‘My mum can’t swim’ and other ocean-going adventures on yacht ‘Romoi’

Living life as a new adventure every day is exactly what Ron and Moira Millard accomplished when they decided to set sail with their two daughters and spend a year on board a yacht in 1984.

The Millards wanted to do something where they could travel and explore yet still be together as a family in a homely manner and did so for a year on their yacht, ‘Romoi’.

Their crew consisted of Ron as the skipper, Moira as the first mate and their daughters, Christy and Georgina, aged seven and five at the time, whom Moira educated while at sea.

Among the many places the Millards sailed to were France, Spain and Portugal. “We didn’t really have a specific route and just followed the wind,” said Moira.

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Along the way, the family even sold a Kruger Rand, which made them millionaires in one country visited. Besides befriending other ‘yachties’ throughout the journey, in August of ’84, the Millards managed to gain a new family member – Sandy the dog. Sandy was picked up by Ron who had seen the pup with several other strays and decided that she would be the ideal gift for his eldest daughter, Christy’s birthday.

One of the most challenging parts about life at sea was the stormy weather which took the Millards by surprise on several occasions.

“My worst recollection was when we were travelling through the South Atlantic and beastly waves came out of nowhere, rocking the yacht back and forth violently,” Moira recalled, “We managed to pull though situations such as these by comforting each other.”

The family had their fair share of storms, but sailed through warm summer weather most of the time.

The unpredictable sea has in a way prepared the family for the unexpected and taught them always to be ready to embrace anything that comes their way. Their staple diet included mainly tinned foods and bread which was easy to make on the yacht. “Even though most of the food was tinned, we had everything from meat to veggies to desserts, so we ate like kings and it helped build our creativity with food,” said Moira.

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One of the biggest highlights of their travels was one night in October when a whale had followed the yacht the entire night. Moira was on watch that night and was unable to see anything as the sky was pitch black. “I could get an odd smell and heard funny noises, but didn’t think much of it so I continued listening to some music,” Moira said.
It was only when Ron had woken up with the girls the next day at 5am, that he noticed an enormous whale had been following them the whole time and even greeted him by blowing a few bubbles. By the time Moira had woken up, it had already vanished.

Ibiza would be one of the places the Millards enjoyed the most as they were able to delve straight into Spanish culture and enjoy the warm weather, the food and meeting interesting people.

The Millard girls, Christy and Georgina, feel they benefitted from this journey by gaining a whole lot of confidence and also learning responsibility and how to do certain chores at a young age.

After returning from their one year journey, the Millards settled down, but not for long as they all still had ‘itchy feet to travel’. They travelled to England, where Moira is originally from, then to Australia and then to Bazley in South Africa. Christy is now in Canada, Georgina in England and Ron and Moira settled down at the Umdoni Retirement Village five years ago.

The couple still keep busy at the village and have joined the bowls club. Moira is also a fairly good bridge player.

Last year, Moira decided to put together a book about their travels in 1984 as she had kept a diary most of their time on the yacht.

She called the book ‘My mum can’t swim – The Millard family ocean adventure with Sandy the dog on yacht Romoi’ and, in case you’re wondering about the title – yes – Moira could not swim even though she spent a whole year at sea. The book also includes recipes that were created on board the yacht. The Millards are now settled in the village and the couple still like to get away every now and then for little adventures.

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