How young SA couple made a seachange – and it’s more cost effective than living in Adelaide

Tess and Brett did what most people only dream about — chucked in their jobs, bought one way tickets to Fiji and now sail the seas with Coco the cat.

Tess Fraser and Brett Vlaanderen are sailing the dream.

They bought one way tickets to Fiji, found their ideal yacht and are now sailing the Pacific Islands with Coco the cat, surfing, and reckon it is cheaper as well as more rewarding than doing the grind in Adelaide.

Tess, 29, is a paramedic from Adelaide’s western suburbs and Brett, 33, is a machinery operator from the Adelaide Hills.

They say life on their $50,000 yacht Complicite, a 39 foot monohull built in Canada, costs about $500 a week — significantly less than their bills living on the land in Adelaide where renting and Covid made them rethink their priorities.

They took the huge leap to leave the daily grind in search of a different lifestyle and are loving it.

“We transitioned from land life to boat life because we didn’t want to wait until retirement to pursue our sailing dreams,” Tess said.

“We realised the cost of a sailboat was comparable to a house deposit, but it offered us the freedom to travel to remote places, live on our own schedule, and use our floating home as a way of spending our days surfing and fishing.

“We wanted to make the most of our youth, rather than spending it working full-time just to get by. As travel and ocean enthusiasts, this lifestyle felt like the perfect fit.”

Tess Fraser and Brett Vlaanderen swapped jobs in Adelaide for adventures at sea. See more at Instagram @seafaringproject, You Tube The Seafaring Project.

Life at sea for Adelaide’s Tess Fraser and Brett Vlaanderen.

Tess still loves here paramedic job but has been able to work as a casual, deciding how much or how little she wants to be on the road back in Adelaide without being tied to a fixed roster.

“It’s really the best of both worlds,” she said,

Brett had crewed on two different boats around the South Pacific and studied YouTube videos on sailing to learn prior to the boat purchase, while Tess had no sailing experience at all prior to buying their home on water.

As for crew cat Coco, she grew up on the boat catches all the flies and bugs and has travelled to five different countries and sailed around 7000 nautical miles.

Crew cat Coco loves life at sea.

The couple say every day is different.

“The weather is a huge dictator as well as where we are located,” Tess said.

“When sailing, it could be a day sail for a week long sail – these days involve battling seasickness, lots of physical work and discomfort, sail changes, taking turns of shifts on watch for weather, navigation etc as well as trying to catch a fish.

“When anchored, we mainly are seeking surf areas, so if near a surf break, we will spend 4-6 hours in the water. If no surf, then we’ll spear fish, catch up with other yachties and boat jobs – there is a never ending list of things to be repaired.”

Tess Fraser and Brett Vlaanderen spend part of their time chasing empty waves.

The couple say in three years of sailing, their average spending is $500 per week combined.

“This includes our food, boat yard and maintenance costs, visas, internet bills etc. This is significantly less than our previous weekly costs when we were living on land in Adelaide,” they said.

“We calculated that our current combined income is a quarter of what we used to earn, when working both full time and living on land in Adelaide. Yet, we now are sailing the world and living our dream.

“Our daily living costs are minimal – we live on anchor mostly, so no regular marina fees. We are self sufficient with solar power to run out electrical systems such as fans, lights, fridge/freezer, satellite internet, we have a watermaker on board to provide us with freshwater.

“We tend to trade old clothing and fishing gear for fresh fruit and vegetables with local villages and catch our own dinner as much as possible.

“Our biggest expense is boat maintenance and when things break on board – in this case, we always have a safety buffer of savings for these situations.”

They do all their own boat maintenance and repairs to minimise costs, make some money from social media and odd jobs as well as Tess occasionally returning to Adelaide for casual paramedic work.

Brett Vlaanderen and Coco getting ready for a fish dinner.

Brett Vlaanderen relaxing on yacht Complicite.

“Once the Australian borders opened up post Covid, we ended the lease on our rental, gave up our full time jobs, sold all our possessions including cars and furniture and flew to Fiji on a one-way ticket in search of a sailboat,” they recall.

“Our friends mentioned there was lots of boats there for sail during the pandemic, so after six weeks of inspecting boats, we purchased our dream boat.

“We spent 1.5 years in Fiji, a few months in Vanuatu, 10 months in the Solomon Islands, then to northern Papua New Guinea for a few months and now currently in Indonesia, where we’ve been for six months so far.

“We don’t have a clear plan of where we are heading, we love the freedom and spontaneity that our lifestyle encourages. Our main goal is the chase the swells, so as long as there is surfing involved, we are happy.”

The couple say the change of life is not for everyone — but would be for some.

“This life wouldn’t suit a lot of people, but it definitely suits us,” they said.

“The main challenges we’ve found are living in a small space with your significant other and facing potential stressful situations.

“Overall, we’d definitely recommend this lifestyle change to people who enjoy a very simple yet adventurous life.”

Follow their adventures at:

Instagram: @seafaringproject

YouTube: The Seafaring Project

Originally published as How young SA couple made a seachange – and it’s more cost effective than living in Adelaide