot catamaran and sailed away.

Over the next four years, they covered 15,000 nautical miles and visited 21 countries. They lived aboard full-time, homeschooled their kids at sea, and built a social media following around an account they called Everyday Saturday, named for their boat. When he and his family finally stepped ashore for good, Brandon had accumulated enough sea time to do something he’d been thinking about for years: get his U.S. captain’s license.

This is the story of how he did it, what it meant to his family, and what it’s opened up since.

A Dream That Started on Four Wheels

The leap from landlocked Idaho to open ocean didn’t happen overnight. Brandon traces the beginning of the journey back to 2020 and a decision his family made during the uncertainty of the pandemic.

The kids were out of school, everything was closed, and (like so many others) the Morses were asking, “What are we doing with our lives?”

Their answer was to start a family adventure. 

The Morses decided to take their kids on an RV trip around the country. “Moving into an RV, we had to change what normal life looked like for us,” Brandon recalls. “We sold a lot of our stuff; we rented out our house.” The entire structure of their lives changed in ways they couldn’t have imagined just a year before.

“Our eyes were kind of opened,” Brandon says. “We can do this. We can live like this for longer than we thought.” That realization opened the door to bigger thinking. If they could live on the road, why not on the water?

Once the idea took hold, Brandon was all in. The family spent the next several months preparing to trade their RV lifestyle for life aboard a catamaran.

In 2021, they made it official. They purchased the boat and set sail.

Four years, 15,000 nautical miles, and 21 countries later, the Morses came back full of experiences and memories few families even dream of, let alone accomplish.

When a Captain’s License Made Sense

After four years at sea, getting his captain’s license was a natural next step for Brandon. 

He’d already met one of the biggest requirements for licensure just by cruising around with his family. But he’d gained more than sea time out there on the water.

Brandon had developed a passion for helping others break into the liveaboard lifestyle. He’d started running sailing and boat life training experiences out in Grenada, teaching newcomers how to handle a vessel and embrace life on the water. His social media presence, built around Everyday Saturday, was drawing an audience of people who dreamed of doing what his family was doing.

A captain’s license would allow him to offer the same expertise to people in the States. “To make it really official and to be credentialed properly, having a captain’s license brings what I need,” he says. “And also just credibility with people.”

The timing lined up with a new business venture the Morses had in mind. Once back in the U.S., Brandon and his family launched a yacht brokerage called The Cruisers Company, helping people just like them find and buy the right boats. His captain’s license allowed him to meet certain insurance requirements as well as teach buyers to sail the vessels they’d actually purchased. 

“It gives me the ability to really make sure people go out there safely and know how to operate their vessel,” he says. “And from a financial standpoint, I can charge for that service.”

Why Mariners Learning System

When Brandon started looking for a company to use for his captain’s license course, the decision came quickly.

Brandon’s cousin, a working captain in California, had used Mariners Learning System to get licensed in the past, so the seed was already planted. Plus, Brandon knew Mariners by reputation. 

“If you just do a quick search, there’s nobody really doing it online the way Mariners has,” he says. “It was an easy decision. Mariners has it pretty well locked down as far as a quality, online, remote ability to be able to do this.”

That remote capability mattered even more to Brandon than to most. After his family sold their boat, they moved to Italy for three months before settling back into business stateside. Brandon completed his entire Mariners course abroad.

“Mariners was absolutely perfect for my lifestyle,” he says. “How else was I going to be able to work on my captain’s license remotely like that, from another country, than through Mariners’ online program?” 

Brandon took his proctored exam in a little apartment in Italy, submitted everything electronically, and waited. “I got my email that I passed, and it was a glorious day.”

What Taking the Course Was Like

Brandon will be the first to admit that his study approach isn’t for everyone. While some students prefer a steady, disciplined hour or two each day, Brandon operates differently.

“I studied eight hours a day,” he says. “I just gave up on everything else in life and went all in.” With this approach, the course took Brandon about four weeks of intense daily study. Setting aside a defined stretch of time was the only way that worked for him. Without that focus, he knew he’d keep putting it off.

The course offered a structure that supported both Brandon’s intensity and his discomfort with classroom-style learning. “I just don’t retain information that well,” he says. 

The methodical organization of the material really appealed to Brandon. “It’s very systematic,” he says. “Get this done, then go to this. For me, I’m very task-driven, so checking a box and seeing that one’s done and going on to the next was huge for me.”

The practice quizzes and exams helped as well, especially given how much information the course covers. “Getting a few modules away from the first one,” he says, “it was nice to be able to go back to those quizzes from the first one and do refreshers to keep the retention going.”

He’s also honest about what the material is. The Coast Guard curriculum is dense, and no program is going to change that entirely. But he gives Mariners credit for making it approachable. “Mariners did a really good job at taking something that is almost like the Bible, the U.S. Coast Guard manual, and making it something that you can retain.”

For anyone worried about whether they’re sharp enough or disciplined enough to get through the material, Brandon offers some plain-spoken perspective: “Don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill. Once you get into it, it’s way more simple than it looks from the outside. Just be consistent and disciplined, and it’s passable. It’s not as scary as it sounds.”

More Than a License: Unexpected Meaning

When Brandon opened the email from Mariners showing that he’d passed, the moment was bigger than he expected.

“It was a big sense of accomplishment,” he says. “It’s been a long time since I’ve taken exams and had to take a course… There was a lack of self-confidence going into this.” He’d started out nervous, unsure whether he could retain the information or perform well on the tests. Getting through it, and with good grades, really meant something.

What made it especially meaningful was who was in the room with him when he opened that email: his family. “As a 41-year-old man with a family, my kids around me, being able to see that excitement and see that we can do hard things, even that dad can do hard things in the middle of his life,” he says. “It was really special for the whole family.”

The ripple effects didn’t stop there. Brandon’s oldest daughter was 15 when the family first set sail. She’s 20 now. After watching her father earn his captain’s license, she enrolled in Mariners Learning System herself and is currently working toward her own.

“Watching our kids take this experience from living on a boat and turn it into something is pretty awesome,” Brandon says.

Putting the License to Work

Brandon’s captain’s license opened the door to something simple: being paid and valued for the expertise he already had. “I can actually make money with my experience that I’ve now gained, because of a license I now have stamped on that experience.”

His license has become a practical cornerstone of The Cruisers Company. When buyers purchase large sailing yachts, for example, their insurance companies often require them to be signed off by a licensed captain before they can operate the vessel. Brandon can now step in and fill that role legally. He comes aboard, trains new owners on their specific boat, and signs off on their insurance documentation as a qualified operator.

“This allows me, with my license, the ability to be legally named on their insurance as an operator, and then come aboard and train them on their boat,” he says. The advantage over generic sailing courses is significant. “If you just go take a sailing training course, you’re learning how to sail boats that are going to be completely different than the boat you’re going to buy.”

Beyond the practical applications, the license has added a layer of credibility to everything Brandon does in the nautical space, from his brokerage work to his social media presence. 

“Showing that I’ve been on enough boats and logged enough sea time in order to have the authority to say the things I’m saying about boats is huge,” he says.

Chart Your Own Course

Brandon’s message to anyone sitting in a nine-to-five job and dreaming of a different life is straightforward.

“I think we can get stuck in the job, stuck in the rut of the mundane, and constantly working for the weekend,” he says. “Mariners gives you the ability to do something that’s outside the box.”

“If it’s sea time you need, there are ways to get it,” he adds. “Get out there. Go join a yacht club, a sailing club, a race team. There are so many ways to log that sea time in order to get a captain’s license.”

If you’re hesitating because the process seems too difficult, or you aren’t “good at school,” Brandon has been there. 

“I’m not good at test taking. I was very nervous, but Mariners made it work for me,” he says. “If I can pass the test, people, you can pass the test.”

If you’re ready to take the next step, explore the courses Mariners Learning System offers and find the one that’s right for where you are.