An interview with Sara, sailing with her family aboard Catalpa

Having just left Mexico, from where they have launched their newly-renovated boat, Sara has been living on the water with her family for the best part of 10 years, sailing along the East Coast of Australia, and discovering South East Asia. Originally from Australia, Sara and her husband Lee decided to take the plunge and start a new life at sea back in 2014. Their children, now 18 and 19, have grown up on the water. We had the pleasure of meeting Sara to talk about this big decision that changed their lives, how to navigate sailing with family while travelling the world, and the importance of pursuing your dreams.

What inspired to live your life aboard?

Sara: When I was 21, my mother passed away, and then a few years later, Lee’s father passed away. It made us realise that life is short and that you have to live your dreams. My husband and I had always had this wish of living on a boat. We’re from the Gold Coast, and we’re surfers, so we’ve always loved the ocean. We’d been telling our kids since they were very young that one day we would go travelling with our own boat: we wanted to see the world as a family. 

When the kids were 3 and 4, we had a small 26-foot sailing boat for about a year, with which we used to go on little adventures in our home area. The longest we spent on there was a month, and we never wanted to get off. 

How did the journey unfold? And for the children?

Sara: Lee was always looking at boats for sale online: he finally found a specific 44-foot sailing monohull for about $45,000. We told ourselves that if we could get for it $15,000, we would buy it, and test out living on it. So I rang the owner, told him our story, and by the end of the call the boat was ours. We ended up living on this boat for 8 years. It’s been an amazing adventure. We had a lot of challenges along the way, but we put in our load and don’t regret it at all. 

I think the transition was quite easy for the children: they were young, and because we had talked about this so much to them, they knew that we were going to leave eventually. 

The hardest part was probably the pressure of everything surrounding our project: people questioning your life choices, the pressure of homeschooling, for example. But it turned out well. Over time, we got into the flow of things: it’s all about finding what works for you and your children, and what you want to teach them about life, and how. 

What are the challenges of living aboard?

Sara: There’s no real escape from each other when you live in such close quarters, and sometimes you have moments, like you do in a house. You have to learn to be as a family in this new environment. But I think if you really want this lifestyle, you make it work. And there are plenty of ways you can handle it: jump overboard, go onto an island, go swimming, go surfing… 

What are the best things about sailing life?  

Sara: One of my favourite things about living on a boat is being able to travel with our home. Wherever we go, we bring our comfortable life with us: if we love a place, we can stay there as long as we want. We get to explore, see remote islands, and visit communities that are living in paradise. 

The other thing is obviously being on the ocean. It’s this ability to go places, explore, see underwater life, surf, and do all the things we love doing. 

And we’re also showing our kids as they grow up that you don’t need much in life, that life can be really simple and really beautiful. It’s a nice way to live. 

Why do you think this lifestyle worked so well for you? 

Sara: Both my husband and I like going on adventures, and hiking, and doing a lot of activities, and surfing. It’s why we left initially: we were searching for waves. I think part of why this lifestyle worked so well for us is that we are always active, and we like hanging out as a family. So we were always doing something, and the kids were always having a great time. We were also lucky in that we met a lot of families along the way: during Covid, we met two families, with kids in similar age groups, and spent two years with them. I think all this helps a lot. 

And even when we had school, if sometimes it wasn’t working, we would close our books and go diving, or surfing. Sailing with your family is a beautiful way to raise your children and learn in different ways.

What is your favourite place that you’ve visited?

Sara: We have spent a big chunk of our time in Indonesia. I think that’s my favourite country. It’s huge, and it has about 17,000 islands. Out of all the ones we have visited, my favourites are probably the Mentawais, Raja Ampat, and a little island called Morotai. I love these places because they’re quite remote, and are so beautiful. There’s surf, waves, not many people, coconuts on the beach, white sand, and clear water. They’re my idea of heaven. 

What’s next for you? 

Sara: We’re currently in Mexico*, where we’ve been renovating a new boat that we got in 2022. We got to the point where we just needed more space, especially with the children growing up. They’ll probably go on their own adventures soon, but for now, we’ve done a lot of work to the boat, and it will be very rewarding once we’re back on the water. The launch is in a couple of weeks, it’s very exciting! 

We are planning on heading south down the sea of Cortez, towards the mainland of Mexico, then on to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and then Panama. We’re thinking of going through the canal to the Caribbean. And then maybe across the Pacific next year!

What advice would you give to people interested in this lifestyle? 

Sara: I think it’s a smart idea to test out the lifestyle first: look at lots of boats, get to know the differences between the types of boats, determine your budget, and try lots of different boats. So I definitely recommend either hiring a boat or getting on a friend’s boat, and testing it out.

We jumped straight into it, and it worked for us – but we’d happily made it work on a tiny 26-foot, so we knew that we’d love it anyway. 

Stay connected

Feel free to join Sara’s community, and follow the family’s adventures on Instagram @sailingcatalpa. 

You can also visit the Sailing Catalpa YouTube Channel, or check out their Patreon.

Inspired by Sara’s journey? Click&Boat has everything you need to begin your own adventure! With over 55,000 thousands boats available around the world, tailor your boat rental to your needs, and experience life on the water for yourself, whether you’d like to go sailing with family or with friends. 

And for more inspiration, check out our blog to read about Andrew’s life at sea and his experience of sailing with family, or Lauren and Chris’s journey from a London 9-to-5 to life on the water around the world. 

*This interview was conducted just before the launch of the family’s boat. Since then, Sara and Lee have successfully put their boat back in the water, and sailed off.