Melanie (34)
From a German mother and French father, I have lived my childhood life in the south of France, Nice, where me and my family use to sail along the French Riviera. At 14 years old, my father got killed in a motor bike accident which left me and my mother to look after my 4 year old severely autistic baby brother. During my teens, I looked after my brother who was not growing physically and mentally, he needed constant care and assistance for everything that my feelings for living my life was growing stronger. I lived in Montpellier at 19-20 years old for uni and came back to Nice for another 2 years to get my hotel management diploma. While working at the Hilton in Cannes I met Fred at work, my husband today. I knew from the start that he was leaving for Australia, it was a dream for him, I decided to take a leap of faith and follow him on this journey. We were together only 6 months when I left France with him and $2000 in my bank account. we started our adventure in Cairns where we worked our way up the ladders in the hotel industry while enjoying the Great Barrier Reef and became Dive-masters. That’s where my love for the Ocean grew even stronger. It has been now 11 years and we have a lovely baby boy, William.
Frederic (37)
From an Italian mother and Spanish heritage on his father’s side, Fred and his sister grew up watching their father work hard starting from nothing and fighting the financial burden a family of 4 needs to go through in French middle-class society. As school was not seeing the potential in him, he failed normal curriculum and ended up in cookery where he strived in Patisserie and graduated in that field. Fred and his family lived in Vallauris, a little place above Cannes on the French Riviera in a little house almost built entirely by his father. His love for the sea started very young while snorkelling the Mediterranean Sea and there on scuba-diving; he followed Jacques Cousteau’ stories and also heard about Australia, a wild and vast country on the other side of the world where a good living might still be possible. In Cairns he made his way in becoming a Head Chef when next we decided to have our own business. Fred and I have been having a French restaurant in Noosaville on the Sunshine Coast for almost 5 years when we became pregnant and decided to change our life. We sold the business and we are now looking for a boat to start our next big adventure, having a business with a sailing boat and sailing around the world.
Journey to Freedom Sailing 