Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2014 | Page 23

INTERVIEW
They sailed back across the Atlantic to
England to make a repair on the boat,
and prove to themselves that as a family
they could do an ocean crossing. That
challenge overcome, they set off for the
Canaries, and then to the Caribbean,
spending Christmas 2008 in Grenada.
The adventure continued through the
Panama Canal and across the Pacific, so
by Christmas 2009 they were in Sydney,
and then travelled along South Australia.
A year later they were in Thailand, and
then we went to the Maldives. At that
point Amanda and the kids flew home
to England for a month while Jason
continued alone through some of the
most dangerous waters in the world,
known as ‘Pirate Alley’.

in the Gulf of Arabia was huge.
“I decided I would sail single-handed.
I was much better off wrestling with the
demons alone. A lot of boats were waiting
in the Maldives to do various things. One
guy who turned round and went back
to Thailand had a pump-action shotgun
which he gave me. I had 15 slugs, so I was
going to win or lose.
“All the reports I read said that if you
shoot at them and they know you are not
a soft target they leave you alone. I knew
if I was off the boat I was dead, so I might
as well shoot it out if I had to. I had a plan
that if anyone approached the boat I was
going to shoot and ask questions later.
“Four days out I saw some lights, and
there were two boats approaching from

screened in autumn 2010, and was called
‘My Family’s Crazy Gap Year’.
Amanda reflected: “I think you have
to be a capable person. There were
times when it was scary and hard. Kids
are very adaptable and as long as they
are with mummy and daddy it doesn’t
matter what they are doing or where they
are doing it. They felt safe, secure and
comfortable. They actually miss it – they
want to be back on the boat.
“But as Louis never remembered living
in a house, it is now a novelty for him.
They thought it was normal to get up
every day and swim with fish – that
was reality for them. Home schooling
was tough; to get up and teach your
own children when the sun is shining

‘I decided
I would
sail singlehanded. I was
much better
off wrestling
with the
demons
alone.’
Jason reflected: “Earlier in the voyage
we found the south side of Australia is an
incredibly dangerous part of the world
with very angry seas. With 10-metre high
waves you don’t want to be in the wrong
place at the wrong time. We were trying
to do something special, but it was not
a place for young children. There was a
great sense of relief getting into Perth.”
But Pirate Alley was even worse. He said:
“The pirates are villains. I had a dream
that we had a pirate attack, and they were
holding Louis by the ankles, dunking
his head in the water, and asking for our
money. When we got to the Maldives we
hadn’t made up our mind what to do, but
it soon became apparent the pirate action

behind. I thought ‘this is it’. Then in front
of me I saw a big boat coming at me, and
when it came closer I realised it was a
warship. It parked itself between me and
the other two boats, and that was it. I
never found out who it was, or what was
happening, and I didn’t ask!”
There were a few more hairy moments
that Jason encountered – including
having a gun pulled on him - before
Amanda and the boys rejoined him in
Egypt, and they gradually wended their
way home, before heading to Grenada
to live for a year. Jason then sailed back
across the Atlantic arriving home last
July. Their expedition as the subject of
a Channel Four documentary. It was

and the turtles are swimming close by.
What made some places special were the
people; it was wonderful when you were
bartering in a market with local people.”
Jason added: “Was it a gamble? Life’s a
gamble. Life is supposed to be made up
of three score years and 10, so it’s up to
you what you want to do with it. The door
was there, all we had to do was push the
handle down, open it and step through,
and that door wasn’t going to be there
forever.”
The family are even thinking of retracing their voyage in 10 or 12 years
time. But before that Jason has designs of
sailing to Russia and back – a mere drop
in the ocean by comparison!

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