My Childhood Was Stolen By A Decade-Long Sailing Trip My Father Forced On Me

"A few months after we left England, we were hit by an enormous wave when my father attempted to cross the Southern Indian Ocean accompanied only by two novice crew members, my mother (who didn't like sailing) and his two small children. I fractured my skull and broke my nose in that accident and had to endure multiple head operations without anesthesia on the small atoll that we eventually found in the middle of the ocean."

"But my life on Wavewalker wasn't just physically dangerous. Living on a boat for a decade meant that I could rarely have friendships, I had little or no access to medical care and I couldn't attend school. As I turned into a teenager, I had no private space. Instead I had to share the one working toilet we had on board with my family and up to eight or nine crew, and to share a cabin with adult crew members."

"I had no way of leaving the boat - I had no passport or money. But more than that, I had nowhere to go. We'd set sail when I was a small child, and after that I never saw any of my relatives again. Apart from my parents, I had no other adults in my life apart from the crew members who came and went."

During a decade living on a privately sailed yacht, a child endured severe physical danger, including a major injury from an enormous wave that fractured the skull and nose and required multiple head operations without anesthesia on a small atoll. Daily life lacked friendships, formal schooling, and adequate medical care. The child had no private space, shared one working toilet with family and crew, and shared a cabin with adult crew members. Parents never returned home, leaving the child without passport, money, or relatives. Customs and immigration officials showed no concern for the welfare of the children. The vessel functioned as freedom for parents and imprisonment for the child.

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