A couple have taken their three sons out of school and temporarily left their jobs to go sailing around the world for the next two years.
Erin, 36, and Dave Carey, 35, from Adelaide, were watching a sailing documentary on Netflix when the idea started.
Before long they were planning how their family of five could set sail on the high seas.
‘We didn’t win the lottery, we saved our butts off for two years,’ Erin told FEMAIL.
‘Pulling the kids out of private school, selling cars, cancelling private health insurance, shopping around for utilities and insurances and even hosting international university students for months on end to make money.’
A husband and wife from Adelaide have taken their three sons out of school to sail around the world for two years
‘It was amazing how much we could save when we put our minds to it, we didn’t realise how much money we were wasting,’ Erin explained.
She stopped herself from buying anything unless it contributed to the trip and before long they were watching their savings grow.
‘We saved about $85,000! We also borrowed some money against our house and the rent will cover the repayments,’ she said.
‘Once we sell the boat and pay off the loan, we won’t be that different than when we started debt wise. That’s the plan anyway.
‘It took two years and two months from the day we decided we wanted to do it, until the day we left.’
They pulled their kids out of private school, sold cars, cancelled private health insurance and hosted international students to save money
‘It was amazing how much we could save when we put our minds to it, we didn’t realise how much money we were wasting,’ Erin explained
The family found that they managed to save $85,000 in two years
It was just before Christmas in 2015 that they began planning their trip after googling to see if other families had managed to pack up their life and hit the water.
‘The documentary may have resonated with us because we have always loved travel and I had a feeling we’d always do something big travel wise,’ Erin shared.
‘We were also feeling disillusioned with the life we were living. We were stressed, hardly seeing each other or the kids, working all week only to have one or two days of quality time together each week, rushing here there and everywhere.
‘We knew something had to change, it wasn’t the life we wanted to live.’
t was just before Christmas in 2015 that they began planning their trip after googling to see if other families had managed to pack up their life and hit the water
The family were feeling disillusioned by the life that they were living so knew something had to change
It was only three months later they had bought a 6.5 metre trailer sailor and Erin’s dad began to teach them how to sail.
‘Over the following two years we took our boat out as much as we could and we also crewed on a yacht from Sydney to Queensland where we practiced sailing, navigating and keeping watch for six days straight,’ she said.
They bought a 6.5 metre trailer sailor and Erin’s dad began to teach them how to sail
Dave is an aircraft technician by trade and he also completed his Cosxwain course (maritime training) and marine radio course for their adventure.
Erin worked for the Australian Government for the past 17 years and has travelled to 34 different countries
Both parents did a seamanship course, first aid course and a sea survival course.
‘We flew out of Adelaide on the second of February and we have been living on our boat in a boatyard since,’ Erin told FEMAIL.
‘We knew the boat needed some work and Dave is working like mad to have us in the water in the next couple of weeks.
‘We are in Grenada in the Caribbean, so it’s not a bad place to be hanging around waiting.’
Dave is an aircraft technician by trade and he also completed his Cosxwain course
Erin and Dave both have two years leave without pay from their jobs and if they fall in love with the lifestyle they will need to figure out a way to make money so they can travel longer.
They will set sail from Grenada as that’s where the boat was docked when they bought it.
‘Sailing destinations are dictated by the weather and seasons, so we have to be out of the hurricane areas at certain times and you have to cross oceans in certain months as well, so those things will affect where we go and when,’ Erin explained.
‘I think we’ll also meet people and families along the way who we will get ideas from or sail with, especially if they have kids too.’
‘We flew out of Adelaide on the 2nd Feb and we have been living on our boat in a boatyard since,’ Erin told FEMAIL
They will set sail from Grenada as that’s where the boat was docked when they bought it
Erin said that their main goal was to actually leave, as lots of people never end up leaving the dock.
‘Even if we spend two years sailing around the Caribbean, I will be really proud of our achievement,’ she said.
‘Ideally we’d like to cross an ocean, either back to Australia or over to the Mediterranean but it’s early days yet, we’re just going to see where the wind takes us.’
Their sons, Hamish, 8, Jack,7 and Christian, 4, were young when Erin and Dave decided they were going to go on this big adventure, so ‘took it on the chin’.
Erin said that their main goal was to actually leave, as lots of people never end up leaving the dock
‘It was actually quite amazing how most things just fell into place. It’s like the universe conspired to make our dream come true,’ Erin shared.
‘It obviously took a lot of hard work and dedication, but overall it went quite smoothly.’
The duo spent a countless amount of nights researching boats, which was stressful to do from the other side of the world without seeing it in person.
‘We figured it out in the end. We can’t take all the credit though, we actually had coaching from a family who has been sailing around the world for 10 years, Sailing Totem. Their help was invaluable and still is,’ she said.
‘We’d love to inspire other families to go on adventures and my advice would be dream big! If we can pull this off, you can too.’
The duo spent a countless amount of nights researching boats, which was stressful to do from the other side of the world without seeing it in person
The hardest part for them was saying their plans out loud and actually committing to them.
Erin revealed that they were almost embarrassed to tell people at the start because ‘it felt so crazy’.
‘After a while we became more confident and started to tell people with conviction, I think that helped us really believe it was actually happening,’ she said.
‘Once we dared to dream and allowed ourselves to believe it was actually going to happen, things fell into place.
‘Then just don’t give up! There will be days or weeks where it’s all too hard or you start to question what you’re doing, but keep going! You will slowly chip away at it and before you know it you’ll be setting off on your adventure too.’