Ocean Nomads sisters in the spotlight! These fearless ladies choose a life with nothing less than what they are capable of living. These women go from dreaming to doing with their sailing and sustainability projects. What they all have in common: they had no clue about sailing or how to realize it all. But they just went for it. And made it happen. And the journeys keep unfolding, which is beautiful to follow.
In this blog we shine a light on five women sailing their own course, to inspire you. If it can be dreamt, it can be done, and supporting our ocean sisters is one way to keep that fire alive. Proud to have them part of Ocean Nomads.
Lovisa | Recent boat owner of a steel beauty
We met Lo three years ago as a total newbie in sailing. Now she just bought a steel vessel and moved into her new nomad home as a fulltime liveaboard, solo. How courageous!
About
Creative, curious, and I like to keep things simple. Working on realising my dream to have a good base and home but also a sailing sailboat, and to become a worthy skipper of my ship. I feel truly happy living closer to nature, especially the sea, being outdoor, listening to music, creating things, and good conversations. I work as a graphic designer and feel very fortunate to be able to do this remote from my boat.
Ocean Achievement
Crossing the Atlantic Ocean with SV Windfall and raising awareness and funds for the plastic soup and the impact it has on our oceans and the world.
Current Mission
Get MISTY in shape for the North Sea, sail and learn as much as possible on other ships as well.
Current Ocean Dream
To share the beautiful experience of sailing and being close to the sea, join other boats to gain more experience, and welcome others aboard to share stories.
Lo welcomes fellow ocean nomads on board for hosting, sailing, and gezelligheid. You can support Lovisa with her beautiful graphic design services at Lovadesign, and by simply cheering her on.
Follow & Connect with Lovisa on the Ocean Nomads network.
Karlijn | Boat owner, captain and moving to Cape Verde
Karlijn joined Ocean Nomads about two years ago looking to meet people who could help her sail her boat, because alone it felt a little daunting. Now she is fearlessly solo sailing, captaining offshore, and refitting a boat in Cape Verde where a sailing opportunity brought her last year. Beautiful and inspirational to see her grow and shine out there in the big blue.
About
I love to live free, back to basic, and more in nature. I lived in my 27ft boat in the Netherlands for a while until it got too cold, and I fled to the Canaries. There I found a boat and sailed as crew to Cape Verde. I love the culture there, more laid back, easy going, back to basic. I decided to stay and build a life there.
Ocean Achievement
Creating my own lifestyle in which I can live the way I want, sail as much as I can, explore cultures.
Current Mission
I’m currently skippering in Croatia, living and working on yachts. In August I go back to Cape Verde, there I’ll live in an apartment. I’ll continue to work on a boat project over there, fixing up a beautiful 10m sailing yacht from the 70s.
Follow & Connect with Karlijn on the Ocean Nomads network.
Nitya sailing the full Atlantic circle
Nitya has won the award of the year by showing her dedication and commitment to ocean adventure without compromising her values and kindness, ever. As soon as we learned that Twister needed a deckhand, we put her forward, as her vibes were exactly what we envisioned on board. Kind, dedicated, and driven. As deckhand on board SV Twister, she sailed the full Atlantic circle with us this winter, taking zero planes and inspiring many nomads along the way by being her.
About
I recently remembered that I have been dreaming for years to live a simple but fulfilling life, connected to the living, trying to have a positive impact on this planet, whilst sharing special connections with people and possibly inspiring others. Moving on step by step with this compass in mind, welcoming joyful moments as they keep presenting. I recently graduated from the Nautical College Enkhuizen (mate on seagoing sailing vessels). How to combine slowing down, reconnecting to nature, exploring new ways of being and living, maybe nomadic (sailing, hiking, cycling, windsurfing), inviting joy along and having a positive impact on the environment and society?
Mission
Co-creating a life full of magic on the lands and waters of our beautiful planet. My dream: live simply, explore, contribute to the ‘Living’, and share laughs!
Her current project: a beautiful cargo sailing initiative called Fair Winds Collective. Its purpose is to bring together and put in the spotlight the existing and emerging projects of sailing cargo ships, making them stronger and more visible, facilitating the emergence of desirable and sustainable ways of merchant transport, and inspiring desirable and sustainable ways of consuming and living.
We are honoured to have her part of the Ocean Nomads network and are looking forward to following her further on her journey. And to having a surf together. Thank you Nitya for being you and being present.
Follow & Connect with Nitya on the Ocean Nomads network.
Laerke with Women and the Wind
I met Laerke two years ago in Fuerteventura during a beach clean-up with Clean Ocean Project, when I was spending the winter there with my van, dog, and surfboard. Determined to sail across the Atlantic, planning to jump on a boat that was still in pieces in the shipyard, she just went for it, full impact mission included!
It was her determination and drive for contributing to a healthier ocean that made her realize it all. Together with badass Captain Kiana and the film creative Alize.
They sailed across, captured the good, bad and ugly, and are now turning the experience into an impactful documentary. Along the way they put out some beautiful storytelling and gained lots of followers and support on their courageous mission. With Ocean Nomads we are proud supporters of the project and proud that they send ocean dreamers our way to realize the sailing dreams. This is just the beginning. Wait for it!
Check out their recent interview live here. You can support Laerke and the Women and the Wind project and documentary here.
Follow & Connect with Laerke on the Ocean Nomads network.
Angie and her family of 5 + doggy creating Floating Stories Lab
Angie and her family are founding members of Ocean Nomads. They already lived so many meaningful adventures as a family and their biggest journey is yet to come. I passed by for tea last year and we could not stop talking about basically everything. They just welcomed Sahara to the family, and now have an Ocean Nomads baby in the fam 🙂 How exciting! All together they are getting ready to sail from Europe to Australia, with impact!
About
Angie Richard is an award-winning storyteller and producer in documentary and XR, facilitating stories, knowledge exchange and connections to effect more hopeful futures.
We are Angie, Remy, Ryder, Hunter, and baby Sahara, a semi-nomadic mixed family of five adventuring the world slowly, now also with our border collie Sage.
Along our travels we have crossed Asia from India to Japan overland, lived in tents along the Australian east and northeast coast, traversed the Himalayas in Nepal, and more recently have semi-settled in southwest France, where we have been getting to know the Pyrenees and the Atlantic Ocean more intimately.
We have been learning to sail since the pandemic hit and have a goal of buying a sailboat and refitting to be emissions-free, then sailing from Europe back to Australia. Our goals are to promote responsible family adventures, curiosity-driven education, knowledge exchange, and storytelling. Available to crew, just reach out!
We are now getting ready for our biggest adventure yet: creating the Floating Stories Lab, a liveaboard sailboat studio. You can support Angie and her family by cheering them on the socials (VoyageVirage) and by becoming a Patreon to their productions.
Follow & Connect with Angie on the Ocean Nomads network.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoBd1b3e5lk
So inspiring and motivating to follow their journeys, and we are honoured to have them in our network community. Give them a cheer of support!
I have more ocean sisters to write about, and brothers too, who are living inspiring lives out there. But the tide is low, the waves are coming in, and the ocean is calling for a surf. One of the Ocean Nomads values: no day without play. It keeps the energy to keep going. More stories to come, but most importantly, more stories to live!
Life is too short to live through other people’s stories, so this is your reminder to get out there and make the most out of it. And your reminder to go play 🙂 We got your back.
Are you after an eco-minded, active outdoor nomadic lifestyle on and near the sea, and looking to mingle more adventure, impact and community in your journey? Welcome home to your happy and safe soul family. Ocean Nomads connects you to the ocean and ocean people. Learn more, join the tribe to accelerate your ocean adventure dreams.
We would love to hear and share more ocean nomads’ stories. Members, submit your dreams, mission and projects so we can better support you, make relevant introductions and give your project a boost on our public platforms if you like.
