Saanich couple home for the holidays before returning to around-the-world sailing trip

WATCH: A Saanich couple is now home for the holidays and are taking a break from sailing around the world. Four years ago, they sold everything to begin their life at sea and are almost at the halfway mark. 

It’s an adventure you would expect to see in the movie but it is a real-life experience for married couple Ben Brehmer and Ashley Stobbart.

They’re home for the holidays but for the past four years, they have been on a whirlwind adventure of sailing around the world.

“Off you go and you’re all of a sudden in a new country and you pull into port and it’s all of a sudden, amazing,” Stobbart said.

The trip was a lifelong dream for the couple but it took a family tragedy to really get it off the ground.

“Ten years ago, my dad passed away pretty young and it was the catalyst, the kind of kick in the butt. We needed to get our acts together and properly start saving for this trip,” Stobbart said.

After seven years of saving and now four years at sea, they’re halfway done. They began in Florida, sailed across the Carribean to Colombia through the Panama Canal. Last year, they cross the Pacific Ocean and went down to New Zealand. They stopped in Palau before their break.

There have been a few challenges while out at sea.

“It’s not the boat that’s going to break, it’s the people that are going to break. It’s always a mental challenge more than a physical challenge so its always a mental thing when you are battling these storms; staying in control, staying calm and making the right decision,” Brehmer said.

Ben and Ashley had saving for the first two years but had to get creative to keep their adventure going.

“You look at the situation and you say, well we can put the boat on the hard fly home and get some desk jobs and make some more money or you can look at what you can do out here,” Brehmer said.

The two decided to start a YouTube channel to document their adventure. 

In the new year, they will fly back to Palau where their boat is to continue the expedition into southeast Asia then South Africa before going back to the Caribbean.

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