Some sailing stories are measured in trophies, ocean miles or famous races. Others are measured in something far more meaningful – family, courage and the pursuit of a completely different way of life. When Richard and Stephanie Stevens left Jersey aboard their Nautitech 46 Open catamaran Pinnacle, they were not simply setting off on another cruising adventure. They were making the bold decision to raise their young family while sailing around the world together. With two young boys onboard, life aboard Pinnacle became a remarkable balancing act between offshore passage making and everyday parenthood. One moment Rich would be managing sail plans and weather routing in the middle of the Pacific; the next, the family would be building toy car collections from the countries they visited, baking Christmas biscuits onboard or transforming the saloon into a makeshift playroom. Their journey carried them across the Atlantic, through the Caribbean and onward into the South Pacific, sharing the realities of modern family cruising with an honesty that resonated with sailors all over the world. Behind the stunning anchorages and endless ocean sunsets lay an extraordinary amount of preparation, resilience and teamwork.
Now, with the boys reaching school age, the Stevens family have made the difficult decision to return home to Jersey and prepare Pinnacle for her next adventure with new owners. It felt like the perfect moment to sit down with Richard and Stephanie to reflect on the incredible life they created at sea, the lessons learned along the way and the unforgettable experiences that shaped their family’s extraordinary journey. At Sanders Sails, we are incredibly proud to have played a small part in Pinnacle’s story and are delighted to share a glimpse into one of the most inspiring sailing adventures we have featured to date.
Leaving behind a conventional life ashore to sail around the world as a young family is a huge leap of faith. Was there a particular moment when you both realised this dream had to become reality, and how difficult was it to actually cast off the lines for the final time?
Back in Jersey we had an awesome life — a fantastic house by the sea and a great business running boat trips around the island, out to the offshore reefs and across to France on RIB’s. But it was a seasonal business, and summer was the time to work, work, work. We had a share in a monohull in Jersey, but because of the business we found very little time to actually sail during those busy summer months. We would escape during the winter for charter holidays in places like the Caribbean, which we loved, but after waiting all year for that freedom, one or two weeks just never felt enough. We talked about different options — maybe doing six months on and six months off with a boat overseas, but the logistics always seemed complicated. Then everything changed. After a long fertility journey of five years, Stef became pregnant through IVF, and that was really the moment we took the leap of faith. We realised that more than anything, we wanted time together as a family. The reality was that our business, especially during Jersey summers when the island is at its best, was not going to give us that. So we started talking seriously about just going – finding a catamaran and sailing away together. Once those words were said out loud, there was no turning back, and things moved incredibly quickly. We found Pinnacle at the end of 2021, and throughout 2022 we focused on getting to know her and preparing her for long-term cruising, while also winding down normal life ashore, such as selling the business, renting out the house, selling cars and tying up everything that came with it. Baby Roux was born in March 2023, so suddenly there was a huge amount of baby-proofing needed onboard for him and his older brother Jesse, who was just two at the time. Then, in August 2023, we finally left. Without doubt, the hardest part of all was saying goodbye to family and friends and to that incredible “on-call” support network you don’t fully appreciate until you have young children of your own.
Many people dream about Bluewater cruising, but very few attempt it with young children onboard. What have been the biggest challenges; both practically and emotionally of raising Jesse and Roux at sea, and what have surprised you most about how they have adapted to life aboard Pinnacle?
There is simply never a perfect time to go. Once we started properly talking about it, we knew that if we didn’t do it, we would always live with that “what if?” regret. Our thinking was that raising young children is hard wherever you are, so we might as well do it somewhere we truly love — on the water, together as a family. We have definitely questioned that logic a few times since then during difficult passages or sleepless nights, but overall, we know it was the right decision for us. Without doubt, the biggest challenge has been the fact that we are together 24/7. There is no off switch. No babysitters, no grandparents nearby, no friends popping over to help for an hour. When things are hard, tired or stressful, it is just the four of us figuring it out together. At the same time, we also realise how lucky we are to have this amount of time together during such formative years in the boys’ lives. So many families barely get uninterrupted time together, whereas we get to experience everything side by side; the highs, the lows and all the small everyday moments in between. A lot of people assume having such small children on a boat must be terrifying, but honestly, taking the kids to a playground ashore can sometimes feel more dangerous watching them climb huge structures! The boys know the boat incredibly well and really understand their boundaries onboard. Of course, we have rules, routines and a huge amount of baby-proofing and safety measures throughout the boat, all of which took a lot of time to prepare and get right before we left. But children adapt amazingly quickly, and for Jesse and Roux this lifestyle is simply normal life. Pinnacle is their home, and the ocean is their playground.
From Atlantic crossings to Pacific anchorages, Pinnacle has now sailed some incredible waters. Is there a particular moment, landfall or experience during the journey so far that stopped you in your tracks and made you think, “this is exactly why we chose this life”?
For sure, the landfall in Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia, was the most incredible moment of the journey so far. After 23 days at sea crossing from the Galápagos Islands, arriving there at sunrise is something we will never forget. The island itself is simply breathtaking. Huge dramatic cliffs covered in deep green jungle, mist hanging over the mountains and waterfalls appearing out of nowhere — after weeks surrounded by nothing but open ocean, it honestly felt surreal. Sailing slowly into the anchorage as the sun came up was one of those moments where everything goes quiet onboard and you just sit there taking it all in. To this day, we still think the main anchorage in Fatu Hiva is probably the most beautiful anchorage of our entire adventure. Since then, though, the Tuamotus Islands have probably become our most treasured chapter overall, and certainly the place where we have thought most often, “this is exactly why we chose this life.” Life there has been everything we dreamed of before leaving — freediving, surfing, snorkelling, beautiful sails inside the lagoons and atolls, and most importantly simply slowing down and taking our time together as a family. The water, marine life and remoteness are unlike anywhere else we have ever experienced. I think there was also a huge sense of satisfaction knowing that by that point the major ocean crossings were behind us. We could finally exhale a little, relax into the lifestyle and properly enjoy the reward for all the preparation, stress and hard work it took to get there.
A successful long-distance cruising boat relies enormously on trust in both the yacht and the equipment onboard. How important has sail handling, reliability and simplicity been during your passages, particularly when balancing offshore sailing with family life and short-handed watch systems?
Trust in the boat, your systems and ultimately each other as crew is absolutely everything when travelling long distances as a family. When you are offshore with young children onboard, you need confidence in your equipment because there are plenty of moments where you are tired, short-handed and making decisions in difficult conditions. Of course, during this journey there have also been times when we have lost trust in certain parts of the boat or systems onboard, and those periods have definitely been the hardest. Trying to diagnose problems, source parts and get repairs done quickly whilst still living onboard with two small children can be incredibly stressful. Those moments tend to test you far more than the actual sailing itself. One thing we now have complete trust in is our Vectran sails from Sanders Sails. They genuinely feel like a true “go anywhere” sail material and have been perfect for the type of offshore cruising we are doing. Reliability and durability become so much more important when you are sailing as a family and often far from support. If anything, our only regret is not getting them sooner. We ended up ordering them while we were in the Galápagos, ready for them to arrive in French Polynesia after the Pacific crossing, and looking back we definitely wish we had made the change earlier. We have certainly evolved as sailors throughout this adventure too. At the beginning we (more Rich than Stef!) were probably a little more excitable and focused on pushing on quickly, whereas now we have realised that slowing things down slightly and keeping everything simple generally makes both the boat and the crew happier. Sailing a little slower reduces loads on the boat, makes equipment last longer and creates a far more enjoyable atmosphere onboard. We have learnt that cruising is not really about rushing to the next destination — it is about getting there with as little stress as possible and then not having to fix things on the other side – instead enjoying the destination with the kids . Fixing things in paradise is to be avoided at all costs with kids!
Your story has inspired a huge number of people because it challenges the idea that you have to wait for the “perfect time” to go sailing. Looking back now from the middle of this adventure, what would you say to families sitting at home dreaming about taking the leap themselves but frightened to do it?
As we said previously, there is never a perfect time to go — at some point you simply have to take the leap and make sure you do not end up living with that “what if?” regret later in life. Sailing with children is definitely very different to sailing without them. It is without question the hardest thing we have ever done, but also by far the most rewarding. The difficult moments are very real — the tiredness, the constant responsibility, the lack of personal space and the fact that there is nowhere to really switch off — but the rewards massively outweigh those challenges for us. Watching our boys grow up with this level of freedom, confidence and connection to nature has been incredibly special. We have shared experiences together as a family that would simply never have happened if we had stayed inside the comfort of normal life ashore. At the same time, we would also say very honestly that this lifestyle is not for everyone, and that is completely fine too. Long-term cruising can be demanding emotionally, financially and physically, especially with young children onboard. Social media often shows the beautiful anchorages and sunsets, but not always the harder days behind the scenes. Stef does a great job on our Instagram and there is a lot of incredible highlight memories there but she also does a fantastic job of highlighting the day-to-day struggles that comes with cruising with kids. But if it is something you keep thinking about, our advice would simply be not to ignore that feeling. You do not need the perfect boat, the perfect bank balance or the perfect timing to begin. Plans will evolve, mistakes will happen and you will learn constantly along the way. For us, the biggest regret would never have been trying and failing — it would have been never trying at all.