An Australian father and daughter have decided that the best way to test their relationship is to sail around the world together, because nothing says 'quality time' like 18,000 nautical miles of open ocean and a tiger shark stealing your dinner.

Rob Donald, 59, and his 19-year-old daughter Freya set sail from New South Wales in March 2025, heading for Norway aboard the all-wood yacht Misha, a 9.8-meter vessel built by a famous Dutch boat building company in 1937. Rob bought the boat in France in 1989, sailed it to Australia, then did another round trip to France and back, apparently not yet satisfied with the amount of time spent staring at water.

The voyage was inspired by Rob's dream to show the Dutch boat builders that their creation was still kicking after all these years. His wife Hanne declined the invitation, so Freya, then 18, volunteered to join the madness. Skeptics predicted she wouldn't last a week; she has since logged 15 months at sea.

Highlights include a 24-day Indian Ocean crossing in rough seas, a lemur encounter in Madagascar that Freya called 'the best experience I've had,' and a stop in Cape Town where Rob was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He flew back to Australia, became the first person in the country to undergo robotic surgery in a single-port operation, and promptly told his surgeon he couldn't wait a month for a follow-up because he had to get back to his boat. The surgeon gave him the all-clear, and Rob was off.

The pair have also faced 50-knot winds, 6-meter seas, and a tiger shark that took half a yellowfin tuna they were towing, leading to a week of curried, fried, battered, and raw tuna. 'It was a bit like Forrest Gump and the shrimp,' Rob noted.

Freya, who turned 19 on the trip, passed the time crocheting and watching movies, and admitted missing city life and hanging out with friends. After tying up in Penzance, Cornwall, she immediately caught a train to London to see her best friend. Rob has been meeting old friends in Penzance.

The pair will reunite in Falmouth, joined by Hanne for Rob's 60th birthday, then set sail for the Netherlands and Norway. Because apparently, 18,000 nautical miles wasn't enough.