Our Crew
Stu
Stu is from Northern Ireland and had been in Canada since 2010 when he returned from his first 2-year sailing adventure in the Caribbean. He is a bold, exuberant, fun-loving soul who delights in showering his family and friends with love and humour. He is an enthusiastic adrenaline seeker who loves to mountain bike, ride motorcycles, ski and generally seek out thrills. He is also very soft at heart and needs deep connection with some core people in order to thrive. Stu definitely believes life is there for the taking and there are few rules that should stand in your way.
Erin
Erin is Canadian, from Langley, BC; and is also an adventurer and a traveller. Erin is fiercely loyal and virtuous and has very high expectations of how she can and should contribute to the world. She practiced as a lawyer for 15 years, but in the last few years of her practice became increasing disillusioned with her profession. She was raised to place a high value on the safety and security that a career like law provides, and thus the thought of leaving a stable career was extremely challenging to overcome. In 2020 she concluded that the time constraints and emotional demands of the job were no longer worth the trade-off and she gave way to the pull of time on the ocean with her family. Erin is passionate about exposing the girls to the many cultures and peoples that we hope to visit and raising them as conscious, considerate and aware individuals. We balance each other well.
Ellie & Lily
Ellie is a wise old soul in a 4 year old’s body. She is very intelligent, brave and physically capable. Ellie is an introvert at heart like her mum and loves reading and learning. She is extremely curious and is very excited about the trip. She can be a little apprehensive about stepping into the unknown but has a quiet confidence that carries her through each day.
Lily is our wild almost-three year old. She is a bundle of energy full of laughter and lots of noise. She lives very much in the physical world, dancing, jumping, running, and exploring. Lily has an insatiable appetite for people, social situations and any food she can get her hands on. She too is brave and very determined (read, stubborn). She has a very strong attachment to us as parents that she demonstrates by confidently running to the far end of the playground or park to go explore what the other kids are up to, knowing she’ll always be able to find us waiting for her return.
Our Plan.
Our ‘plan’, loose as it is, is to spend 2021 in Mexico, and then to head towards Panama in 2022, with our big hairy goal to head east into the Caribbean and onward across the Pacific to the Mediterranean in 2023.
We imagine a three to five year sailing adventure but hold to that very lightly. If we discover the sailing life isn’t a good fit for us as a family then it will be shorter, and if we discover that we’re thriving and feel there is more to discover then the journey will continue.
We’d love you to join along with us! Photograph by Alanna Govenlock
Taken the day we left Canada, just as a snowstorm was rolling in!