monohulls of the same price (under £10K).
We especially liked the safe centre cockpit,
the shallow draft, the seaworthy low profile
and the small rig. It was the perfect first boat
for a couple learning to sail. A year and a half
after buying Kittiwake, when we look back
to an anchorage from shore, we still can’t
spot a boat that’s better suited to us.
SETTING UP OUR FREELANCE JOBS
Although we saved enough money to sustain
ourselves for a year and set a contingency
fund aside, I hated the idea of setting off on
our cruise without an income. Five months
before our departure date, I started looking
for potential clients. Hunting for work in my
field as a content marketer made things
easier – I could use my experience, personal
connections, and LinkedIn. Three months
later I had two fixed clients and I was earning
a modest second salary (enough to pay the
bills), so I quit my day job. The time spent
building my business on shore was worth
every weekend I worked. It meant I had
a fairly reliable income. On the other hand,
Ryan, being a civil engineer, had to reinvent
himself. He had a passion for design, so
taught himself to code. Now he takes onweb design and practical boat work projects.
He also edits the videos we produce – tips
and tricks vlogs, as well as episodes about
our sailing adventures – which we publish
on YouTube to earn extra cash. Building
the ‘Sailing Kittiwake’ brand through our
YouTube channel and blog has also helped
us find more writing and design work.
We believe the best way to build a steady
income is to set up a number of streams of
revenue. This way, should a client drop out
or not pay on time, money is still coming in.LEARNING TO LOVE ANCHORING
Living at anchor was always our plan, so we
prepared ourselves and the boat for it and
we got used to it from day one. We’re almost
completely independent from shore – the
only things we need are food and water. We
have plenty of solar panels (560W), we can
get online through our phones and we enjoy
showers on board. If we wanted to, we could
provision, stock up on water and live at
anchor for a month without going ashore.
We don’t feel living on the hook is at all
a sacrifice. We enjoy all aspects of it: privacy,
the views, swimming and exploring in the
dinghy. The key to learning to love anchoring
is doing it often so it becomes the norm.GETTING ONLINE
We predominantly use our mobile phones
as hotspots and occasionally go to shore
to use wifi if we suffer from cabin fever.
A 4G mobile connection with good signal
is generally faster than a standard publicTHE KNOWLEDGE
Being able to creep into
shallow water has opened
up many more anchoragesMooring up to town quay
walls is free and it’s a great
way to enjoy easy land
access every now and then