The family who sailed around the world

Engineer Jeff Dent, 46, and wife Alison, 44, always loved sailing. They first met at a

sailing club and their dream was to sail around the world.

So, when Jeff became unemployed in January 1999, they decided to make their dream come true. Alison left her job as a teacher and they bought an eight – metre sailing boat, the Charlotte Rose. They wanted to sail from Britain to South Africa, then to Australia, across the South Pacific to Argentina, and back to Britain across the Atlantic.

They weren’t the first people to make this journey, but this time there was one big

difference – Jeff and Alison took their three children with them: ten-year-old Oliver, Charlotte, who was seven, and three-year-old Danial.

Yesterday, after two years and 48000 kilometres, they arrived back in Britain. To their surprise, hundreds of friends and journalists were there to meet them.

So how was it? “ It was difficult,” said Alison, “ but it was the best two years of my life.” The children also loved it. “We saw things that most people never see,” said Oliver.

“ One day we got up and there were three whales near the boat… that was fantastic!”

There was one question everyone wanted to ask. Did they argue a lot? Jeff answered.

“ Of course we argued sometimes, but we were a great team. It was an amazing journey.”