Middle-class couple fearing collapse of Western civilisation sell up home and buy yacht to sail to Greece, of all places!

Couple want to learn survivalist skills from those already affected by the financial crisis



A middle-class couple who fear the financial crisis could lead to the meltdown of Western civilsation have sold their house and possessions to buy a yacht - which they are planning to sail to Greece.

So convinced are Naomi Smyth and Sam Rossiter that society as they know it could collapse in the wake of the Eurozone crisis, that they have decided to learn how to live as sparingly as possible - by visiting countries already affected by financial hardship.

Filmmaker Naomi, 30, and web administrator Sam, 34, want to learn survivalist skills, such as food cultivation and blacksmithing, to become entirely self-sufficient in the event of a banking meltdown.

Setting sail: Sam Rossiter and Naomi Smyth on board their new home - a 22ft yacht which they intend to sail to Greece

Cosy: The couple sold their house in Bristol and will instead live in these cramped quarters

The couple sold their home in the Montpelier area of Bristol, which they have owned for ten years and gave up their careers to buy a 22ft yacht - to sail 2,000 miles to Greece.

The couple set sail from Bristol Harbour over the weekend, heading initially for London via the Kennet and Avon Canal.

They will keep the £100,000 they made from their house for setting up their new lives when they return to Bristol next year - to buy a plot of land and start their new self-sufficient lifestyle.

On Tuesday their boat ‘Lexia’ had set sail with a plan to cross the Channel and enter the French canal network at Dunkirk.

The couple will spend the winter travelling slowly through France, before emerging at the Mediterranean in the spring.

Sam said: 'A couple of years ago, when we first started planning this journey, people couldn’t get their heads around why we would want to visit Spain, Italy and Greece to find out more about living without money.

The couple sold their home (pictured) in the Montpelier area of Bristol, which they have owned for ten years

'But now they see the Euro collapsing in those three countries, and they’re increasingly starting to get it.

'We were very conscious that the skills we had picked up in our careers were all very good for filming documentaries or running websites, but when it came to being self-sufficient and living in a post-industrial world, then we were hopelessly naive.'

Naomi added: 'It’s not about seeing how quickly we can get to Greece.

'It’s about taking our time, meeting as many interesting people as we can along the way, and learning as much as we can from them.

'We think we should get to Greece around this time next year, first we travel on the inland waterways to London, in order to get more used to the boat. Then we cross the English Channel and join the French canal network at Dunkirk.

Destination: Naomi and Sam are heading to Greece - at the centre of a financial meltdown - to learn how to live self-sufficiently

Grim reality: There were violent riots in Athens earlier this year as the true extent of Greece's financial problems emerged

'We then want to take a detour across to northern Spain for a few weeks, before following the coast of southern France and Italy, before finally island-hopping through Greece.

'The only thing I’m going to miss is the space - it’s great when the weather’s nice but when you have to be inside, it would be nice to have a little extra room - and I’m going to miss my bath.'

The couple bought their ‘yacht’ for just £500 from internet auction site eBay last year, and have spent the last few months making her sea-worthy.

Naomi said as part of their journey they want to learn to survive on their own without financial systems in place to help their future children.

She said: 'It is far more than a gap year. It is also an exercise in seeing how far we can strip down our lives - how few material possessions we actually need in order to have a happy life.

Bargain: The couple bought the boat for £500 from eBay and have been making it seaworthy

'We’ve become far too dependent on laptops and video cameras and if resources fail, very few of us would know what to do.

'Parting with all our possessions was traumatic at first, but once we started giving things away it became addictive and very liberating.

'The money we have from selling the house, we are hoping to put to one side, and when we return from our journey we will buy some land and try to set ourselves up with a more self-sufficient life in the countryside.

'This whole thing began because Sam and I were starting to think about settling down properly and having children.

'But we were both genuinely concerned about bringing children into a world where we didn’t have the right skills to look after them if the financial system that we all rely so much on was to totally collapse.

'The fact is, it is already happening in Greece. So perhaps we can learn from the Greek people a bit more about what may be facing us in this country a few years down the line - and what basic skills we will need to live more self-sufficiently.

'I personally would like to pick up skills like black-smithing, foraging, food cultivation, and above all food preservation - something that every woman in England knew how to do 100 years ago, but which few people care much about in today’s throw-away society.

'We want to learn from the people in Greece what it is like to live without the internet or the National Grid - before we lose the skills we have the luxury of having.'

Sam added: “Our parents are particularly worried about the periods where we will be going out to sea.

'I can’t blame them really. I have been on some sailing courses, but it’s fair to say that our maritime knowledge is at about the lowest point at which we could realistically take this challenge on. But we’re hoping to pick up a lot along the way - that’s the whole point of the trip.'