An extreme sea change

WHILE many people may dream of sailing at a leisurely pace around the world, Perth couple Phil and Robbie Hearse are among the small number whose dream has become reality.

Now, however, they're in for a reality check, having returned to the mining consultancy business after spending the past three years traversing the seas on their sky-blue yacht Anteater Blues.

The voyage was made possible by the 2001 sale of their metallurgical consultancy business, Normet, to listed engineering and development group GRD Minproc.

After spending four years with Minproc, Mr Hearse walked away and set off with his wife on a nautical adventure in their custom-built yacht after launching from Germany.

"You just put yourself 100 per cent into what you're doing; when you sail you sail and when you work you work," Mrs Hearse said.

Both experienced yachties, the Hearses began sailing together in the early 1970s and knew exactly what to expect when making such a long voyage.

"You become your own little eco-system, we made water and generated our own power," Mrs Hearse said.

"You just focus on being there, you don't miss anything."

Mr Hearse said it would have been easy to settle in just about every place they visited along the way, especially the Caribbean.

"I loved the Caribbean, I loved cruising through," he said. "It's the experience of it all, the beach bars, beach restaurants and those sort of things that make it really, really special."

But for now, he has turned his attention back to his mining consultancy Battery Limits, which specialises in mining project feasibility and process engineering.