Eight years ago, Dan and Kika sold everything they didn’t need and bought their first sailing boat, a 1972 Pearson 36, for $3,000 in cash. The architecture students had just graduated and were keen not to ‘buy a couch’ and settle into the predictable evolution of life. Since that day in 2014, they have sailed more than 28,000 miles, visited 28 countries and never motored for more than 30 minutes at a time. They make a living documenting their trips and promoting sustainability at sea, notably the ground-breaking use of electric engines. Their story is one of adventure and true pioneering spirit. It is also inspirational, as witnessed by the 101,000 Instagram followers and 411,000 subscribers to their YouTube channel Sailing Uma.
‘Our boat is called Uma. Her name was inspired by the Portuguese word, uma, meaning first or primary. To us, she is more than just a number,’ says Kika.
INSPIRED TO EXPLORE
‘In life there are many paths to choose; all require a first step, a first idea, a first choice to stand on, to guide you on your journey. We hope that our story will stand as an inspiration for those wanting to pursue their dream, to take their first step to discover their own Uma.’
Dan grew up in Canada and Kika is from Haiti; they met in Atlanta at university. ‘We realised that after five years in architecture we had spent a lot of our lives learning about other people’s ideas from books. We wanted to live our own experiences,’ says Kika. ‘We believe that architects have a strong possibility of changing the way people live and in turn change our
