Lisa Terauchi-D’Rozario’s husband was a captain for Hong Kong airline Cathay Dragon for 14 years when he lost his job in October 2020, she said.
Cathay Pacific has cut thousands of jobs and shuttered its regional airline during the pandemic.
Lisa said the news was shocking. She said the family decided to leave Hong Kong and return to the Netherlands, where her husband Jeroen is from.
But they didn’t stick around for long.
Lisa, whose husband is a skilled sailor, said life at sea “seemed to be the best place to be”, especially as the family wanted to avoid contracting the coronavirus. So the couple sold their house in the Netherlands and bought a second-hand monohull to “live and sail around the world”.
Lisa’s husband, Jeroen Slot, took to the deck in full gear.
Lisa Terauchi-De Rozario
She said the family sailed first to France, then Spain and Portugal before finally arriving in Sardinia. She added that they spent the winter in Sicily before sailing to Greece.
They sailed from June 2021 to summer 2022 – when their trip was cut short by engine failure.
Lisa and her family.
Lisa Terauchi-De Rozario
Sailing full time doesn’t mean the family boat is always moving. “Sailing is just a matter of jumping short distances,” says Lisa. About 85 percent of their time is spent at anchor or dock, so the family gets to explore many European towns, she said.
school on board
Lisa’s kids are homeschooled—with a 52-foot Swedish-built boat, of course. Lisa contacts a school in the UK that provides monthly assignments and report cards. But she did teach, she said.
Lisa’s sons Micah and Sasha.
Lisa Terauchi-De Rozario
Lisa says homeschooling allows her to focus on concepts the kids don’t understand, unlike a traditional classroom where the kids “compete for the teacher’s attention.”
Homeschooling is also less time-consuming than traditional schooling, she said. She said the school has added filler activities between classes so students’ concentration doesn’t wane. But homeschooling: “You don’t need as much time in the day to study … you’re done in two to three hours.”
no longer vegan
Sailing means cutting rent, electricity and water bills from monthly expenses, Lisa said.
While living at sea, her family used water generators to turn seawater into drinking water, she said. They also used wind turbines and stored solar energy in lithium batteries, she said.
The family’s Forgus 52 boat is moored at the pier.
Lisa Terauchi-De Rozario
Lisa said they kept costs down even further by buying ready-made food. They are no longer vegetarians because fresh vegetables are often lacking in the small coastal towns they visit, she said.
“In order to be sustainable, we actually have to eat locally and shop locally,” she said.
The family also switched to foods that were easier to store, such as dry goods such as pasta, rice and sauces, she said.
The Challenge of Sailing Full Time
Lisa fears she will feel alone at sea, especially without an internet connection, she said.
But she said her family has learned to embrace peace and quiet. “You can sit on the deck and look at the water … and before you know it, eight to 10 hours go by.”
Sunset in the mediterranean sea.
Lisa Terauchi-De Rozario
Exercising was an even bigger challenge, she said. She explained that the boat’s ceiling was too low to do yoga, and she could only swim so many times in the ocean. She added that good weather is needed to lift free weights on the foredeck because the boat has to be stationary.
In fact, everything on board is affected by the weather, she said. Lisa said the family checked the weather forecast regularly, but they still encountered situations for which they were not prepared.
Benagil cave on the coast of Portugal.
Lisa Terauchi-De Rozario
On one occasion, Lisa said, the boat experienced “almost three metre-high waves”, which were not expected. While the family suffered from seasickness, the 25-ton boat was undamaged, she said.
“It actually taught us not only to respect the ocean … but to have a lot of respect for the boat we’re on,” she said.
life lessons
“The best part of sailing is when you can’t see any land anywhere,” Lisa said.
Sunsets, starry night skies and ocean waves illuminated by bioluminescence are common sights, she said. The family also took a “spectacular” tour of Portugal, exploring places like Porto and the Algarve, she said.
View of the family boat from inside Benagil Cave.
Lisa Terauchi-De Rozario
“Sailing really teaches you about life, because a lot of times you can’t control how things are going,” Lisa said. You have to learn how to handle yourself when things go wrong and not take unnecessary risks, she said.
Many people wait until they’re older and have saved enough to attempt a similar journey, she said.
But she said it was possible to buy a “very cheap” boat and fix it yourself. Lisa added that her husband did most of the repairs on their boat.
People who fix things themselves “learn the hard way,” Lisa said. “There is no better way to learn than hard work, because that will stay with you for a lifetime.”