Engineer Jeff Dent, 46, and wife Alison, 44, always loved sailing. They first met at a sailing club and their dream was to sail around the world.
So, when Jeff became unemployed in January 1999, they decided to make their dream come true. Alison left her job as a teacher and they bought an eight-merte sailing boat, the Charlotte Rose. They wanted to sail from Britain to South Africa, then to Australia, across the South Pasific to Argentina, and back to Britain across the Atlantic.
They weren’t the first people to make this journey, but this time there was one big difference – Jeff and Alison took their three children with them : ten-year-old Oliver, Charlotte, who was seven, and three-year-old Daniel.
Yesterday, after two years and 48,000 kilometres, they arrived back in Britain. To their surprise, hundreds of friends and journalists were there to meet them.
So, how was it?
“It was very difficult,”- said Alison-“but it was also the best two years of my life.”
The children loved it.
“We saw things that most people never see,”- said Oliver – “One morning we got up and there were three whales near the boat…that was fantastic!”
There was one question everyone wanted to ask. Did they argue a lot?
Jeff ansewered – “Of course we argued sometimes, but we were a great team. It was an amazing journey.”
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