Marley
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Bonita
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Yoshi
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The main man Marley is our 4 legged fur baby. He is a whippet that just turned 6 years old. He comes every where with us. He loves adventures on the ocean and used to always climb up on front of our tinny when we were at full speed. The little guy loves wearing his life jacket... He is amazing to watch running at full speed, chasing seagulls on the beach and ripping apart a few coconuts. Throw a ball and he will look at you silly. Throw a coconut and he will go crazy like a kid at Christmas. Give him about twenty minutes though and he is flat out asleep.
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So, we all know there can only be one captain and id gladly hand that role over to Yoshi, but I am the boss! As First mate my duties are to assist with navigation, pull ropes and make sure we have enough supplies on-board! I didn't grow up by the ocean but have grown to crave the salty days and living on a yacht seems like the perfect place for me. Not one for the sidelines you'll find me in the thick of any activity! I look forward to the challenges and personal growth that comes with living aboard Nandji as we become closer to mother nature and each other.
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The main thing to know about me, is that Im the captain and Bonita is the Boss. We have these crazy ideas and Im just lucky that my navigator (Bonita) encourages these ways instead of bringing us back to earth. I'm a country lad from a small coastal town on the West Coast of South Australia, who moved to the big city of Adelaide. I love the ocean and all the activities that involve playing with the water. My mum would say we purchased the yacht for an excuse to surf more. In a way it is I guess, but the freedom that floating on the ocean living self sufficient is what really gets me excited. Escaping the monotony of everyday life and having an adventure. Now with my partner in crime, lets see how small the world becomes.
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July 2016...
Now that we have been living on Nandji for nearly three months, I feel we are equipped with enough experience to decipher the good, the bad and the general transition from land to sea. The first major difference being that every thing constantly moves. Even at anchor in the bay, the boat constantly rolls. After the initial sickness feeling and "gaining your sea legs" as they say, I have learned to love this rock. I sleep like a baby now! In saying that, we are still yet to sail for a greater period of time than 14 hours, so have not tested the sleep when we are moving. I can already predict this is going to take alot to get used to. Baby steps.
The next major difference is getting used to how long everything takes. Any task is doubled in the amount of time you spend. A simple food shop takes forever as you have to drag all the food in and out of the tender. Up onto the boat and then down stairs. Then put it all away in hard to reach places. However to a degree, living in our bus froth prepared me for the end bit of this task. I am used to getting on my knees to dig through the bottom cupboard to dislodge the box of biscuits that are stuffed in and around the corner.
Then there is the issue of water. Nandji can hold 250 litres when fully loaded up. However since we are constantly at sea and not in a marina, the only way of getting water from land to Nandji is via two 20L water containers. This task is up there with my least favourite. I am not the strongest tool in the shed and lifting 20kg out of a rocking tender onto Nandji is not the easist of activities. To then repeat this process 5 or 6 times (depending how good a pour I am) is not my idea of fun. Just one of those tasks that need to be done.
Overall though, the transition has been relatively easy and very rewarding. The future looks bright and the thought of the adventures on the horizon makes the froth levels high. Yew!
Captain Yosh
The next major difference is getting used to how long everything takes. Any task is doubled in the amount of time you spend. A simple food shop takes forever as you have to drag all the food in and out of the tender. Up onto the boat and then down stairs. Then put it all away in hard to reach places. However to a degree, living in our bus froth prepared me for the end bit of this task. I am used to getting on my knees to dig through the bottom cupboard to dislodge the box of biscuits that are stuffed in and around the corner.
Then there is the issue of water. Nandji can hold 250 litres when fully loaded up. However since we are constantly at sea and not in a marina, the only way of getting water from land to Nandji is via two 20L water containers. This task is up there with my least favourite. I am not the strongest tool in the shed and lifting 20kg out of a rocking tender onto Nandji is not the easist of activities. To then repeat this process 5 or 6 times (depending how good a pour I am) is not my idea of fun. Just one of those tasks that need to be done.
Overall though, the transition has been relatively easy and very rewarding. The future looks bright and the thought of the adventures on the horizon makes the froth levels high. Yew!
Captain Yosh
October 2018...
After reading the above of myself over 2 years ago as the green horn I was then, with a few smiles I thought we need an update. Since that was written a lot has gone down so to say. We have sailed the coast of Queensland, done months of boat work to make our vessel blue water ready, travelled over 5000n offshore visiting 6 different countries by Nandji. We have gone from scared sailors in 20 knots to sleeping like a baby when not on watch in 20 knots in 4m seas. Things have definitely changed for the better and I think we can say now that we have adjusted to life on the water.
Nandji is still a work in progress and we continually try to improve her and upgrade her as we travel along. This has been difficult at times for sure, especially in the countries we have spent time in, but looking forward to the up coming months when we arrive to Malaysia for some much needed boat work and engine work. With a healthy motor, we are going to feel unstoppable and our plans to sail across the Indian we hope to make a reality next year. Boat life is extremely tough at times and overwhelmingly rewarding at others. It is not an easy life style on an older boat without the creature comforts, but we are happy, safe and all together doing what we could have only dreamed of 2 years ago. The adventures are only young in our eyes and we are excited for what the future holds. With bigger goals than I could have thought possible, lets make them happen. We are determined, inspired and so very excited to keep travelling and exploring this world taking our home along with us like a turtle. Yew!
Nandji is still a work in progress and we continually try to improve her and upgrade her as we travel along. This has been difficult at times for sure, especially in the countries we have spent time in, but looking forward to the up coming months when we arrive to Malaysia for some much needed boat work and engine work. With a healthy motor, we are going to feel unstoppable and our plans to sail across the Indian we hope to make a reality next year. Boat life is extremely tough at times and overwhelmingly rewarding at others. It is not an easy life style on an older boat without the creature comforts, but we are happy, safe and all together doing what we could have only dreamed of 2 years ago. The adventures are only young in our eyes and we are excited for what the future holds. With bigger goals than I could have thought possible, lets make them happen. We are determined, inspired and so very excited to keep travelling and exploring this world taking our home along with us like a turtle. Yew!
December 2019...
Another year on from where we left off and once again, a lot has changed. Nandji is of course still a work in progress but the challenging months of a broken boat and the labourous months spent in the boat yard making her great again have paid off in divid ends! We arrived to Malaysia and the boat yard with a vessel that resembled a sunken wreck and our motor finally died once we were in the pen of the boat yard. I took great pleasure in pulling old smoky apart, piece by piece and throwing it over the side. After 72 days n the hard stand in Langkawi, we now have a boat that is getting closer to how we want it! We could have of course spent the next couple months in the boat yard, but there will always be jobs to complete on a boat and with a new engine, new windlass and new paint job installed and complete, it was time to use the vessel rather then admire her. Leaving the boat yard was truly life changing for us as the ease of cruising returned. We had spent months always fixing Nandji to keep moving, now with a fresh Nandji we could take it slow and enjoy the cruising life once again. We spent the season cruising and surfing in West Sumatra, a surfers dream land and for the entire time in Indonesia, we never had an issue with Nandji. The odd wire here and there but nothing that threatened to sink Nandji. The only thing we did not have was a serviceable life raft and with big plans to cross the Indian Ocean in 2019, unfortunately we had to delay these plans until 2020 to arrange a life raft on board. Nandji now resides in Thailand waiting for our return to her as we have spent the first time off of Nandji since leaving Australia 2.5 years ago. We are so excited to return to Thailand and Nandji and do some more minor boat work and prepare for our biggest year of exploring yet. YEW!
