If you don't think it's possible for you and your family to live peacefully together in your home, imagine if you had to live peacefully together on a boat...for five years!

When Alex Ellison was 8, he set off with his parents and his sister, Lara, for a one-year trip on their sailboat. One year became five years, spent on the Caribbean island of Nevis and other remote locations. Alex and his family shared adventures as well as challenges -- everything from tropical navigation to dangerous waters to tropical storms.

Alex, who is now 16, kept a daily journal through all of it and has turned that into a memoir entitled "A Star to Sail Her By: A Five-Year Odyssey of Coming of Age at Sea." We asked Alex to tell us a little more about what it was like to spend his tween years traveling on a sailboat and what it's like to look back on this amazing experience.

IML: Do you remember what your original reaction and thoughts were, when your parents first informed you that you'd all be going on a sailing journey together? What were you excited about? What were you sad to leave behind?

Alex: I was originally quite surprised, but I really was thrilled; it sounded like a grand adventure. I had sailed before, and I couldn't wait to do so much of it and to see new countries. The prospect of the trip consumed me, so the only thing I was afraid of leaving behind was friends and family; but some of them would visit and at the time, I thought it would only be a year anyway.

IML: How did a one-year trip end up being a five-year trip?

Alex: After about eight months of being at sea, it was almost time for my family to start returning to the U.S., but we all agreed that what we had found was too good to give up after just a year; we wanted to make it our lifestyle.

IML: Most families would implode if they have to spend that much time together in close quarters. How did you keep from driving one another crazy?

Alex: As a family, we had always been fairly close, but living in such a small space was definitely a challenge at first. My sister and I very quickly learned how our own space -- no matter how small -- was very valuable, and if you wanted that respected you had to be respectful. Eventually, we grew more comfortable and we scarcely had any issues.

IML: Did you have certain jobs or responsibilities on the boat?

Alex: Absolutely! When I started the trip I was only eight, but I still helped trim the sails, cook, and I was often on watch: looking out for lobster pots and other obstructions in the water. Five years later, I had learned a lot, and when we had to make several day passages, I took a night shift: sailing the boat by myself from 3 am to 6 am as my family slept below. It was a tremendous responsibility.

IML: What was the scariest thing that happened during those five years? How did it change you?

Alex: The scariest thing that happened to me was getting sick from swimming in contaminated water. I was swimming in a freshwater stream on an island, but the water was infected from nearby livestock and some of the water got in a cut I had on my foot. The disease nearly killed me, and I had to be flown back to the U.S. for two months of hospitalization. The disease infected my brain, so I had to relearn how to walk and for a few weeks I could not do even basic arithmetic at the age of 10. I eventually regained those skills. Afterwards though, I realized that I was incredibly lucky to have such gifts we take for granted like walking and thinking.

IML: Wow, that must have been intense. We're glad you came through that. So on the flip side, what was the funniest thing that happened?

Alex: One time we were sailing through a storm, and it got so bad that we decided to seek shelter in a nearby harbor called Walliabou. It was foggy as we went in, so we couldn't even see the harbor, but we knew where we were going. As we sailed in, we passed a rock arch with some nooses hanging from it, and as we came in towards the dock, we saw an ancient-looking town. It was entirely deserted, and all the buildings were made of giant blocks of stone and had hay roofs. When we walked ashore we passed the blacksmith's shop and the cooperage.  It was like we'd sailed into the past. We finally found someone living there and we asked them what was up with the town. She smiled and explained, "Oh, they just finished filming Pirates of the Caribbean here, this was Port Royal, and they left the set up!"

IML: That is awesome! Okay, so who was the most memorable person you met during your travels?

Alex: Of all the incredible people I met during my travels, the most memorable was Joseph the fisherman. Just after my ninth birthday, my family sailed to the tiny island of Mayreau in the Grenadines. In that region, it was very common for sailors to be approached by local vendors in boats selling bread they had cooked or fish they had caught. Unlike all the others who had large, homemade speed boats, Joseph rowed around the island in a small, colorful dinghy. After selling my parents some fish one night, he invited me to come fishing with him the following day. So the following day I departed with Joseph as the sun rose in his small craft. We made our way out of the harbor and down the side of the island to a deep offshore reef. For the whole morning we pitched about in his small boat, tossing lines from our hand reels over the side. The bottom of the boat slowly filled with a rainbow of reef fish. I caught a nurse shark, but we had to let that one go since it would have filled the bottom of the boat. As we fished we talked, and I learned some interesting things about Joseph; he had no intention of marrying before the age of 50 because he wanted to avoid the whimsical nature of women until he was mature and experienced enough to handle it. He had plenty of other such advice for me. Joseph remains so memorable to me because of how he exposed me to Caribbean culture and gave me access to such a unique experience at a pretty young age.

IML: How did keeping a journal help you understand what you were experiencing?

Alex: At the time, writing in the journals was a relaxing pastime. I enjoyed writing everything about the day down. A few years later though, when I went to write my book, they were very helpful in recollecting feelings at the time and when I could use them to look at the big picture in detail, they gave me a sense of how I changed and learned over time.

To learn more about Alex and his book, visit www.AStarToSailHerBy.com. We loved all the photos from his adventures!