A brother and sister sailed the seven seas with their parents on a 41-foot long sailboat for three years.
Deckhand Jasmine Gerlofsma, 16, originally from Airlie beach in Queensland, Australia and her younger brother embarked on a huge adventure when she was just 12.
Jasmine sailed away from her old life of private school and organised school work for home schooling on a sailboat, the Jeanneau Sun Legend 41.
For years, Jasmine’s parents dreamed of owning their own boat and taking their family far away from the constraints of modern-day society so that they could enjoy the freedom life on the sea gave them.
Once they were able to afford the vessel the parents made their way to Palma de Mallorca and chartered a yacht, to see if boat life was really for them.
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They adored the sea life and as soon as they could, removed Jasmine and her brother from school to begin living their unattached lives full-time on the sailboat.
Jasmine and her brother were homeschooled from the beginning of their journey, but Jasmine felt as though she learned much more from her daily adventures rising the waves than from any books.
An average day for Jasmine consisted of waking and starting her day on her own time, checking the weather and anchor, having breakfast and planning the day ahead.
Depending on where they were and the weather ahead of them that day, Jasmine and her family would at times get off the boat by driving a dinghy ashore to take a stroll on the beach.
Otherwise downtime consisted of playing card games or taking part in water sports, before fitting in a few hours of home schooling.
The farthest Jasmine and her family sailed was from Darwin to Cairns, which was over 2,000-nautical miles away, as the Covid lockdown in Australia ruined their initial plan of sailing around Indonesia.
They were content to sail across the east coast of Australia instead, stopping at as many islands and reefs to explore as possible along the way.
Jasmine adored her life on the boat and couldn’t get enough of the freedom she felt, snorkelling and having one adventure after another. At points she came to miss life on land.
“My parents chose to live on a sailboat for many reasons, it was to escape the daily grind, seek adventure and create special memories with our family,” she said.
“For years my parents had a dream of living on a boat and worked hard to make it into a reality.
“We watched some very inspiring live aboard sailing families on YouTube which led to us chartering a yacht in Palma De Mallorca Spain to see what boat life was about.
“We loved it so much we knew it was something we wanted to do full time."
Jasmine loved the variety that every day brought, rather than being bogged down by the grind of societal norms.
The families boating lifestyle didn’t last forever as after four years at sea, they decided it was time to dock and send Jasmine to high school on land.
Earlier this year, Jasmine’s parents felt that it was time for their two children to experience life on land and explore their own interests, but that hasn’t stopped Jasmine from pursuing her nautical dreams.
Jasmine is employed as a deckhand on a sailing charter boat and hopes to save up for her own sailboat so that she can sail off and continue her life of sea-filled adventure.
“My parents decided to move off the sailboat to give us kids the opportunity to pursue other interests and develop other skills for a while and they felt like it was the right thing to do at the time,” she said.
“My dad was getting tired of fixing the ongoing maintenance of boats and my brother decided he didn’t want to live on a boat anymore also.
“Moving off the boat was challenging and still is but I’ve managed to keep seeking adventure and used this time on land to build friendships, other skills and have some routine and stability.
“I am going to school and have a job as a deckhand on a sailing charter boat.
“I want my own sailboat to challenge myself and travel freely as well as continuing creating life long memories and live my life to its full potential.
“My favourite thing about living on a sailboat was the freedom as it felt like the world was my oyster and I could do what I wished without a care in the world and overcome any obstacle.
“I learnt how to live carelessly without feeling judged or suffocated by society and reality.”
