I Was 6 When My Father Decided We'd Sail Around The World. I Would Be Trapped On That Boat For Nearly A Decade.

It has taken me decades to be ready to tell this story. Until I reached the safety of adulthood and created my own family, I wasn’t able to confront my parents’ story about my past. In their telling, I was “privileged.” After all, I grew up on a beautiful boat called Wavewalker, sailing around the world.

Of course I knew their story wasn’t true. Although I had grown up on Wavewalker from the age of 7 for almost a decade, I was trapped there — unable to go to school or have friends. While my brother was allowed to help out on deck, I was expected to cook and clean down below for hours each day. 

My normal life in England ended when I was 6 years old and my father announced that we were going to sail around the world. He wanted to recreate Captain Cook’s third voyage, which would t...