About us and our story
Our love story
We met just before the pandemic started and fell head over heals in love. Richard proposed with a magnificent diamond ring on the six month anniversary from the day we met. Living in Melbourne, Australia during the pandemic there was extended lockdowns and although we were still living apart, we relished our times together and wanted nothing more than to be together alone. Both of us worked with in high stress positions which were only exacerbated by the pandemic. Jude was the lead psychologist in a large school and the pandemic had a significant effect on the mental health of the school community she was responsible for. Richard was a program manager for the Victorian Department of Health leading the development of IT systems to manage the pandemic data. So, as our relationship flourished over 2020 and 2021 we started planning for our future together, and a future away from our stressful jobs was tempting. Remember at this point we still had separate houses, both with adult children at home and a few pets.
One long weekend, we were talking about some friends who lived full time on a boat and sailed the world, and Jude said; “Richard, can we do that?”, to which Richard replied (after at least half a second pause) “Ah yep! We can do that”. That was January 2022. Fast forward to March 2023 and we have re-homed pets, helped adult children to independent living, sold houses and cars, quit jobs and got married. When we got on a one way flight to Paris for our honeymoon we had no plans to return to Australia. After a romantic Paris break, we headed to the south of France where our new boat was waiting for us.
Our Goal
Our goal is to cross oceans on Helios. We want to cross the Atlantic and spend time in the idyllic Caribbean – to go through the Panama Canal and experience the pacific and visit all those amazing remote islands and to eventually make our way to home waters. To fulfil this goal, there’s quite a bit of work we need to do on Helios and also on our own sailing skill development. Some ask what work would we need to do on a brand new boat. Haven’t you got everything you need? Helios is a new production boat – she was built to be comfortable for weekend cruising and short trips – not venturing too far from a marina to top up power and replenish fresh water. To take this new production boat to be more comfortable on long stints away from land-based facilities we want: to be able to generate and store enough power for all our needs even in difficult weather conditions, to be able to convert the 12 volt power to full AC (230v) so we can run appliances, to desalinate sea water for fresh drinking water, to have enough sail power to sail in all conditions (reducing fuel consumption) and to outrun undesirable weather, andto have access to the internet even at sea.
Some of these tasks we have already completed, some are underway and some are in the planning stage- there’s always work to do.
The other area we are working on is getting ourselves ready to cross oceans and live remotely. Richard is a great sailor, but recognises there’s a lot of experience to be gained to make ocean and remote living safe and comfortable. Jude’s a novice sailor and really needs to be competent to take watches when Richard rests and to take charge should Richard be incapacitated. This is something we are taking slowly as we sail the Med, but constantly discuss experiences and possible scenarios.
About Jude
As the non-sailing partner in this journey, I had different challenges to overcome. When we set out, I was in my mid-fifties with no knowledge of the water and very little sailing experience. What I did have was courage, a positive outlook, and enough physical strength and intelligence that I knew I could learn what I would need. I also had a dedicated trainer and mentor in Richard. I expected some loss of identity and confidence as I went from being very capable and knowledgeable to being the most ignorant on the boat and possibly in the whole marina.
The first months I felt a bit helpless but I drew on my work experience to change my outlook. I worked as a psychologist and have a PhD, working with countless people to help change their ways of thinking to lead to better life outcomes. Using these skills, I soon developed a more positive approach and adapted well to my life on the water. I left behind four fabulous adult children and grandchildren so they pull on my heart strings at times. But I figure after 40 years of raising children it’s my time.
About Richard
Like many Kiwi kids,I loved sailing and had fun in dinghies, but my passion was rugby. My real sailing experience started in my early twenties with keel boat racing in Wellington, New Zealand where it is unheard of to cancel racing for a lack of wind. It was a challenging environment to say the least. However, for the next twenty years I didn’t get to sail much, as rugby dominated most of my life along with a young family. When I did return to sailing it was back in dinghies again.
The boat I owned before Helios was an eleven foot Mirror sailing dinghy. Although I’d crewed often, I’d never skippered a keel boat before and only docked a keel boat twice before taking the helm of Helios. There is a lot to learn when you are the one responsible for the life of your crew ( beloved wife) and the upkeep of the boat. I spent my working time in Technology Project Management which has helped in organisation and planning and my honours degree in electrical engineering has really come in handy. I left behind three gorgeous adult children on the other side of the world, but I know they are happy I am living my dream life.
Buying a boat
At the start of 2022, the second hand boat market was hot. Boats could be sold within days of coming on the market; prices were high, and we didn’t feel experienced enough to jump at a sale so quickly. So we decided to buy a new boat. Obviously it wasn’t cheap, but the second hand market was not cheap either. Also, we wanted the security of a new boat without old boat problems and expenses. We quickly settled on the French Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 410. Neither of us had seen one when we ordered it in Melbourne from 38 South Boat Sales, there weren’t any in Melbourne. We ordered it to our specifications and expected delivery in Melbourne for commissioning in October 2022. We chose this boat because
Richard was keen to get B&G electronics rather than the factory Ray Marine, so we ordered all of the equipment so it’d be waiting when the boat arrived. We ordered three sails to be made by Doyle Sails in Melbourne – spinnaker, code zero and staysail.
When delivery was delayed a third time due to post-pandemic shipping issues, we decided to cancel the shipping and fly to France to pick up the boat ourselves. It meant that we didn’t get to commission and learn the boat in Australia with friends and family, and we missed out on cruising the east coast of Australia and into Indonesia, but we’ll just be doing our journey in reverse. It meant we had to ship everything we had bought for the boat (such as the B&G electronic equipment). We actually bought three secondhand suitcases and took them to Doyle’s sails and asked for the sails to be flaked into them. We arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris with our two suitcases and three extra cases for the sails. We had some delays with customs but eventually got the commissioning completed and moved aboard.
