Are We Stupid? Our Latest Plan Unveiled...

Farewell fellow travelers. I have been here since VB1 with Dad and Elana both coming aboard. I wish you luck! As an aside, there is no sin in buying a smaller 30-35 foot monohull and having seasonal fun. Not for us, but for Riley to quench his wanderlust. Who knows, in 10 years one of the kids may want to ssil off on new adventures. Call it VB 4 or 5! 👍🏼😉

I can foresee Riley becoming a real buff on organic growing. Well done, good decision.

I think it is a perfect time to sell and make a home base for yourself. I for one would still love to view your weekly adventures even if it is just a 5 min update or even a once a month video. The boys will appreciate a home base and the opportunity to make good friends with children of their own age. I recently finished reading a book called Wavewalker: A Memoir of Breaking Free written by Suzanne Heywood and the recurring theme in the book was her inability to make and keep long term friends due to her family constantly being on the move sailing 'Wavewalker" around the world. Have you read this book? It really supports the decision you are now making to create a home base with sailing remaining a strong part of your life. Well done on what was no doubt a tough but good decision.

Disappointed as I love you guys, the kids, and the ever-changing crew. I look forward to your weekly video of what you have been up to. But you have to do what is right for your family. I am sure that whatever you decide to do, you will make a success of it. Good luck with the sale and with finding a suitable piece of land to build your new home.

Good move. And authentic summary. Read to the end of this post for how you can help stop the haters by focussing on the good ones. - Elayna spoke about having something to be excited about to tell a story in your role as storyteller - Riley spoke about the happyness of weighting the boat and confirmation she is in spec - The kids having a place to go to school and make their own home and friendships - The on/off boat rythm of months for school and months on sea and the economics of that - Taking time to record as a couple and record footage alone. - Elayna mentions both of you had the idea about moving on land. As viewers on a couch in Vienna we may add: a farming business "ist kein Ponyhof" (Austrian proverb for "isnt as easy as running a fun horsy farm for kids"). Farming is hard work and needs education and experience. Many farmers go out of business as of global competition, quality standards, food norms, bureaucracy. On the way to the farm, learn from the farmers and find your own profitable way in this business. A twist... As a climate activist myself (I volunteer as web admin for Fridays For Future) , I see your ability to communicate about nature. - You as divers mourn the death of the great barrier reef yourself. 🪸 - You have friends all over the globe in areas which are bound to drown. 🏝️🌊 - You know about solar, wind power, healthy food ☀️🌬️ - You started on an oil rig. You moved on. 🛢️ - You visited Sea Shepherd 🏴‍☠️🐬 - You gave Svante and Greta a ride ⛵ I sense you love the ocean and nature. I have seen you bringing attention to the positive forces in the world. Media is biased, shows the hate, an Orange Utan throwing 💩 on the walls of a White House turns cameras. The haters don't deserve attention. The true heroes do. The people who save the world, who work on solutions. You could meet them and talk with them, give them attention, learn from them. Visit the heroes that fight for the positive. Make videos about your journey. Australia and New Zealand are doing great action moving away from 🚂 coal and oil to ☀️🌬️ Wind and solar. By meeting the heroes of today, you may get inspiration where to settle and how. 80-89% of the world population say they want more climate protection when asked, https://89percent.org/ but at the same, this majority believes that they are the minority because the haters in media get the coverage. They haters make us believe they are the majority, while they are just 1%. Focus on the majority who are doing good. Think about it... you can decide to dedicate your positive attention - and that is also our attention as viewers - to the people who fight today to safe the world for our children. As Greta wrote: no one is too small to make a difference. Your home at the sea-shore is at stake. Humanity raised CO2 levels from 280ppm to 430ppm, a level last seen about 12 million years ago. The sea level back then was 10-20 meters higher then today, it just takes centuries for the ice to melt and normalize. Your home at sea is already destined to drown in a couple of years, and we can't change that anymore. But now is the moment to stop burning more fossil fules, as the sea will rise +64 meters if we don't stop. History of all life is on the brink and future generations will look back. Any activity taking attention away from the haters and multiplying the voices of those who "bend the curve" of CO2 down has an effect. Every wind turbine featured in a video, every solar park visited with the kids. Its 2026, we are bending the curve together globally. It has an effect for centuries and millennia.

Will you include us in when transitioning- or just cut the cord?

Freaking awesome. Selfishly, I’m bummed I can no longer follow you around the world, but every great journey has to have an end. What I love about you guys is you still embrace discomfort and seek new adventures when so many others do the opposite. Over the past decade, I’ve learned to just trust that you will continue to inspire and entertain, regardless whether you’re sailing the world, raising crops, or milking a bull ;) Best of luck!

Best of luck. I am excited to see the next adventure unfold.

Wow! Good luck with your future plans. I'm curious to see what happens next.

If your hearts are curious for this kind of change in your lives, you should jump all in and try it, otherwise you will always wonder. Something most people don't dare to do. Every viewer responds differently, but for me this new chapter sounds as adventurous as any other you've taken. Do what's best for you, for the kids and if in the end you long back to living fulltime on the ocean, there is always a new vessel to find, make and possibly fit even better with your family in that stage of your lives. The path we choose and need in life is always changing and I am so happy for you as a couple, that this path is divirging in the same direction at the same time, not sure if divirging is the correct English word, but you know what I mean ;) You guys remind me of my best friend and her husband, who are also very adventurous and daring in their choices, and their path also has changed often in their lives and as I look up to them and how they tackle those options/choices, I do the same for you. I look forward on what will happen next!

well, as a fairly long-term patron, twice, i didn't support the land time, I'm not at 65 going to verify my age to watch on YouTube only. as you don't put out in the description what's the outcome. Not sure what's the point of patreon sub if I can't watch here....

I wonder if this video was any good or had something interesting to communicate to us? I guess we'll never know 🤷

The goal was to travel the whole world faster with this boat. Why not finish this goal first for another year or so????

❤ GR8 VID ~ LOVED IT ❤

Hey guys. Exciting news really and I know it was a difficult decision to come to. Having lived both on a boat and on land I understand your thoughts completely. You asked your subscribers if they had any suggestions of places to be. Well my suggestion would be portugal or somewhere in the Med. I know that sounds random but I have to say from your early Mediterranean days sailing up the river and that and all your Early Adventures it just seems easy and safe. The time that's where it all started for you guys comes to my thoughts. It's such a great place to live economically. I'm just not one for living on an island or anywhere that's too low on sea level. With extreme weather events and all. But just a suggestion I like it here now it's where I retired.

I am also blocked in the U.S.

It doesn’t work for me either here in Germany. Simons won’t load the Video ):

YouTube has blocked the video as age restricted in UK

Unfortunately YouTube seems to have blocked video for me in the UK. Patreon saying age restricted and only available on YouTube. No google account so I can’t age verify. Was working last night when you first posted the video!

Wow next chapter, if you go into farming I personally would love to see sustainable aquaculture, you got to know the ocean better than most. My understanding is that there is alot of unsustainable aquaculture atleast here in Canada all Fishfarms have been closed, but not oysterfarms for instance and likely alot of other aquacultures could be sustainable.

WOW, that's so strong, and sad, and amazing, and shaking, and sad (again), as I am so attached to you guys. That said, it is absolutely NOT a step back, otherwise the next step would be to live in space :-). Not only do I wish you and pray for you to have the best life, but I also pray for me that you will take us on the next journey of your lives. I prefer my life with you guys to one without you. I am thankful for all the happiness you brought me. I love you guys.

Thanks for sharing so much of your lives with all of us, it’s truly been a highlight for me watching you two grow into amazing sailors and most importantly- proud parents! The adventures you have taken us all on are priceless and no matter what you choose to do next, I’m pretty certain 99.99% of us are here for it!! Tune out the haters- those people only derived joy from being negative. These videos are an amazing scrapbook for your boys to look back on and remember how many beautiful places still exist in this crazy world 🌎 🌍 ⛵️ … on to the next chapter #SLVIV

Well done! We’ve admired you from the beginning. Still do. Keep it up. Good luck. Best

ALL. IN. #LFG Love you guys. You keep making choices for your lives and famiy, always keeping family first and its best interest at heart. You're ahead of 99% of folks. That's the journey. That's the work. You're what we're here for. We need a live Q&A soon!

Your life guys, do whatever you and the kids want. Ignore the haters, they’re just white noise.

I’m currently building my own house and love watching other people build as well.

Bravo!

For the last several months something seemed different... like a subtle flavor change in the vlogs. .... I can understand the thoughts of the where, how and with what pieces to the future of what's next? What really is the nature of the life you choose to lead? You have lifted yourselves up to a point where you have so many opportunities of living and the conundrum of how to live as many as possible. I have no doubt the process of finding a way to give your kiddos as wide a life experience as you speak of. It all does throw you back into the question that was do no small degree of have a boat that could move you quickly away from dangerous weather. It is such that your minds have moved to a new perspective. It is hard for me to see you so quickly make another change, but I will still follow you and see what different kinds of adventures you take us on. May you find peace and joy with all your decisions. Spencer.

Totally trust you both. Whatever decision you make, I will happily continue to follow you and support your Patreon account. You have brought so much joy into my life.

Sails. Maybe you're not dressing for motor cruising. But as for your future plans, I recall an Autre Mer episode where you both spoke of building a house, with jetty and boat, where the boys could school, have friends, animals, as well as maintaining contact with the sea. As true sea people. A joy to watch your lives. Worth every aud.

What is life without a new oppertunity presenting itself? What is life without a few regrets? Ok you have made up your minds to sell the yacht. Now you need to settle on a few options of what's next for you and the boys. That will be the tough part. School will a given. Along with that will " friends". Mom & Dad really need to weed out the bad apples early. There is never a shotage of these. Pick your country wisely. All the best to you on this undertaking!

Hey, so wow! Not really surprised because being an older guy I’ve learned that things just change. All the old Great adages come to mind. For every time there is a season. Cha-cha-cha changes as Bowie says! Anyway, excited for your journey choices as always for the years I have been following. Its YOUR journey and YOUR adventure and we are just blessed that you share it with us. Believe me it has been a true joy and inspiration in so many ways. Tears , laughter, deep thoughts and watching your family grow. Awesome ! As a father of four boys I can really appreciate the energy and intensity that I know you experience off camera with those two. You have to follow your dreams in what ever you inner spirit guides you. Your family needs to grow in the direction you feel is right. Family always first! Of course we will continue to follow you and look forward to you making as big an impact on the landlubbers as you have in the sailing community. I too have evolved from my long time dream of sailing and living aboard since age 14 fueled by your videos even more but a recent direction altered my dream in an unexpected way I never would have believed. I don’t feel like I am betraying that 14 year old fella because I am being true to him as well as myself. You should feel the same about your pursuit and appreciate that you both share in the recognization (is that a word) of it. I have been following Sailing Soulianis almost as long as following you and youi might want to check out their path if you haven;t already as I have a lot of respect for what they have done and I highly respect their approach to life. Very similar approach to solving problems and life choices as you guys. Anyway, good luck and looking forward to turning the pages with you.

Riley and Elayna, keep following your internal North Star!

Best of luck and looking forward to following you and the next adventure on land! And don't forget the guest house for staff. It's a step forward in life. Hope the kiddos will still be able to attend some classroom with other students.

Step backwards? How do you trade up from a Rapido? I'm going to miss Big Bird. But as you leave the oceans I enter. I'm so close.

Yay! You are human!! Exciting times ahead . . . We all go through life wondering if we are making the right decisions. Life is full of adventures, and as you said, just because you made this film, it doesn't mean that you now have to sell the VBIII. I think building a house, and giving the boys some land time while they are still young to raise animals and nurture their own land, house and garden sounds really important. And to have a place to come back to after various adventures. You have been talking about that for years. You have probably watched other you tubers, like TheNewbys, who have two young sons, and Raising Yoyagers. Both of these families have added a 2nd property to supplement their lives and interests and connection with family, while raising their children. So if you try it for a while, and realize that these 11 years are really perfect . . . then turn course and come back to living a sea. Anyway, you will KNOW . . . like throwing a coin up in the air and before the coin lands, you KNOW if you want it to be heads or tails. Enjoy the process . . . Life is grand. Totally support your decision(s) and hope you take your virtual family along with you! Thank you for sharing . . . Eloise in Vermont

oops that got posted before I was done. It is clearly want you want to do and there's always a little bit of fear and/or regret with any new big venture. I think your deductions are sound. Now you can have the best of both worlds! The kids deserve it too. Maybe in your golden years when the boys have fled the nest, you two can do more sailing into lots more sunsets.

Just do it! It

Life IS hard guys!! And I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with stinkin meanies on the www! Hope you both know how extraordinary and incredibly inspirational you truly are!!! Now that that’s been said……. Love love LOOOOOOOVE your new journey adventure idea!!! And I CANNOT wait!! That is if you’re still going to be doing YouTube… if not I’m in support and am excited for your peaceful life of JUST LIVING FOR YOU! And to be able to build a life of self sufficiency and an environment where your little family can enjoy the best of both worlds… epic and ideal!!! And then a step to the right…. 😉 As always love you guys and all you do!! Never stop being who you are for ANYONE!! The bestest wishes for whatever comes next xxx

I don't blame you all life is just many seasons of change! Enjoy and the boys will follow you two wherever you lead them so will many of us.

P.S. Lol’d for real when Riley said the haters would be “mildly aroused” lololol fuck ‘em!

My husband and I are part time cruisers, we leave for a few months at a time…and in that time the amount of land life we miss is astonishing!! In just a few months it is impossible to not miss out on things like weddings, baby showers, birthday parties and all the everyday life in between. I truly cannot fathom the enormity of what you guys must have missed out on in 11 years of full time world voyaging! Cruising comes with the highest highs, but those highs are not free. So excited for you guys to embark on new adventures and I know whatever you build will be epic! Love to all!

❤ GR8 VID ❤ LOVED IT ❤

Im so excited for you and the fam to embark on your next adventure even if it’s not on the water. As someone who just simply loves sailing and has been going back and forth with the idea of buying a boat of our own… this video actually makes me feel better about living a live with a balance of land and sea life. Can’t wait to see what you guys are up to next!

ALL IN along with gazillions of others I'm sure. I have said it so many times and I'll keep saying it: I admire you and envy you your courage and your love for your family. This journey will only get better when there are new stories to tell, new adventures to experience, and many new people to share this all with. Bon voyage, and I can't wait for the next one, and the next one...

I grew up with a 45' sailing boat and a 20 acre farm(my Mom & Dad had grand ideas, and I learned lots of skills). My best advice is, minimize and use your wall space. The more you own, the more crap you have. And I know whatever you do, you will succeed and thrive at it!

Wow guys. Thank you for this. I trust that you know that your extended global family loves you and supports you 100%! I feel like this decision was inevitable eventually but I didn't expect it as soon as now. The only constant is change and here it is. Very emotional. Thank you for everything you have shared with us with your amazing lives - and will continue to, I hope! We'll be with you and your family no matter what. So much love for all of you. Just one last thing. Riley, "It's just a jump to your left" isn't from the Monster Mash. It's from The Time Warp from Rocky Horror Picture Show. Come on, mate, get it together. Ha! :) One Love, guys!

So, here’s the thing. You guys have been so generous sharing your journey. I wish you nothing but the best in whatever life brings your way. Watching your videos has and will continue to be inspiring and entertaining!! I hope to one day have a boat. Not sure if that will work out for me, but in the meantime I get to watch, learn and absolutely marvel at what you have been able to build and the amazing adventures you are sharing. Your boys are so lucky to have you both as parents. I hope that the positive comments far outweigh the negative. You all are the real legends! XX

While your lives are public - and I enjoy all of your videos, one of the only things I will turn the telly on for, your lives are also yours to follow your hearts desire, what all of us out here think is minor to your families feelings. If selling and landing a little more on land with the ability to still sail is what you are feeling, then go for it! Clearly between the two of you, you can do anything you put your minds and hearts too so go for it! No one can say if this is right or wrong, only your gut intuition and time. The kids have an incredible life, mine is about a year and half away from graduating and going off on his adventures, which is when I too, will go off, who knows where! The only other thing I would say is having options is an incredible privledge, so many in our world have zero options let alone security, food and water. I do hope you can find the joy and reverence for those options and the life you have created that has enabled your family to have so many options- one of the most amazing! Whatever comes next will be right up there with best life ever!

I really hear you when it comes to this....we had our 2 girls on our boat but never felt truly content until we had a little patch. We wanted to stay in Australia but we also wanted a little land and a spot to park our boat. We also love a warmer client but didn't want a hectic storm season so We went for just outside of Byron Bay on the Clarence River. There's plenty of fertile land and a big beautiful river to safely moor your boat. Ashby is an awesome spot that's just far enough out of town (20 mins) but close enough to be social when you want to and has an awesome community. This was our ideal but of course you will have your own wants and needs. All I can say is I have never felt more content, now that we have a little patch as well as the boat.

We go where you go.

P.S. the evening scene with your ukulele song was just *chefs kiss*

When I met my husband he was living on a boat he was restoring and we started our life together there... we wanted nothing more than to live on that boat forever, but when we got pregnant our values (sustainability and spiritual connection with life's resources and land namely) led us down on a different path. Without saying too much about myself, as another young mom of 2, building a home base on land for your kids and family is such an incredible experience and adventure in itself. You'll learn so much about yourselves and bless your kids with a new perspective and roots. We bought 32 acres this year and are about to start building our house and so so excited for this chapter. We will certainly be watching! Courage brings us to the best places. Take the leap!

I thought this started because someone offered to buy the boat?

As a general contractor I’m super excited to see what you guys build! Also would willing to pour the footer in exchange for a Vegemite sandwich…

Ever since I heard that La Vagabonde 3 was going to be sold, I haven't stopped thinking about it and hoping that you'll continue. Of course, this is a very personal thought. Your videos helped me so much during some difficult times I went through. When you started on that trimaran, I thought it was fun, but I see you more on a catamaran with more room for family and friends. Or a beautiful aluminum monohull with a lifting keel to visit hard-to-reach places. The children would have their own room and study space. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you can continue to make us dream and show us all these beautiful landscapes. My wife and I suffer from seasickness, and yet I've always dreamed of having a boat. We're going to embark on another adventure: Vanlife

WOW — while it’s bittersweet to watch this chapter come to a close, seeing you grow over the years—both as a family and as individuals—has truly been a joy. Experiencing that growth in some of the most beautiful places on earth over the past decade makes it even more special. Raising the kids through challenges and adventure, and watching them grow into such incredible reflections of you both, has been inspiring to witness. I completely understand and respect why you’re making this change, especially after so many years on the water. And knowing those boys, I have a feeling a dog will be the very first addition once you’re settled into your new homestead. As always, I look forward to following your next adventure in this journey we call life and feel lucky to come along for the ride. Thank you for so much—for giving up so much, and for sharing so much of yourselves along the way.

Good on ya. You’ll figure out the path forward. Change is hard but you’ve got this.

At work now, we cant wait to watch the announcement! Love SLV, whatever you guys decide we trust it will be spectacular! 🫶🏽