Around the world sailing – the family doing it for 12 years, and their Covid-19 lockdown aboard a 47-foot yacht
- Behan and Jamie Gifford have raised their three children aboard their sailing boat and despite Covid-19 interrupting their plans, they have no intention of returning to a life on land
- ‘Living on the edge of the world and getting to know its peoples is what makes it all worth it,’ says Behan
The crew of the Totem are smiling from ear to ear in an Instagram picture taken in September, as they eat long-awaited tacos. The family were on land for the first time in six months; docked, for a few days, at the Santa Rosalia marina, in Mexico. It was a rare break from their own version of Covid-19 lockdown, isolating in the Sea of Cortez after more than a decade of living on the ocean wave.
In 2008, the Gifford family – mum Behan, dad Jamie and their three children, Niall (then nine), Mairen (six) and Siobhan (four) – set out from Puget Sound, in the American state of Washington. They managed to complete a circumnavigation of the world before Niall (now 21 years old) disembarked in 2018, to start college in Portland, Oregon. That year, the Totem sailed into Mexican waters, where it has been ever since, now unable to leave – trapped, like so many people, by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Giffords have recently been able to make some land excursions but, after so long at sea, their months waiting out Covid-19 aboard their Stevens 47 sailing boat don’t sound so very different from what they had become used to.
So, what do people think cruising the high seas for years is like? “Sipping cocktails in the cockpit overlooking sandy beaches and sunsets every day. In other words, one long vacation,” says Jamie, over a video call.
And what is it really like? “Constantly fixing things that are broken, walking in 40 degrees’ heat with a backpack looking for a grocery store and doing your laundry in a 20-litre bucket for 11 years in a row,” says Behan. The family finally invested in a small washing machine last year; a life-changing acquisition.
The couple met through a love of sailing. Jamie was a sail designer working with high-end racing boats and Behan was on her university’s sailing team. Inspired by friends who had become full-time cruisers, the couple started dreaming about travelling the world aboard their boat, but it wasn’t until 20 years and three children into the relationship that their dream became a reality.
