At the peak of their careers, Anne Brevig and Martin Vennesland made the decision of their lives to choose freedom and a highly uncertain future on the high seas over secure jobs and the safety and comfort of life ashore.
To finance their dream, they sold their house and most of their belongings and moved onboard their 40-foot sailboat, the Nor Siglar, which became their one and only home for 15 years.
Neither imagined that they were going to spend nine years -3,285 days - on the seven seas and journey more than 56,000 nautical miles (approximately twice around the world), seeing 53 countries and 29 island colonies, and exploring.Brevig and Vennesland present a slideshow of dynamic and inspiring images from their trip, and speak about their remarkable journeys at the Squamish Public Library on Tuesday (Oct. 9) at 7 p.m. Copies of their book Nor Siglar will be available for purchase.
"The book has fantastic stories and photos," said Karen MacDonald, library adult programmer.
"The quality of photos they took is just amazing - can you imagine how many rolls of film they must have went through after spending nine years on the seas?"
The couple left Vancouver on Sept. 1, 1991 and ended their circumnavigation in Norway, Aug. 20, 2000. Brevig said the trip had its highs and its lows. The good times centered around the close contact they experienced with primitive cultures and the people they met such as "natives [and] fellow offshore sailors from around the world."
Brevig looks on the bright side when she says they only suffered two break-ins and found themselves in pirate-infested waters for a year and a half.
Other memorable moments included a collision with a whale, and being caught in a huge fishing net on the Indian Ocean. That immense fishnet was 'the most frightening situation we ever encountered," she said.
"Being all alone, far away from civilization, one only has oneself to rely on. You just have to be able to handle any situation."But when asked if there's anything she would do differently Brevig eagerly retorts: "Yes, we should have started earlier! The younger the better."
