BECOMING a parent for the first time is a big adjustment, no matter where you are in the world.
For Jess Phillips, life as a new mom was made all the more interesting as she took her baby home to her unusual abode, a catamaran based off the Gold Coast of Australia.
The 44-year-old spoke to The U.S. Sun about her decision to raise her daughter on the open sea.
Jess, who previously worked in corporate finance, is currently based on the Gold Coast in Australia but has her eyes set on an around-the-world trip.
During the Covid lockdown, she found herself staring at a picture of a catamaran on her wall while working remotely.
Once restrictions had eased, Jess and her partner Craig found themselves looking at boats for sale.
After purchasing their very own catamaran, the couple got rid of all their things, including “30 odd pairs of shoes” for Jess.
They soon found that embracing a minimalistic lifestyle was the only way to survive on board their new home, especially as they began thinking about expanding their family.
Jess had just quit her corporate job and was beginning to focus on content creation when the pair discussed having a baby.
One round of IVF later and little Hudson was on her way.
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Not wanting to veer too far from shore during her pregnancy, the couple remained “on anchor” in their local marina.
“We were literally on anchor through my whole pregnancy so we didn’t have the luxury of being tied off to an actual marina,” Jess explained.
This meant that the couple could not simply “slip off the boat” onto land.
So when Jess had to go in for an emergency cesarean that meant a short trip via dinghy to the mainland.
“Forty-eight hours later, I was back in a boat with a baby,” Jess said.
She admits that they may have gone into overkill when prepping the boat for their daughter.
“We were like, ‘We’ve got to have everything known to man that you’d have in the house and then extra stuff because it’s a boat,'” she explained.
“We had no room for it all but we just weren’t sure what to expect,” Jess added.
I get to spend the whole day exploring and hanging out with her. It really is a fortunate lifestyle and I’m very very lucky to be able to live it.
Jess Phillips
Babyproofing a boat proved to be a difficult task, but she revealed that they ended up favoring makeshift stuff over most of what they had bought.
As well as fashioning a custom-made baby gate, Craig is also working full-time on the boat.
While Jess has expressed her appreciation for being able to spend so much time with her baby, she acknowledged the downsides to their unique lifestyle.
“You do feel a little bit more isolated like I can’t just go, ‘I’m just going to pop over to mom and dad’s house and hang out there for a little while, and they can help out with the baby,'” she explained.
However, the couple is still planning to embark on a global voyage once Hudson gets a little older.
Jess revealed that she already plans to homeschool her daughter on the open sea.
“I’m hoping that we won’t have to stop too soon, maybe high school age, depending on what the world’s doing at that point, from an education perspective,” she said.
“We’ll just keep traveling until, I guess, something happens that we either don’t want to do it anymore,” Jess continued.
And while she faces everything from bouts of loneliness to huge swells, the new mom acknowledged her privilege.
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“My daughter knows no different, she doesn’t care, it doesn’t affect her at all, she’s fine,” she said.
“I get to spend the whole day exploring and hanging out with her. It really is a fortunate lifestyle and I’m very very lucky to be able to live it,” Jess concluded.
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Roisin Chapman
