Couple ditch normal life to sail world on 40-foot boat with their dog

By Harrison Moore via SWNS

A couple ditched normal life to travel the world on a tiny 40 ft boat with their dog, despite never sailing before.

Taryn Pickard, 32, and husband Logan, 36, decided to ditch their regular jobs and follow their dream of sailing around the world in 2019.

They've been on the water ever since, docking locally until they found their sea legs, before leaving dry land earlier this year, and sailing along the west coast of Canada.

Now they only take a trip to land for supplies once a month, and have all they need for life with ten-year-old dog Max on their boat.

Complete with two bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom, and a large decking area, they wash in the sea and eat a lot of fish they catch themselves.

Their day to day activities include lots of fishing, snorkelling and paddle boarding as well as watching Netflix, reading books and spending quality time together.

"We first started dreaming of the boat life when we were in Ireland," saidTaryn, an ex yoga teacher from Vancouver Island, Canada.

"We noticed that people were doing it a lot over there, and the idea of not being restricted to one location really appealed to us.

"Because of the cold climate in Canada we weren’t aware people were actually doing it, but when we looked on YouTube we found out it was quite popular.

"So, with no past sailing experience we signed up for a five day crash course in our local area, and dived right in!"

Their first boat cost them $27,500, but they soon sold it after realizing it was too small to comfortably live on.

The couple weren't put off, and in February 2020, they bought a much larger 45-foot boat for $65,000 which they spent a year working on, getting it ready to sail.

But, their next purchase had problems of its own, the main one being it wasn’t robust enough to cope with more extreme weather.

Taryn, Logan and Max had plans to travel north into colder climates and sail through heavy ice, but sadly this boat wasn't up to the challenge.

In March this year, they found their perfect match, a comfortable 40-foot steel sail boat for $100,000 that sails well and can handle tougher weather conditions.

They made the necessary upgrades and amendments to the boat throughout the spring, and sailed her through the Broughton Archipelago islands in the summer.

These islands off the east cost of Canada are extremely remote with no phone service and tiny populations - meaning they spent the majority of their time alone.

"We almost run out of food and water sometimes because of our desire to be completely on our own," he said.

"At the beginning we didn’t realize how much food we actually needed to last us, and it can be tricky meal planning at times.

"We have a 600 liter water tank which we use for essential things like cooking and showering on board - but we try and minimize our fresh water usage.

"That means often we'll just wash in the sea or dock at local marinas to use the facilities there. We try to live off the ocean as much as we can and fishing is a big part of our day.

"Like most people, in the evenings we watch Netflix but only if we have service - which is rarely!

"It took us a while to get used to sleeping on the boat because of the constant rocking, but our cabin is really cozy and our bed is super comfortable.

"On our travels, we've barely seen anyone out on the water apart from ourselves, and that feeling of being completely isolated is really quite strange."

Due to their investments in real estate over the last decade, Logan was able to leave his job as a mechanic, and Taryn now focuses full time on her photography.

Over the years, the couple have owned three properties which they've done up and sold to fund their lifestyle.

"We've ways been saving to do something different with our lives we just didn’t know what that was.," Taryn said.

"Instead of buying nice things and going on expensive holidays, we've just invested in property, and are now able to live off the money we earn from that.

"We now want to live our lives with as little responsibility as possible, and so far it seems to be going well.

"We have no plans to have kids, but we do center our adventures around our beloved Husky-Lab Max who's been with us every step of the way.

"In our opinion, flying isn't the best way to see the world, and now were finally settled on our boat, we know the travel opportunities are endless.

"We plan to sail through the north-west passage to Europe in the future, but for now were happy exploring the Canadian coast line.

"Life at sea feels completely natural to us and neither of us want to go back to regular living any time soon - we really are living the dream."