Our 2020 Sailing Adventure
2020 – The Year Of The SV Mandala
2020 has not been like any other for Team Conti…but for different reasons.
4 years ago Rick and I decided to purchase our sailing catamaran SV Mandala. Our children were 5 and 9 at the time and they had never sailed or slept overnight on a boat before.
Our plan was set. Expose them to the beauty of the ocean and surrounding reefs, the beauty of sailing, the skills of navigation and the thrill of catching your own dinner. Over the next few years we would regularly return to QLD and sail for 1 – 2 weeks at a time in preparation for an extended sailing adventure in Far North Queensland in 2020.
There was no way of knowing what else 2020 would bring, but the timing was perfect for us as we could pull the kids out of school just before the eldest went to high school. We never imagined that this plan and the timing would coincide with a pandemic.
Panic struck! We are based in Adelaide and SV Mandala is based in Airlie Beach, Queensland. Borders were closed and plans were thrown into chaos.
We were faced with two choices - defer the plan or push on, be agile and make decisions in real time.
Actually, there was never a choice…we were going…we just had to find a way.
Borders between QLD and SA reopened which gave us a window of opportunity, so we took it.
Routes, dates and equipment needs had to be adjusted as the drive was now going to be 25% dirt road to avoid NSW, but we were going. We commenced the handover process with our employers and took the children out of school and drove 3600km from Adelaide to Airlie Beach right through the middle of Australia before heading East to the coast.
Upon arrival in Airlie Beach we provisioned the boat and commended our sailing adventure which covered approximately 600 miles over 9 weeks around the Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef.
With over 74 islands to explore and 5 major outer reef systems there was plenty to see and do.
Sailing around the Whitsundays was the best antidote for COVID and also strengthened the family bond.
It was fantastic to plan, explore, laugh and discover together as a family. When you sail to places for the first time, we are all learners.
Being out on the water brings a different kind of freedom. The vast openness of the blue water, following the sun rise and set on an unobstructed view of the horizon and the necessity to make decisions based on weather, not time allows you to breathe and dream.
Swimming and snorkelling bring you closer to nature and we made many marine friends along the way who stayed by SV Mandala for many days whilst anchored at one of the reefs.
Some of our experiences with nature align with those beautifully portrayed in the latest Netflix movie “My Octopus Teacher”.
SV Mandala lived up to her meaning. For those of you who are not familiar, a mandala (Sanskrit for “circle”) is an artistic representation of higher thought and deeper meaning. Mandalas are typically drawn in circular shapes with a ‘seed’ in the middle. Their purpose is to centre a person and encourage introspection and, ultimately, an awareness of one’s place and purpose in the world; this awareness then allows for peace of mind.
From the sky looking down onto SV Mandala, you can easily imagine her as the ‘seed’ and the ocean glistening from the sun and moving due the wind, forms the surrounding circular pattern.
Her name is perfect, the experiences on the water are truly magical and that fact that the whole family love spending time on her, sailing around the ocean, exploring, fishing, diving is serendipitous.
Both Rick and I are often asked if we get bored on SV Mandala sailing from location to location. Our answer; no way! There is always something new to explore. We are also asked if travelling with our children for such a long time drove us crazy. We are very fortunate, our children are great people we enjoy spending time with. Its fun teaching them new skills, discovering new beaches, reefs, fish species and fishing techniques together. Learning is a two-way street, and they teach us ample about ourselves too.
We have now returned home and the children arrived back in time to finished the last few weeks of school with our eldest graduating primary school.
We can’t wait to get back out there…but the next window is late 2021 now!
In the meantime SV Mandala is available for others to hire via Charter Yachts Australia – so what are you waiting for? Get out there and sail… you don’t even need to own a boat to have an awesome adventure like this!
- Tarnia Conti, December 2020, BCD Executive Member, Adelaide
