For me care for the ocean is not only a professional mission, it is a personal one.

I decided I needed to minimalise my life and be closer to the ocean. I bought a lovely 37 foot sailboat in Far North Queensland and sailed her nearly 4000km along the East Coast of Australia with some fantastic and fun crew to Melbourne over two and a half months.

On a sailboat you are responsible of all of the systems normally externalised to the city you live in – water, electricity and sewage. You become your own floating city. You must become not only the skipper and the navigator, but the plumber, electrician, cook, mechanic and Jack (or Jill) of all trades. You become aware of how much solar energy you need to run your fridge, freezer and all of the electronics. You quickly realise you need to cut down your water consumption, otherwise the desalinator needs to run 24/7 (it is surprising how little water you actually need). You become painfully aware that you know too little about plumbing and engines and of the endless number of things that make a sailboat. You realise how much stuff you had, but never used – and what is the stuff that really matters.

You obsess about weather – instead of Instagram you log into Windy and Predict Wind many times a day. You are at the mercy of the elements for the better or for worse – the good days are amazing, and the bad days are the scariest moments of your life. From a pod of playful dolphins at sunrise to lighting storm and gale winds at night – just another day on the ocean.

It is a project for life, as there is an endless amount of things to learn. Now safely in Melbourne, I am getting ready for new adventures with a smaller footprint, and a wake.