Like their parents, the Lloyd-Mostyn children are barefoot. It was only when the family arrived back in London, the city they used to call home, that their mother, Jess, says she realised the older two of their three youngsters didn’t own ‘a proper pair of shoes’.
‘They’ve never needed them,’ she explains. That’s because the Lloyd-Mostyns live mostly at sea. Their ‘back garden’ might be the Pacific or the Caribbean, or a cosy cove in Bora Bora, depending on whether or not it is hurricane season.
The eldest children learned how to walk on a boat deck — with those tiny toes having left fleeting imprints on beaches from Mexico to New Zealand. They are a flip-flop sort of family.
James and Jess Lloyd-Mostyn with their three children: Autumn, Rocket and Indigo
Toddler Rocket on the deck of the Adamastor. James says: ‘If Rocket was at school in England... would she know as much about whale sharks?'
Many of us dream of quitting the rat race and heading into the great blue yonder. But few are brave enough to start a family on the high seas — and then have more children while circumnavigating the globe. But this is what the Lloyd-Mostyns have done.
It all started in 2010 with a jokey comment from Jess about how she and partner James could ditch their planned house extension and instead spend the money on a yacht.
Hard-a-starboard, crew! Rocket, aged three, takes the wheel in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand
A year later, the couple — then unmarried — rented out their house and set off on what they thought would be a time-limited adventure before they settled down.
Two years in — and rather enjoying their shoeless new life — they started talking about having children.
In time, Jess gave birth to daughter Rocket, now five, going into labour during a six-hour bus journey in Mexico. ‘That wasn’t one of the highlights,’ she admits. ‘Rocket was three weeks early. I remember being on all fours, thinking: “This cannot be happening.” ’
Son Indigo’s arrival was easier — in a birthing pool in New Zealand.
Then a second girl, Autumn, now four months old, entered the world in a more conventional manner while the family (Dad, by the way, is a descendant of the Duke of Wellington) were back in London for a short visit.
I meet the family as they prepare to head to Indonesia, where their boat, Adamastor, is being made ready for the next phase of the extraordinary adventure. It has seen them travel to 36 countries and cover some 26,000 miles.
The family has travelled to 36 countries and covered some 26,000 miles across the world. Map shows where and when the children were born
While Jess breastfeeds Autumn, her elder siblings are eager to share their experiences. ‘Tell about the time the bat ate the papaya,’ urges Rocket. Indigo goes wide-eyed at the memory of meeting a Komodo dragon.
They recount tales of scuba-diving in Tahiti and swimming with dolphins in the way other children would talk about a trip to the park.
Waterbabies: Jess breastfeeds Indigo off Northland New Zealand
Clearly, it’s been a challenge to raise three children in a boat the size of some of their friends’ kitchens. ‘Our washing machine is two buckets,’ says Jess. ‘Or we dock and find a laundrette.’
James explains that they often wash their clothes in rivers alongside local villagers. ‘People think that what we are doing must be quite isolating. In fact, it’s a very sociable thing. Our whole life is about meeting strangers.
‘In some of the remotest areas, such as islands around Papua New Guinea, they never get boats visiting, so people invite you into their homes. It’s incredible.’
Their way of life is meticulously budgeted and relatively cheap, all things considered. Costs vary depending on geography, but average out at £20,000 a year.
‘It’s basically caravanning,’ says Jess. ‘People think it’s posh, as there’s a yacht involved, but our boat is rough-and-ready. And we are fair-weather sailors, so there’s not as much derring-do. If the weather looks questionable, we’ll stay put wherever we are. Our journey is more of a pootle.’
It’s still risky, though. The couple admit that, since their children have arrived, they’ve bought a satellite phone, a liferaft (James describes it as ‘one of our biggest expenses — and we’ve never had to use it’) and a first-aid kit.
‘We carry antibiotics and anti-malaria medication, everything really. But the only thing we’ve had to use is nit lotion.’
Jess, now 36, and James, 48, are unlikely travellers. Both studied architecture and met while working for the same practice.
Jess had never even been on a sailing boat when they sat down to discuss her ‘mad plan’ and she had to have some hurried lessons in basic sailing techniques before they departed from Falmouth, Cornwall.
Rocket catches her first fish wearing a tutu at the age of three. Mother Jess had never even been on a sailing boat when they sat down to discuss the ‘mad plan’
Joyful: Two-year-old Indigo makes friends in Papau New Guinea. Jess had to have some lessons in basic sailing techniques before they left Falmouth, Cornwall
Obviously, their family and friends were worried.
‘One said: “You’re going to die!” ’ admits Jess.
As for funding their adventure, both had owned properties in London before they met, and they’d then bought a house together. They had £60,000 of savings — earmarked for that extension that never happened.
Their beloved Adamastor, a 42ft Crossbow, which needed ‘a lot of work’, cost £35,000. They reckon they spent most of their £60,000 before they even left England. ‘Just before we set sail, we were haemorrhaging money. Every day brought new things the boat needed. Even at times since, if we’ve had big expenditures — a new mainsail sets you back thousands — we’ve dipped down to the last pennies.’
The Adamastor (pictured at anchor in French Polynesia) is a 42ft Crossbow and needed ‘a lot of work’. But it still cost the couple £35,000
They have mortgages on both their London houses, but rental income, too. Extra money (‘only pocket money, really,’ says Jess) comes from her writing for sailing magazines and she also blogs about their adventures.
They mostly dock in places that don’t charge for mooring.
While some of the world’s larger marinas offer grocery delivery, in remote places they have to pick fruit from trees or barter for goods. ‘If we go inland,’ says Jess, ‘we are more likely to stay in a hostel than a four-star hotel.’
Adventure: James swims with Indigo in Papua New Guinea
As for their children, wherever they go they are fussed over. They have slotted into this lifestyle with remarkable ease.
Their boat has two double cabins and a single ‘studio’ that is mostly used as a workshop for repairs. A single table is used for dinner, craft hobbies and work (James, who does all the cooking, finally got round to designing an extension for their London home and submitted the plans from Fiji).
Jess says: ‘Everything is safety-first. There are no hard edges. Things are locked down.’ On deck, they have strict rules about lifejackets or harnesses having to be worn and nets are placed around the sides.
Of course, they steer clear of parts of the world where there are pirates or political unrest.
One of the family’s longest sailing legs was from Mexico to New Zealand, stopping off at many South Pacific islands along the way (they married in Fiji in 2014). The first passage, to the Marquesas, in French Polynesia, took 26 days.
Their daughter learned to crawl on the crossing, had her first birthday in Bora Bora and started walking in Tonga. All three of the children are, obviously, home-schooled and follow no curriculum.
James says: ‘If Rocket was at school in England, she’d probably be more advanced with her handwriting. But would she know as much about whale sharks?
‘They know about the tides, about the moon, about the weather. And we read up on the history of every part of the world we visit.’
Do they worry about their children missing out? ‘They can’t join an orchestra or learn things such as karate — but look at what they have done,’ says their dad.
Inevitably, their lifestyle means the family are aware of the need to protect the environment.
James says: ‘We’ve had to stop the boat because of plastic bags being caught around the propeller. We’ve seen first-hand the impact of pollution.’
Jess and James relish the fact that they are with their children — and each other — 24 hours a day. ‘Funnily, we have argued more since we’ve come back to London just for a short time,’ says James. ‘You can physically feel the pressure come back into your life.’
Jess says: ‘At home, people drive on motorways at 70mph with their kids in the back. We potter along at 7 knots.
‘I’m not saying it’s easy — it’s physically gruelling — but it’s also the most rewarding thing we’ve ever done.’
The family have no TV and their wi-fi is intermittent. Jess says: ‘We noticed when we were back home at Christmas for a short time that the kids were being influenced by the adverts on television. It was shocking how quickly they started to ask for things.
‘At sea, we have escaped that, of which I’m glad.’
Of course, this odyssey must eventually come to an end. In the meantime, Jess and James would like more children — ‘five would be nice,’ she suggests.
Will they come back to England and get jobs? Probably not. ‘We’ve been talking about buying an old school bus and converting it,’ says Jess. ‘Although perhaps I shouldn’t say these things out loud because, when I do, they have a habit of happening . . .’
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