Family adventure
Kelly Rashleigh has turned to sailing in pursuit of a better life with her family. Follow their journey on Youtube channel ‘Five go Sailing’.
Running away to sea seems very dramatic but 2020 was dramatic for so many in so many different ways. We are musicians first and foremost. My husband Hugh has done his stint at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and I used to spend four to five nights a week entertaining drinkers and revellers.
We were making a pretty good living doing something we loved and it had been that way for years; we were happy, we were content. Then along came 2020 and overnight that lifestyle was completely taken away – no goodbye, no final lingering looks behind. It was just gone.
The arts has been hit hard by COVID-19 – long-serving institutions such as the RSC are making redundancies and when a powerhouse like that is struggling you know you are in trouble. So after the initial confusion, upset and anger it was time to decide what we were going to do next. Do we sit around and mourn for the life we’d lost? Do we fight with others for the few remaining ‘real’ jobs? Or, do we do what we have always done, something different.
We decided now was the chance to take our three young children on the ultimate geography field trip; sailing around the world.
After all, we are both of Naval descent. Hugh’s grandparents were high-ranking naval officers stationed in India, whilst my Grandad had a cushty life as a Quarter Master travelling the world and dining very well on things he’d ‘forgotten’ to sign in.
Maybe that’s why we chose a replica Dutch barge as our first home nine years ago, and have been live-aboards ever since.
Our first sailing experience was on our honeymoon. It might seem a strange thing for two newlyweds to spend their first nights together in the cramped aft cabin of a 32ft Bavaria. We were essentially sharing our honeymoon with a load of middle-aged men we had never met before, but we couldn’t have been happier. Relaxation for us is not about sitting by a pool sipping a cocktail, it is about adventure. Those five days were the perfect start to our married life – we had an instant love and connection with sailing.
DREAMS ON HOLD
Over the next seven years we sailed as often as we could. I became a Day Skipper and Hugh a Yachtmaster.
It was actually three years ago when we first decided to sail around the world – after
Hugh’s mum bought him a book for his birthday about a family that had done just that. We did our research, we went to the Southampton Boat Show, but then the dream got put on hold. We were happy. Hugh had given up his teaching job at a school and gone full-time as a musician. I was enjoying success as a musician too.
Then the pandemic struck and it was initially very hard. While Hugh managed to work as an online music teacher thanks to Zoom, I found myself redundant and deeply unhappy for the first time.
But then as fast as 2020 took it away, it bought new hope. A chance stop-off in Chichester Marina last summer when the first restrictions eased, led us to the boat we didn’t know we had been searching for.
There was the Esperance, a 1995 50ft Endurance, South African-built bluewater yacht. with a big ‘for sale’ sign. Hugh and I decided to book an appointment to view it the next day. The timing was perfect; it was the broker’s first day back after lockdown. As soon as we stepped foot inside we fell in love instantly. It was really spacious but needed a complete interior refit.
We had no money to buy it but after various fundraising attempts, a very generous family member said he would lend us the money for one year.
2020 could just have gone from being the worst year of our lives to the best.
DREAMS TO REALITY
We were quite apprehensive about introducing our three young children to sailing. What if they hated it and never wanted to go again? Our first trip as a family needed to be perfect. We left Fareham with good intentions but were so nervous that we didn’t even get the sails up and ended up motoring to Haslar. We stayed for the weekend and visited the historic boatyard. The kids loved being aboard, that was the main thing. The second time we planned a more adventurous sail across to the Isle of Wight. We took a friend along to help manage the rabble but we hadn’t long left Portsmouth Harbour when he was severely seasick, so we turned back to
Haslar. In fairness, it was pretty choppy. The kids were fine and thought the rocking and bouncing around was hilarious and wanted to do it again. Result!
The next day we ventured across to Bembridge. The conditions were perfect. It was a little scary going across the bar – the children freaked out when the depth sounder screamed at us – but it was so worth it. We didn’t even mind when we got shouted at by the Harbour Master for forgetting to frap the halyard. We had achieved our first family sailing trip and the kids loved it as much as we did.
Now we have a year to refit Esperance and turn her into our permanent family home. We will sell our Dutch barge and possessions, and cast off. Our aim is to set sail in August which happens to be our 10th wedding anniversary. In these uncertain times, everyone is dreaming of freedom and for us that is sailing. You get onto a boat and can literally travel anywhere in the world.
This pandemic has taken away so much but it has given us the chance to follow our dreams, together, as a family.