FOR two Queensland families, the summer holiday period marked the beginning of a journey most people only dream about during a lifetime.

The Schofield and Perry families recently arrived in the Camden Haven River aboard their two privately owned catamarans as part of a planned voyage south towards Tasmania.

The 43-foot-catamarans dubbed 'Cheetah' and 'Stereo' are currently the homes of the families who said they set sail to explore the east coast in separate, but close, company to one another.

"It's really nice travelling with another boat. Kate and Lewis [Perry] are really good friends of ours," Sharon Schofield said.

"My husband Nick has gone back to do a little bit of work on the Sunshine Coast so we may be here a little bit longer before we head south. We love the fact that there are so many different areas to explore and the people have been really friendly here.

"The Dunbogan Marina is excellent. Usually a lot of them are really expensive but here it's really reasonable," she continued.

She said living aboard was a great experience for her daughters who were also travelling, and would soon be starting a home schooling program.

"Kate and Lewis's daughters will also be doing their school work by distance education and it's great because the girls are all around the same age, so they get on really well."

Kate said the vessels were both like mini houses, with kitchens, toilets, small bedrooms and storage areas.

"We use the same basic technology on the boat as a normal household. There's the Internet, TV and we also use mobile phones," she said.

Sharon said it was relatively cheap to live on the boats because power was always solar or wind generated.

"We don't use the engine much either. We sail most of the time and because we choose our conditions, we really don't use a lot of fuel."

After they have reached their southbound destinations, both families plan to travel back up the east coast to Queensland and beyond.

"We want to explore north of the Sunshine Coast and go up to the Whitsundays and then probably keep heading north," Sharon said.

"I have to say we've already been to so many places but this is one of the nicest areas yet. It's definitely been a great holiday experience."