The Harries of Waihi Beach living the dream

An adventure of a lifetime rather than lockdowns for the Harries family of Waihi Beach. Photo / Supplied

The Harries of Waihi Beach had no idea when they set off for the adventure of a lifetime that they were sailing away from a global pandemic.

"We've never done a lockdown anywhere," says Steve Harries.

Steve and wife Krista flew to Greece in September 2019 where they picked up what's been their home ever since, a 50ft yacht, the SV Wild Thing III.

Moored at an idyllic anchorage in striking distance of the world-class surf breaks of Fiji for the last part of their voyage, the couple and their three surf-mad boys, Noah, Roman and Mace, will head home next after completely avoiding all Covid-19 upheaval.

"It was absolutely perfect timing," says Krista.

They first heard about Covid when they sailed into St Vincent and the Grenadines where Steve had booked kitesurfing lessons.

"Covid was starting to rear its ugly head and everyone in St Vincent and the Grenadines said you've got to get to Granada, it's a safe hurricane hole if everything shuts down. We said 'oh nah, we'll just finish these kitesurfing lessons first and see how it pans out'.

"In the end, it was the best decision we could have made because St Vincent and the Grenadines never really shut down and never had Covid, and we could keep sailing around the 32 islands in our little sailing bubble," said Steve.

They got vaccinated in a tiny atoll called Fakarava in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia and kept travelling. "It really was amazing timing," said Steve.

The New Zealand Government announced this month that with Covid-19 cases falling, a highly vaccinated population and access to antiviral treatment medicines, it was safe to remove most Covid-19 rules and border restrictions.

The family have crossed two oceans, 20,000 nautical miles (37,000km) and surfed some of the best locations on the globe while Covid was happening worldwide.

The boys were aged 14, 12 and 11 when they set off and are now 17, 15 and 14.
They grew up in Waihi Beach where they were pushed into waves when they were toddlers.

"And they were all surfing with [pro surfer] John John Florence at Cloudbreak [Fiji], so they're stoked," Krista says of the experience.

She said the voyage had taught them how to sail, but also responsibility and resilience.

Steve says it's also taught them how to live. "I'd say the biggest thing is you can follow your dreams because whatever you want to do, you can do it.

"Our son Roman, who was 12 at the time we left, said 'Dad I never thought we'd do it'.

"A lot of our kids' friends have said you're so lucky, you guys are so rich, but I think a lot of people don't realise how cheap this lifestyle is. Once you're set up with the boat, your day to day is so much cheaper than living on land."

Pro surfer John John Florence surfed with the Harries boys in Fiji. Photo / Supplied

Krista had to be convinced by Steve to sail the world."I told Krista when we got married in our late 20s that I wanted to retire on a yacht, and she said 'well you just married the wrong girl'."

After eighteen years of "chipping away", Steve finally got the answer he wanted while the couple were walking along Waihi Beach before dinner one evening. "She said 'Stop. Let's do it. Let's go sailing'. I just couldn't believe it."

It took work and finance to get set up, including in the Harries' case, quickly renovating their "dump" of a house so it was good enough to rent out.

"We had a lot of ducks that needed to align. We had to raise the finance to buy the boat and had a little 9m yacht we'd bought to learn to sail on, and that sold in a week. We got a great tenant for the house. Lots of things fell into place and everything came together okay."

Krista and husband Steve with sons Noah, Roman and Mace aboard Wild Thing III. Photo / Supplied.

There were frightening moments including their first ocean passage from Greece to Italy.

A big storm in the Mediterranean put them in 4m waves with a 4-second period, and a brand-new radar broke, requiring Steve to climb the mast to retrieve it during the height of the storm.

"I was clinging onto the mast for dear life and managed to get it down. When I came back to the cockpit, half the family was in tears of fear thinking they were going to lose Dad. They were all looking at me like 'what are we doing sailing the world?'."

Krista says she felt anxiety every day initially. "The first year was a huge learning curve for me because I wasn't a sailor. I was in constant anxiety.Adds Steve: "Not every day?"

"Every day," confirms Krista. "I felt like a woman who could do almost anything, and I had never experienced anxiety in my life. But with anxiety, you work through it, and it was worth it. Absolutely."

Krista says she now realises she was also dealing with pre-menopausal symptoms that were adding to her anxiety, and of course, she had no female friends to discuss what was going on.

"I think I was blaming it all on sailing when there was a lot of things going on. As a family, we all depended on each other, and that's one of the key things for the boys. We had to work as a team. Everyone had to be part of everything, and everyone learnt as we went. And it was awesome."