Sailing

We are a family of sailors. My Dad made my first boat – a sweet little Optimist when I was 9 years old. For some reason, I named her Grapefruit..?! I instantly loved the independence that sailing gave me and was so invigorated by the speed I could reach and the freedom that I felt! My husband grew up sailing in Lymington, taught by his Grandpa. Following out tradition, ourkids now love sailing their dinghies at Parkstone Yacht Club in Poole. In 2009, when our eldest kids were only 3 and 4 we bought a Lagoon Catamaran, named her BattCat (of course!), sold up our English home and sailed off into the blue. BattCat provided a divine year of sailing halfway around the world. The best year of our lives.To see our 2009 BattCat Adventures Click Here!

We returned to England to set up life in Poole in 2010. We sold BattCat so we could buy our house and dreamed of buying another boat ever since! Our eldest kids, Ruby and Rex are now 12 & 13 and we also have 2 extra scrummies Jago (7) and Liberty (5)! Since  we sold BattCat, we have saved steadily and recently found the perfect new addition to the Batt Family. Another Lagoon Catamaran, a little bigger to accommodate us all and with a new name which is a nod to our grown family – welcome BattPack! After 8 years of intense child rearing and my husband working up in London full time, it is time to pepper our lives with more sailing adventures. We enjoyed a summer of fun on her this year, sailing around the Greek Islands. For a little video insight into our 2018 Summer Sailing Click Here!

So, next stop is the sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. Months of careful planning have gone into this adventurous trip. The boat had to pass a stringent list of sea worthy compliance and much work was involved in that undertaking. We have liased with the kid’s schools and managed to secure time off school for our ‘Eduventure’. We set sail on Sunday 25th November with the ARC – the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. The ARC is the largest trans-ocean sailing event in the world and we will be crossing the Atlantic in the company of around 220 other boats – around 30 of us with kids onboard. Many are racing, we are not, but we cross with the security that, although we may not see another boat after day 2, we will always be in reasonably close radio distance if we are in distress and need assistance.

The Batt house is full of excitement, anticipation, lists upon list and 6 open hearts ready to share the adventure of a lifetime. We simply cannot wait to board beautiful BattPack and indulge in the freedom and FUN of sailing away into the blue, with nothing much to do but BE with each other!

If you wish to track our progress from November 25th, as we cross the Atlantic, please Click here and choose BattPack from the list of boats! Please click here for SAILING BLOG UPDATES ! Good luck to my Batty Crew!!