In June 2018, Ryan Ellison and Sophie Darsy sailed out of Sweden on a six-month trip. They had quit their jobs, saved some money and bought a boat they barely knew how to sail.
Six years later, they were still living on it.
How it started
Ryan grew up in Iowa, with one man-made lake. He had been a pilot, a flight instructor and a mountaineer, training to ski alone to the South Pole. Then a goose attacked him on a run, he broke his shoulder and was told to expect two years of rehab.
Depressed and searching online, he found an article about a couple who had sold everything and bought a sailboat. He sent it to Sophie. She replied that it was totally something she would do. Six months later they took sailing classes. A few months after that they bought Polar Seal, a 40-foot Beneteau.
The six months became the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Azores, the United States and Canada. Around 30,000 nautical miles.
What the dream leaves out
Sophie started a YouTube channel to document the move from land to sea. It grew because it shows what the life costs, not only what it looks like.
When the pandemic closed the world, they were anchored in Saint Martin. For three and a half months they could barely leave the boat, while hurricane season came closer. They finally got out by sailing five days to Curaçao, preparing the boat in eight hours and flying home the same night.
Living together 24 hours a day in a small space, a partner becomes everything: co-captain, co-worker, therapist, nurse. Sophie says what keeps them together is not avoiding fights, but recovering after them. And moving from place to place means making friends quickly and leaving them just as quickly. It can be very isolating.
Alone in the Atlantic
On his solo crossing from the Canary Islands to the West Indies, 3,500 nautical miles, Ryan was asked by a rescue centre to check a position. He found a migrant raft with 20 to 30 people on board. Over the years, Polar Seal helped in the rescue of 138 migrants.
He cried for the first seven days afterwards, alone at sea. When they published his video diaries, the negative comments came. So did messages from men who said they felt exactly the same. In aviation, sailing and the military, Ryan says, there has been no room for men to admit fear.
You can be prepared, but you can't always be in control.
Why I made this film
For years I dreamed of a nomadic life. Mira and I travelled to New York to join Ryan and Sophie for a few days, sailing from Long Island down the East River, past Manhattan, to anchor below the Statue of Liberty.
I was seasick most of the time. It was worth it. And it showed me that full-time sailing isn't for me. I would design it differently. That is the lesson I took with me: try a dream a little, then build what suits you.
Sophie's version is better. Before they left, all she could think about was what would happen if they failed. She never asked what would happen if they succeeded.
Read the original article about Ryan and Sophie.
The question this film answers: what trade-offs define an unconventional life?