SEEKR Feature: Sailing Nandji with Yosh and Bonita

If you are passionate about traveling the world and living a life of adventure, then Yosh and Bonita’s story is for you! From traveling throughout Australia in a bus with a tinny tow-behind, to sailing amongst the islands of Indonesia, Yosh and Bonita have created a life filled with new experiences and incredible memories.

Read of their adventures and share in their amazing journey.

Our sailboat Nandji II is currently anchored in a far-out remote corner of Indonesia called the Bay of Plenty in the Banyak Islands off of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It has been a long 2 plus weeks of sailing from Phuket, Thailand to reach our current destination and with no shortages of challenges along the way. We broke things, fixed things, had bad weather, rough seas, head winds… But it is all worth it now as we relax in our secluded little slice of paradise!

Hi, my name is Yosh and together with my beautiful partner in crime Bonita, we are the YouTube channel Sailing Nandji, and we have been sailing around the world for the last 8 years. Bonita and I first met over 12 years ago and we have been inseparable ever since. We quickly bonded and realised we shared a passion for travelling and being on the move. After 6 months of grinding paycheck to paycheck and trying to stay and work in the city, we both knew we had to leave. This is what set us on the path for the last 10+ years of travel and living on the move.

We first bought a converted Toyota Coaster bus which we named Froth and drove around Western Australia for 2 years living in our bus. We towed our tinny behind us and turned heads everywhere as we launched it at the boat ramp with our home. We spent all our spare time exploring the ocean and playing in the water, whether that be surfing, spearfishing, fishing, snorkelling, scuba diving etc. We loved living outdoors more, chasing the endless summer and being closer to nature. Along the way we decided to get a furry baby Marley. He is a Whippet dog that has now got more stamps in his passport than many people! Then like all good ideas, we were sitting around a campfire with some other young travellers and we sparked the idea of living on a sailboat. With our bus Froth we were confined to Australia, but with a sailboat, we could go anywhere…

We sold Froth, sold our tinny and bought a 40ft live aboard sailboat named Nandji, which was on the other side of Australia in Airlee beach, Queensland. We loaded up an old station wagon with all our possessions (mainly surfboards, spearguns and our new Ugg boots) and drove across Australia to our new home. We knew absolutely nothing about sailing, but we had our dream and knew what we were working towards. We made mistakes… so many mistakes… But that was also part of the fun as we floundered around learning a new way of having fun on the sea. Airlee beach is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, and we were soon sailing our new home to the reef and spending weeks away from civilisation, living on the water happy and free. We had found our calling.

After sailing over 25k nautical miles offshore, visiting 10 different countries along the way, completed 2 major refits, had a baby in Malaysia… We sold our beloved Nandji in order to purchase Nandji 2. A bigger, faster, safer, and more modern sailboat that can take our family around the world.

Fast forward to the present day anchored in the Banyak islands, we are now enjoying our new sailboat which we have spent the last 8 months in Thailand getting ready for extensive offshore cruising. She is a Tayana 47, meaning she is 47 foot long. A cutter rigged sloop (one mast, 2 headsails) has a bunk berth for our daughter Tallula and Whippet Marley, a forward V berth, 2x heads and a large aft cabin for us parents to sleep in. With over 1600kw solar, a large lithium battery bank, diesel inboard engine and generator, desalination water maker and a full sail locker, we are now equipped to see the rest of the world and stay off grid for months at a time. (Providing I can catch fish.)

We first learnt of SEEKR way back when we were looking to cool our bus Froth. Living in the harsh NW Australian heat, meant we needed fans! As many of them as we could put in our bus! We loved the Sirocco fan, and these have been a must install in both our sailboats. Whilst we are no longer in the harsh Australian dry heat, we moved into 8 years of tropical living and great 12V fans are a must to keep the air moving and circulating around the boat. Thats over 10 years of being cooled by our Sirocco fans!

Whats next? The immediate future consists of going for a surf this afternoon and cooking a BBQ on the beach… We will spend the next 2 months here in Indonesia cruising these islands and will then sail the 500 nautical miles back to Thailand so we can finalise the boat ready to cross the Indian Ocean to Africa in 2024

To follow Yosh, Bonita, Tallula and Marley, follow Sailing Nandji on Instagram and Facebook!