We met on the West Coast of New Zealand in January 2000 while we were working and travelling there. Four months later we bought 'Moet' and have been living on board and sailing ever since.

Frans - I was born and grew up in Holland where I learnt to sail on my family's boat on the Westeinder Lakes. I had my first dinghy as a birthday present at 6 years old, and I bought my first keel boat at 19. At 25 I sailed my third boat, a classic gaff cutter, the 'Zuiderkruis' from Holland across to the Outer Hebrides, and around the coasts of Scotland and England. I've been windsurfing since I was 10, surfing since a teenager and kitesurfing over the last few years. I studied Psychology in Amsterdam, and after working for a while in Holland travelled to Australia and NZ with the plan of buying another boat and eventually sailing home.

Sylvia - I was born and grew up in England. I'd never sailed before I met Frans, but grew up in a small village with a love for the outdoors, cylcing and hiking. At 18 I moved to Cornwall to be close to the sea, and bought an old VW campervan and so began my love of the nomadic life! I studied Sociology while I lived in Brighton, and travelled to NZ when I was 20, where I met Frans. For me, some of the best things about living on the boat are: being outside all the time, the clean fresh air, the brightness of the stars, rowing to shore in the morning and the wide open spaces of the sea.

Dylan was born in NZ in 2004 and has spent most of his life on the water. One of his first words was 'dinghy' and he practiced a lot of his walking and running on the beaches of Fiji. He swam his first 10m just after his 3rd birthday, and will soon be ready for his surfboard! Jayden was born in NZ in 2008 and sailing to Tonga was his first ocean passage, age 5 months!

You can contact us on: fransandsylvia@hotmail.com

When we are sailing we only have very infrequent email access so we may not get a chance to reply immediately! If you want to be put on our mailing list please let us know, and we will keep you updated with our travels.