After completing the ASA certification courses, we spent the summer back aboard our Venture 21 practicing everything we had learned. It was a great summer, we had a lot of fun adventures.
We day sailed out of the American Fork Marina, and frequently sailed to other marinas on the lake, 5 to 10 miles away. I often sailed with as many of the kids as could go, and we’d sail to other marinas and spend the night on the boat.
We found that provisioning a boat was a lot like backpacking. 
The same meal and gear planning skills were needed, and the same attitudes.
A few days we sailed in heavier weather. Utah Lake is a shallow lake, so when the wind picks up, the waves get steep and frequent very quickly. The younger kids enjoyed the bigger waves, they would line the extra sail bags and life jackets in the v berth and attempt to stay standing as the boat rocked in the waves.
Because some of the kids are younger, we took time to get them comfortable with being in their lifejackets in the water. Our rule was that any kids out of the cabin had to have a lifejacket on and completely buckled. 
We went over drown-proofing techniques and man overboard drills, and taught them how to use their life jackets. A little-known fact for small kids is that a lifejacket can actually be quite dangerous if they don’t know how to use it. Small kids are top-heavy, which will cause them to flip forward in a life jacket and end up with their heads in the water. So training and familiarity with how lifejackets work is critical for them. And with a little training, they get quite good at it and enjoy being in the water while their swimming skills are still on the novice side.
The kids occasionally brought friends on our sailing trips. One time my #2 son had to give a “how to” presentation at school. So I took the day off work and towed the boat over to the school yard where we raised the mast and he taught this classmates about sailing.
By the end of the summer, we were pretty sure we needed a bigger boat. A Venture 21 was great to learn on, but we had outgrown her. A family of 8 needed a little more beam and cabin space. I began asking around the marinas about which boats were best for the lake, and our favorite ended up being a swing keel Catalina 25. 
Next spring we’d make the upgrade.