It is unbelievable how many Tasmanians, or honourary Tasmanians, we have met who are on sailing adventures. Some people say they are escaping. I prefer to think Tasmanians are explorers with adventurous Viking blood :-)
In Eden we met the family with a tribe of 10 awesome children on 'Sumbawa'. They had previously lived on a predominantly self-sustaining farm in Oatlands after moving from Melbourne. They are about to depart Eden to start their adventure, and their stories and reflections are captured in www.thelargefamilyaroundtheworldadventure.com.
In Bermagui a yacht rafted onto us. After talking for a while I found out Glenn was from Launceston, had gone to my school, knew the street I grew up on in Norwood until the age of 10, and had friends who lived in St Leonards up Ables Hill Road where my parents have lived for 30 years. Glenn's boat - Tiger One - is his home and office. We have a similar goal to reach Whitsunday's this winter, so we completely inadvertently met him again in Jervis Bay and had sundowners in Sydney. I had to reassure him we were absolutely not stalking him!!!
In Jervis Bay a Catamaran called Bella Luna moored beside us. We met them on the beach and spent heaps of time with them as they had two daughters similar in age to Oscar and Isobel. Mike kept saying "I recognise this guy...how do I know him????" - was driving him nuts. Then we found out it was Mark Adams from Tassie bands 'The Fish John West Reject' and 'Hurdy Gurdy'. Two bands that Mike saw in Hobart while at Uni, and had a member who was one of Mike's ex's friends. Mark spend 13 years building Bella Luna, and now he and his family are sailling whereever for however long they can. Their daughters, Daisy and Zoe, are fantastic at the violin and raise money for the adventure by busking. They have an interesting blog called www.bellalunaboat.com