The Cruising Kiwis on How Travel Has Helped Foster Connection and Solace

As a family, we embarked on a life-changing adventure in July 2018 on our 43-foot catamaran. Sailing the world’s oceans has compelled us to reevaluate life’s priorities and become more appreciative of the richness of traditions and the cultivation of appreciation, understanding, and respect for different perspectives and ways of life. Our journey has served as an expansive classroom, with our children by our side, providing optimal immersion in geography, history, culture, languages, and gastronomy. The journey has become the lesson, revealing more about ourselves and our fellow travelers as we navigate challenges and embrace spontaneous adventures.

By Rachel Hamill

@thecruisingkiwis

The Cruising Kiwis | Life Lovers Magazine | March/April 2024

Rachel Hamill, a double gold medal winner at the World Triathlon championships reflects on how their transformative journey has been characterized by deep cultural immersion and meaningful connections, offering the family solace and healing in the aftermath of a family tragedy.

In July 2018, my husband, our three boys (then aged 16, 13, and 11), and I embarked on a life-changing adventure on our 43-foot catamaran. We acquired Javelot in 2014, spending a year mastering the art of sailing along the northeastern coast of New Zealand, before venturing offshore for a seven-month odyssey to Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia.

During that time, we encountered numerous yachties, cruisers, and families, many of whom had just completed the challenging Pacific Ocean, crossing from Panama to French Polynesia. Each group had their personal reasons for committing to a life on the water, each inspiring us to follow our own path and embrace this unique way of life.

The ocean had been a huge part of Rob’s life growing up. His childhood home stood at the mouth of the Whakatane River in New Zealand, where he learned to surf and sail. Moreover, Rob’s father, Miles, a member of the NZ Merchant Navy during WWII, always had a motorboat to take his family on fishing adventures.

Those days on the water inspired Rob’s elder brother Kerry, who in the mid-1970s brought a 28-foot Chinese junk called Foxy Lady with a friend, and sailed her through Southeast Asia. During those times, Rob recalls the family gathering around the kitchen table to listen as Miles would read the letters that Kerry sent home to share his adventures and let the family know he was safe. It was these letters that planted a seed for Rob to one day have his own boat and retrace Kerry’s journey.

In 2022, we got to do just that. Setting sail from Darwin in northern Australia, we sailed Javelot through Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, using Kerry’s letters to guide our route, comparing SE Asia of the 1970s to the region’s remarkable growth nearly fifty years later. That Christmas season held a poignant significance as Kerry’s journey guided us to Cambodia—the final known destination of him and his beloved boat.

Back in August of 1978, when Rob was 14, Kerry’s letters abruptly stopped. He had vanished without any word. An excruciating sixteen months later, when Rob was 16, the family finally learned of Kerry and his crew’s tragic fate. Kerry had inadvertently strayed into Cambodian waters during Pol Pot’s brutal regime. A Khmer Rouge naval gunboat attacked them, claiming the life of Kerry’s Canadian friend, Stuart Glass. Kerry and crew member John Dewhirst were captured, bound with ropes, and taken as prisoners to Phnom Penh, where they endured two harrowing months at the notorious S-21, Tuol Sleng prison. In S-21 they were starved, tortured, made to sign confessions that they were CIA spies, and then brutally murdered.

Walking through the walls of Tuol Sleng prison some forty years later carried a heavy emotional weight, knowing that a family member had endured the horrors within. Yet, this wasn’t Rob’s first visit to Cambodia. In 2009, he had previously been to the country to testify as a civil party in his brother’s murder at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) war crimes tribunal. The tribunal resulted in a life sentence for Comrade Duch (Kaing Guek Eav), the prison commander who had ordered the deaths of Kerry and John and was the first person to be tried for ‘crimes against humanity’.

As we embarked on our sailing adventure, we anticipated the highs and lows that would eventually lead us to that profound place. Now, six years older and wiser, I wouldn’t change the decision we made for the world; if anything, I wish we had started sooner.

What started as retracing Kerry’s trip has evolved into a journey of exploration and personal challenge to circumnavigate the globe. Our experiences have gifted us cherished memories, remarkable stories, and valuable lessons, with travel being our profound teacher.

Sailing the world’s oceans has compelled us to reevaluate life’s priorities. In every place we visit, we’ve discovered that political boundaries do not define people but rather reflect universal desires, hopes, and dreams. Connecting with diverse cultures has allowed us to witness the richness of traditions, and these genuine encounters have taught us to embrace and celebrate both our similarities and differences. The remote villages of Indonesia, Vanuatu, and Fiji—where people have the least—have offered us lessons in humility, humanity, and the cultivation of appreciation, understanding, and respect for different perspectives and ways of life.

Our journey serves as an expansive classroom, with our children by our side, providing optimal immersion in geography, history, culture, languages, and gastronomy. From exploring the haunting realities of the Killing Fields in Cambodia to savoring the best nasi goreng cooked in a shabby back street in Jakarta, travel has become a dynamic educational experience that transcends the confines of textbooks and travel guides.

The journey has become the lesson, revealing more about ourselves and our fellow travelers as we navigate challenges like a torn sail, a lightning strike to the mast, or diving into the darkness in shark-infested waters to free the rudder from a crab pot.

Sailing—as opposed to traveling in more traditional ways—has propelled us beyond our comfort zone, encouraging us to try new things and adapt to unfamiliar environments. It grounds and connects us with diverse individuals, inspiring us to embrace spontaneous adventures.

Our travel wish lists are as diverse as our individual preferences, ranging from adrenaline-filled adventures like standing on the side of an active volcano in Vanuatu to seeking serene relaxation during tropical sunsets. With its limitless possibilities, travel invites us to explore with an open heart and mind, transforming dreams into reality for those bold enough to envision them.

Living an alternative lifestyle will always require adjustments, yet life onboard brings its extra share of challenges. Boats, by nature, need frequent repairs, and there’s a perpetual list of maintenance tasks that cannot be ignored. Our water storage capacity means lengthy morning showers are a thing of the past. The confined space onboard means minimal room for personal possessions; we own only a fraction of our previous life, and surprisingly, we don’t miss it.

It’s a small price to pay for the unique and rewarding life we’re living.