‘Life is easier on land’ but Aus family still won’t give up life on the boat – realestate.com.au

An Aussie couple have sold everything to live on a sailboat with their children, sailing around the world for a decade – and say they still have no plans to return to ‘normal’, even though life on land is easier.

As house prices and the cost of living rose, Gold Coaster Sara Rice and husband Lee decided to leave the rat race behind. They sold everything and took their children, Taj and Bella, on a ten-year adventure.

Lee, Sara, Taj and Bella sign their messages “somewhere at sea”. Photo: sailcatalpa.com

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“We didn’t want to wait until retirement to live this lifestyle. We both lost a parent too soon and that taught us not to take life for granted, we have no guarantee of tomorrow,” Ms Rice told The Courier-Mail.

“We love the ocean and we wanted to make our life with our children one big adventure and show them to follow their dreams and live a life they love.”

They set out full-time in a ‘budget sailboat’ Catalpa in 2016, before leaving Australian waters the following year, traveling through South East Asia and eventually purchasing a larger boat in San Diego in 2022 which they named Catalpa 2.

Lee taught son Taj to appreciate diving about a decade ago. Photo: Sailing Catalpa/YouTube

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The hardest part was deciding whether to do the right thing for their children, the couple said.

“The scariest thought was whether we had made the right decision by taking our children out of school, away from family and friends,” Ms Rice said.

Instead they were given boating school, which was not easy, but the children, now aged 18 and 19, survived.

“I was definitely nervous about it at first and not every day was easy. It was sometimes difficult to get them to want to go to school, but as the years went by we adapted to each of our children and learned to fit in with them,” she said.

“Traveling is a great learning experience and I think seeing the world was in itself a wonderful way to learn.”

Their daughter on the mast in the early days. Photo: Sailing Catalpa/YouTube

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Life at sea has also tested them.

“There have been some scary moments, like when we went through a hole in the wall on the wrong tide in Australia. We ended up on a reef. We had a hole in our boat that took on water halfway through the passage, we’ve been in terrible storms many times, but one of the scariest moments was when we were followed by a boat in the middle of nowhere between Indonesia and Thailand – a boat full of at least 20 people slowly overtaking us,” she said.

“After an hour or more they finally caught us and to our great relief all they wanted to do was eat and look at us.”

The family at sea, doing what makes them happy in their first YouTube video. Photo: Sailing Catalpa/YouTube

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The couple warns others given the lifestyle that “as beautiful as this lifestyle can be, it can also be challenging and stressful. The good times are incredible, but the lows can be very difficult, so you have to want it.”

If you don’t like the ocean, that would be a struggle, but they said but also warned that “anyone who likes to stick to a schedule” would have a hard time.

“You find out quite quickly that things don’t always go to plan, so it helps to be flexible and relaxed about that,” she said.

Anyone who thinks it will “be easy” could also have a hard time because there are challenges ahead, they warned.

The family believes in the value of a different kind of global education. Photo: Sailing Catalpa/YouTube

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“That’s more common than you think,” Ms Rice said, adding: “Look at those things because this is just part of the lifestyle, for example things breaking or bad weather, getting stuck in places.

“Some of our favorite memories come from a place we never thought we’d be, so it’s not all bad.

“I think, like any lifestyle, it’s the way you look at the positive. But to be honest, life on land is easier.”

Ten years later, the family has no regrets and says it was worth it.

“Absolutely, I think that’s why we’re still here,” Ms. Rice said.

“I would love to go back and do it all again.”