
First of all, tell our readers something about you.
We are a family of three currently living in Australia. I am a marketer for a robotics company, my wife jointly runs a communications consultancy that works with NGOs and socially-focussed corporates. Our son is a sports- and school-loving seven-year old grommet.
We love travel and adventure sports. Our travels have taken us on backpacking trips to Vietnam and across South America, road trips across Europe, Morocco and America (including iconic roads such as Route 66 and Highway 1) and major hikes across the Alps, Andes and Tasmania. Sports we love include surfing, skiing and cycling but we’ll give anything a go!
And of course sailing. We’ve been sailing since we first moved to Sydney 15 years ago when we hooked up with some mates who invited us sailing on the harbour. But sailing’s always been in our blood, with my grandfather a keen sailor on the Baltic, and we recently found out that my wife’s great-uncle was an original founder of a yacht club at Botany Bay in Sydney. Our sailing has taken us to the likes of Croatia, Greece, Sardinia and the Whitsundays as well as inshore racing in Sydney Harbour and the odd offshore race.

Professionally I achieved the peak of my career several years ago as the head of marketing for our company. It’s now time to look at doing something new. My wife’s happy to continue working during the trip – with wifi, 4G and satellite communication this is entirely feasible. Our son will continue his schooling. The Australian school system is well set up for distance education, on account of all the kids in the outback living far from any schools. And this will be a great opportunity for him. Imagine learning about Roman history while sailing in Italy, the great explorers while in the Caribbean, marine biology amongst the Bahamas, Belize, or the Tuamotus reefs. About volcanoes while in Sicily and Vanuatu.

Firstly we will be buying a new yacht. While I would love to go over to Europe and spend 6 months looking for a quality old Swan or Oyster, we don’t have the time. We do have the time to buy a new yacht, spend one month during commissioning making sure everything is working and then four months in the Med putting the yacht through its paces before we head across the Atlantic.
We have narrowed our boat models to the Hanse 455 and the Dufour 460. Our criteria for selection were, in order of importance, safety and stability, quality of hull construction, followed by price and sailing performance. We didn’t want to go shorter than 45 as we want storage and living space for the three of us and any friends and family that will be joining us. 45 feet provides a level of safety and stability we feel comfortable with.
While several yachts meet our criteria including the Jeanneau 479, we like the modern Hanse and Dufour design and comfort features such as sunbeds and integrated barbeques, and they are better priced than the 479. Dufour have a good reputation for quality vacuum-infused hulls. Hanse owners we have spoken to praise their boats.

We have a list of over 200 items for the yacht, covering safety, electronics and navigation, energy generation, maintenance, and general comfort. We will order all safety equipment – liferaft, lifejackets, EPIRB, PLBs, ditch bag and contents, just to name a few – prior to commissioning and handover. Energy generation – we’re looking at a hydrogenerator and bimini-mounted solar panels – will ideally be installed during commissioning, however if there’s no installer available at that point then we will do it while still in the Med. Necessities like tender and tender motor we’ll organise to coincide with handover, while other necessities like surfboard and inflatable stand-up paddleboard we’ll be bringing with us!

Important to note is we want system redundancy – hence having a hydrogenerator, solar panels and if all else fails, the engine, for electricity generation. At the same time we want to keep things simple. Therefore against all advice we won’t have a water generator, as it’s just one more thing that could go wrong. Witness what happened in the recent Volvo Ocean Race with problematic water generators. The Hanse and Dufour have more than enough water – around 450 litres – and space for another 450 litres or so of bottled water, to get us across the oceans if we are frugal with our water. That means any friends who need a shower every day while crossing an ocean will self-select out of the more challenging portions of the trip!
As for our spirits, we are very positive. Naturally we are very much looking forward to the voyage and counting the weeks before we set off.
Until recently I was apprehensive about whether we are ready, but I’ve just completed a Yachtmaster Coastal course and the highly experienced instructor (who has sailed over 200,000 Nm to date!) gave every indication that I was ready (just need to practice marina mooring a bit more – don’t we all!), so I’m no longer worried about that aspect.
The one question I have is what it will be like to cross an ocean, being surrounded as far as the eye can see with water and no land as a reference. While I’ve tried to picture it when sailing offshore and looking out to sea and the horizon, it’s difficult for me to imagine. But few people have gone crazy crossing an ocean so we should be fine!
Finally our son was not so keen on sailing until recently whereupon reaching the age of seven we gave him the helm and got him working the winches, and now he loves it!

Sailing captures many of the things we value – a love of travel, exploring new lands and cultures, adventure, overcoming challenges, self-reliance, and getting away from it all. And best of all, sharing the experiences with friends and family.
For more on their preparations for the voyage, please visit the website and our youtube channel www.youtube.com/tranquilome. Photos of their past sailing adventures can be found on Instagram @sailing_tranquilo
We’re very excited to announce that we have just placed our order for Tranquilo! To see which yacht we chose, head across to our website blog: https://tranquilo.me/2016/07/27/announcing-tranquilo-a-hanse-455/
It’s amazing life. Your photos are gorgeous and it looks like you’re having a grand adventure!
I’m so glad we left before our kids were all grown, because the two with us are deeply in love with the life, the ocean and the boat! There are a lot of sacrifices that we had to make, but it’s worth it.
Thanks Byn, and yes it wouldn’t be the same without our son, while we’re very excited to be heading out in six month, it’s his joy and his view of what’s important to him that is infectious!