About Us
We are Karen and Hugo van Kretschmar from Sydney, Australia. Middle aged bordering on old, happily married for 30+ years with 3 healthy adult contributing kids - Matt, Beck and Cath. We love sharing our "trawler traveller" experiences with friends and family but also treasure our time alone. We adore good food and don't mind a drink or two!
I am Hugo and I am passionate about recycling and wooden boats - which I express by floating around the world in a wooden boat and dressing up in rubbish I have found on the beach! I am a civil engineer and self-employed property developer who works just hard enough to live my dreams. I have been passionate about boats and boating my entire life. I have raced thousands of miles in all sorts of sailboats from one-design dinghies to maxi ocean racing yachts but have always preferred to cruise in passagemaker motor yachts - as long as they are made of wood! This is the story of my lifelong dream to explore the globe by sea!
This is Karen, my long suffering wife - just kidding - few women have ever had it this good! Karen is fascinated with maritime history ......... and wooden boats - which she expresses by floating around with me in a wooden boat and dressing up as a pirate ...... Aaaargh! ..... (armed with a blown up pink rubber glove??) Karen used to be a model (can't you tell?) and has always encouraged me to work just hard enough to live my dream. My dream has become Karen's passion. Karen is not a seaman but has accompanied me on over 20,000 cruising miles in the last 30 years. Like a pirate she is "tough as nails" and without her I would not be able to tell this story!
