After 72 days in a 10m sailing boat, a Faulconbridge doctor and his new wife have completed their journey across the Pacific.
Andrew and Elizabeth Brazier arrived in Sydney on February 2, the day before Dr Brazier started a new job at Nepean Hospital.
"It was a bit tight. Tighter than I expected," Dr Brazier said.
Having sailed across the Pacific to Los Angeles alone in 2018, Dr Brazier said this time it was a relief to be home.
"In some ways it was a more difficult trip than last time. It was more of a challenge in terms of weather and overlying stress and things broke down," he said.
In early January, west of Tahiti, they got caught on the edge of tropical cyclone Sarai, and had to deploy a drogue - a long sea anchor - which stops the boat doing a forward somersault when riding the waves.
A few weeks later an important piece of equipment broke which helps keep the mast upright. Then, just off Lord Howe Island with no wind in sight, and a broken engine, Dr Brazier had to figure out how to get the engine started so they could make it home in time to start his new job.
The couple also learned on their journey that they were expecting a baby in August.
"We had three on the boat the whole time," Dr Braizer said.
Mrs Brazier, who had no ocean sailing experience, had to quickly gain her sea legs.
"All in all it was an amazing journey. It was definitely worth doing. [But] It's something I wouldn't do again, it was a lot, 72 days," she said.
Despite sailing close to a cyclone and surviving massive swells, Mrs Brazier said she wasn't scared, not until the final day when the winds picked up.
"I trusted Andrew with my life," she said.
