Father and Daughter Sail 18,000 Miles to Norway Together

When Rob Donald told people he was sailing 18,000 nautical miles across the world with his teenage daughter on a wooden boat built in 1936, most predicted disaster. Fifteen months later, the father-daughter duo are proving the doubters spectacularly wrong.

Rob, 59, and his daughter Freya, 19, set sail from Lake Macquarie, Australia in March 2025 aboard Misha, a 9.8-metre wooden yacht Rob first discovered in France back in 1988. The goal was simple but ambitious: return the vessel to the Netherlands where she was built, then continue to Norway where Rob's wife Hanne is from.

"People said we wouldn't last a week together," Rob laughed. But Freya jumped at the chance when her mother declined the invitation, eager to prove she could handle the challenge.

The journey tested them in ways they never imagined. Rob discovered he had aggressive prostate cancer while in Cape Town and had to fly back to Australia for surgery. Three weeks after the operation, he rejoined Freya to continue their adventure.

They faced mechanical problems in shark-infested waters off Ascension Island, where Rob had to dive under the boat to check the rudder. When they caught a tuna later that day, a massive tiger shark took half of it, a reminder of what lurked below.

But the voyage wasn't all danger and repairs. Freya celebrated her 19th birthday at sea and treasures memories of playing with lemurs in Madagascar. "That quiet island with lovely people, that was very fun and beautiful," she said.

Why This Inspires

This story captures something rare: a parent and nearly-grown child choosing to spend intensive, uninterrupted time together during a season when most teenagers are pulling away. Rob has captained boats for 30 years, but said sailing with his daughter presented "a whole new challenge." Rather than viewing that as a negative, both embraced it.

Their journey also shows how obstacles don't have to mean endings. When cancer threatened to derail everything, Rob didn't abandon ship. He got treatment and came back, showing Freya that resilience isn't about avoiding problems but facing them head-on.

Now approaching Norway after 18,000 nautical miles, Freya has caught her own sailing bug. "I want to get a job on a boat and hopefully become a captain one day," she said. As for Rob, he's ready to pass Misha's legacy to the next generation, offering the boat to his kids to continue her story.

The doubters were wrong about one thing: this father and daughter didn't just last a week together on the open ocean. They thrived.