Getting ready
Getting ready for the Adventure
What it takes to turn your life upside down and from one day to another change the way not only you but your closest family lives.
The idea to sail around the world has been with us for the past 9 years. But only in the last half a year it got really close and I could feel the invisible pressure but also luckily the thrill of the dream coming true.
It took us many preparations to be able to go. And not all was finished the way we wanted. However here are the key steps we took.
The WORK - 2017 / 4 years ago
This was probably the hardest part. Michal was the founder of several companies and I was a CEO of one of them. We had to solve how to let the business grow while disappearing for a year or two. It turned out that either you run your business or you don't. So the only way was to sell the companies. Luckily we were one of the hottest and biggest digital advertising groups in the Czech market. And there was interest in us. We made a deal with Publicis Groupe, global number 3. We were lucky we found a strong partner that offered a future to our clients, employees and know-how. We worked hard on the integration of different cultures though family business will always be different to managerial run companies. The deal was for 4 years and 2021 was the last year to hand over the business. Michal managed to pull out from the management sooner. I stayed involved until a few days before we left for our journey.
It is weird for me to go from 100 to 0 when it comes to stop managing a company. I never have had a break even when having kids. But that is exactly why I owed it to them and the family.
PLANNING THE ROUTE - 2018 / 3 years ago
When will we go? What route? What stops to take? For how long? Planning a circumnavigating journey is a massive job. In 2018 at Dusseldorf Boat Festival Michal met sailing guru Jimmy Cornell. He told him about a regatta he was organising together with boat producer Grand Large Yachting. We fell in love with the route and also the idea that we will not be alone for our first circumnavigation. Joining the Grand Large World Odyssey gave us experienced support, help with organising the voyage, schedule for 2,5 years and a community to join.
NEW BOAT - 2020 / 1 year ago
Our first boat and a boat we planned initially to circumnavigate with was Bavaria 41 called Liberty. It was typical charter monohull. We sailed the Med with her a lot - Italy, Greece, Croatia. Liberty taught us a lot - from sailing to repairing various boat parts. We knew that to circumnavigate in this boat will be a lot about lowering our comfort. We were ready to bring this sacrifice. Until Michal came with a surprise. He ordered a new boat! He chosen French boat yard Amel - small factory in la Rochelle and upgraded his beloved family to a true business class. We got Amel 50, boat bigger by 3m at length and 1m at width. But size was not the only improvement. The boat is safer, can be operated by a single man, has all key technical equipment - from generator, desalinator, freezer or even a small washing machine.
Due to covid factory was closed and delayed the delivery of our Liberty II. We took her over in September 2020, took one week course and then bring kids for one more week before we put her to sleep over winter. We managed to test her properly in summer 2021.
The SCHOOL - May 2021 / 6 months to go
Our older daughter, Adina, started school last year. Hugo was enrolled in May 2021 to start the school in September 1st 2021. It was high time to inform the school and the teachers about our journey. According to the Czech law we had to ask the director of the school for an exception so kids can study “at home” and can be taught by their parents. If he agrees we can go. Luckily he did. Though kids attend standard Czech grammar school, they are in a class with extended English education. That means they have two main teachers - Czech one and native English one. So we talked to all four and got great support. What it is also means that besides standard subjects taught at first grade, we have also the English to cover.
After last year shadowing kids at home studying online I got big respect and also got a bit overwhelmed by all the books, materials, curriculums and teaching strategies. I only pray we manage well and kids will be in line with their classes once we return.
The thing we cannot substitute are the classmates. To Hugo it was not that obvious he will leave the class behind as he was going to school only one month. But Adina already rooted in the class and felt she might also loose not just gain by our journey. We were lucky to get the support from her teachers and friends that she get over her fear.
On the 8th of October, last day of official school, kids got remaining books for one year and we agreed we stay in touch with teachers to make sure we go the right pace.
Testing the boat - July 2021 - 3 months to go
As we got the boat at the end of season 2020, we hardly managed to test her properly, to live some time on the boat to see what goes wrong, what equipment we need to get, etc. Summer 2021 was the only time to spend as much as possible on the new boat. We stayed in France around la Rochelle. New Liberty II is bigger for manoeuvring, but it has very strong boat truster. Bigger sails make us faster, but thanks to the construction we do not feel the yaw like on our previous boat. For living the boat turned to be great too. For more insights about or France holiday, you can check Sailors&Oysters.
Family and friends - Goodbye party - not even a month to go
Our family and friends knew about our dream for long time. But it turned out all of them were not sure if we would really make the step. We kept talking about it for such long without any visible proofs the journey is getting closer.
So we decided to invite all to a big party, to give a toast together to Neptune to stay lucky all the way. We invited family, friends, business partners and colleagues and together we spent nice time talking, drinking and getting great presents to take with us on the boat.
Packing - 2 weeks to go
We divided the packing into two phases. Phase one, we put aside things we needed to send upfront to the marina in Cadiz, where the boat stayed. It was mainly books, toys, board games, technical equipment and many other little things from Xmas cookie cutters, foldable washtub to another fishing baits. This was great exercise because it forced me to go through all the house to make sure we have all we needed and only “light” things remained at home to travel with us by plane.
Two days before the flight I started making heaps of various things and I packed it all into duffle bags the morning before we flew.
3 big bags and personal back pack each - that was all.
I left half full fridge and few tasks on my to do list I wanted to accomplish before we leave our home for 2,5 years.
When we look back we realised it was crucial to set a clear deadline. It turned into the biggest motivation to clear and clean our lives to be ready for new adventure. We made the first step.
