Sailing
Excelsior

Former airline pilot and military veteran, Brendan is the one who first dared to ask "what if?" After years chasing the mortgage and the bigger house, he realised they were no happier than when they were broke. So he sold the dream society sold him — and bought a better one. He now skippers Excelsior across oceans he once only flew over.

The engine room of this whole operation. Sarah manages the home-schooling, keeps the crew fed and sane, works remotely in construction tendering, and somehow still finds time to document the journey. Without Sarah, there is no voyage. She is the reason this life is not just possible — but genuinely beautiful.

Thirteen when they cast off the lines in Brisbane, Brodie has grown up with the ocean as his backyard. He survived a snake bite mid-passage — 24 hours from the nearest land, bitten twice on the leg — and barely flinched. He fishes, dives, surfs breaks most adults will never find, and has become exactly the kind of human the sea makes you.

Eleven years old when the adventure began, Charlize brings the heart and wonder to the crew. She has freedived with Bajau sea gypsies in Indonesia, watched turtle hatchlings scramble to the ocean for the first time, and hiked into an active volcano. She sees the world with eyes wide open — and reminds the rest of the crew to do the same.