Chris ‘Nico’ Nicholson, former Olympic sailor and four-time competitor in the Volvo Ocean Race, is taking on a new challenge, sailing around the world with his young family.
Together with his wife Megan, and two sons Banjo aged seven and four-year-old Tully, Nico will be sailing in the family yacht Toothless, named after a dragon in Banjo’s favourite children’s story, not Nico’s dentistry skills!
As official satellite communications partner for the Volvo Ocean Race, Inmarsat has enabled the off-shore race to became the most connected sporting event in history and now our FleetBroadband 250 service and IsatPhone 2 satellite phone will be providing all the connectivity Nico needs on his next sailing adventure.
Having set off from the Mediterranean in France at the end of the summer, the Nicholson’s plan to sail back to Australia, taking in the Caribbean, Panama Canal and Galapagos along the way, before crossing the Pacific Ocean and arriving back home to Lake Macquarie just north of Sydney, by September 2016.
“Taking the boys on this trip has been something that Megan and I have always wanted to do. Life has been incredibly busy for a long time now and sailing around the world offers a unique opportunity to be a family,” said Nico.
“The boys are at the right age to do this and they are already becoming incredibly capable, driving the little rubber ducky, snorkelling and swimming – in fact Tully has basically learnt to swim at anchor off the back of the boat!”
Throughout the journey Nico, who has more than 20 years of professional sailing experience, will be relying on Inmarsat’s flagship FleetBroadband maritime service for downloading weather updates, trouble-shooting problems onboard the yacht and booking marina berths on the move.
In addition, Inmarsat’s connectivity is enabling the Nicholson’s to stay in touch with family and friends back home in Australia, as well as make calls to teachers – Megan is home schooling Banjo four hours every day – wherever they are across the world’s oceans.
Knot tying and splicing is next on the agenda for ‘Aussie Family Nicholson’, currently a quarter of the way to the Caribbean where they will cruise around the islands for a month – the makings of a true modern-day Swiss Family Robinson adventure.
