Sunday Night’s Denham Hitchcock and his wife Mari sold all of their possessions and are now living on a boat, sailing around the world after the current affairs program was axed.
The couple bought the rundown second-hand yacht, called Latitude, and restored it for two years before setting sail from Sydney to Lord Howe Island.
Mr Hitchcock and his wife have been posting their journey to their YouTube channel Endless Horizon.
‘After almost two years of hardwork, mornings, nights and weekends, we think she’s ready to cross an ocean,’ Mr Hitchcock said in a video.
Sunday Night’s Denham Hitchcock and his wife Mari (pictured together) sold all of their possessions and are now living on a boat
The couple bought the rundown second-hand yacht, called Latitude, and restored it for two years before setting sail from Sydney to Lord Howe Island
Once at Lord Howe Island the couple became stuck for several days when a storm cell hit and caused them to stop at the edge of a reef.
Mr Hitchcock said they faced up to 55knots of wind and heaps of rain, as the couple braced themselves to end up in the reef.
‘The joys of living on a boat. You see all the days with the sunshine, and the surfing, and the snorkeling, and the sailing, and the sunny weather with the sun coming up’ he said.
‘Then there’s also the nights like this. 30knots of wind, the boat being chucked around, wind whistling through the boat.’
‘Wondering if the mooring is going to hold, lightening off on the horizon and more storms on end. Welcome to sailing.’
For days the couple worked in shifts to make sure they didn’t end up in the ocean by sitting atop the rocking boat in torrential rain.
Mrs Hitchcock endured severe seasickness where she either had to be outside or lying down.
With even more winds on the way, the couple chose to escape to shore for two days to escape the conditions.
Once at Lord Howe Island the couple became stuck for several days when a storm cell hit and caused them to stop at the edge of a reef
Mr Hitchcock and his wife have been posting their journey to their YouTube channel, including when they were stuck in rough seas near Lord Howe Island
‘We prepared Latitude for hurricane conditions, anchor off, paddleboards inside,’ Mrs Hitchcock said.
They sat on the shore and nervously watched everything they own ‘dance on the mooring line’.
The storm opened up for a short time and the wind dropped to 24knots, so the couple took a chance and set sail towards open water.
‘There’s still going to be some big swell and a lot of wind out there but if we don’t leave now, we’re never going to leave this place,’ Mr Hitchcock said.
After five days of sailing through five-metre waves and strong winds they finally pulled into New Caledonia.
After five days of sailing through five-metre waves and strong winds they finally pulled into New Caledonia
Mr Hitchcock said they faced up to 55knots of wind and heaps of rain, as the couple braced themselves to end up in the reef
Mr Hitchcock worked on Channel Seven’s current affairs Sunday Night program, which was cancelled earlier this month.
The announcement was made on October 2 with Seven’s director of news and public affairs Craig McPherson saying it was a ‘very tough decision in a challenging TV landscape.’
‘After 11 years at the forefront of our Public Affairs offering, it is with much sadness I announce the closing down of the day-to-day operations of Sunday Night: True Stories,’ said Mr McPherson.
‘I want to thank the exceptional team of reporters, producers, camera operators, editors and many others who have helped produce more than 500 hours of quality public affairs programming over its lifetime,’ he added.
Mr McPherson confirmed that Sunday Night will remain on air until the end of the year, with a ‘small production team’ continuing to produce episodes.
For days the couple worked in shifts to make sure they didn’t end up in the ocean by sitting atop the rocking boat in torrential rain