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Revealed Sept. 16, 2023 7:03 a.m. ET
Up to date Sept. 16, 2023 8:39 a.m. ET
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One 12 months in the past, an Ontario couple left their home and bought every thing they personal to sail the world.
“It was actually sort of scary, backing out for the very first time,” Steve Easson stated, recalling the departure from Lake Ontario together with his companion of a decade, Ben Roth, on Sept. 16, 2022.
“We had no thought what we have been moving into,” he instructed CTV Information Toronto from Grenada.
HOW IT BEGAN
The thought was planted six or seven years earlier than they set sail from their hometown harbour in Hamilton. Easson, who had been working as a pilot for 20 years, arrived dwelling and stated, “Hey Ben, do you need to purchase a sailboat?”
His colleagues had raved in regards to the straightforward transition from flying to crusing, so on a whim – regardless of Roth telling him to not impulse purchase a ship – Easson did simply that and began puttering round Lake Ontario.
It was when the pandemic hit that they started contemplating how this pastime might turn into a full-time operation.
“We discovered a ship we might dwell on after which all of it occurred actually, actually quick,” Easson stated. They named it “Oh Caribou” and launched a social media account to chronicle their adventures.
Easson left his job as a pilot and pivoted to working a producing firm whereas Roth left his function at Pinterest and moved onto analytics consulting.
“We’re not rich by any means. We simply do not have bills like regular individuals have,” Easson stated.
They rented out their home in Hamilton and bought their possessions on Kijiji and at storage gross sales, sleeping on the lounge flooring wrapped in blankets within the weeks earlier than their departure.
AN AVERAGE DAY
From Hamilton, they sailed to Florida, alongside all the states on the east coast earlier than making it to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, British Virgin Islands and Grenada – 15 international locations and counting. They’ve noticed dolphins prancing beside their boat and sharks lurking beneath it.
Alongside the best way, they added a member to their crew – Penny, a rescue canine who they adopted within the British Virgin Islands after discovering her malnourished at an area shelter.
Roth usually begins trying on the climate every week or so earlier than elevating the anchor, discovering a secure window to sail, and a corresponding route. “Climate dictates every thing we do,” he stated.
Nonetheless, they’ve navigated via “sobering” storms of 10 foot waves with shut swells fiercely rocking the boat, together with an earthquake and most not too long ago, monitoring Hurricane Lee.
In preparation for setting sail, Easson cooks sufficient meals for the times forward, together with refueling and servicing the boat, which is at all times damaged. “Think about your own home on the water,” he stated.
It’s a reasonably “common” life at anchor as soon as they arrive at their vacation spot, again to eight-hour distant workdays at slightly desk within the boat’s navigation station, Roth stated.
However there’s additionally “a lot freedom,” he added – waking to a glistening sea of blue, exploring within the evenings, watching sundown on the water and stars taking pictures throughout the night time sky.
“It’s like being on trip on a regular basis, nevertheless it’s not as a result of it’s your life,” Easson stated. “I do not need to return to dwelling the standard life-style, dwelling in a home, the rat race, making an attempt to build up extra stuff. I simply need to expertise life and revel in it and see the world.”
Subsequent, they’re aiming to cruise between Grenada and Saint Martin, and ultimately, cross the Atlantic Ocean.
“I hope we will do that ceaselessly,” Easson stated.
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