AFTER A FOUR-YEAR BREAK, I’D LIKE TO THINK WE’RE BACK!

I started the Ariana Sailing Team a few years ago as part of my “practical philosophy” project—taking big ideas out to the high seas. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, the pressures of Brexit, surprise UK VAT bills on a boat that had already paid EU taxes, a distinct lack of paying crew, and the eye-watering cost of keeping a classic Swan 55 afloat brought things to a halt. In the end, there was only one way out: sell her and eat a £100,000 loss on the purchase price. A steep learning curve, to say the least!

But the Ariana Sailing Team was never about a single boat. It was about people, practical research, and trialing low-emission sail trading between the Atlantic islands and the UK. We were buying ethically sourced tea from Cha Gorreana in the Azores, Miel de Palma from La Gomera, sea salt from Salinas Janubio in Lanzarote, Gofio from Tenerife, and Mel de Caña from Madeira

The concept was simple: artisan tea, salt, toasted flour, palm honey, and sugarcane honey produced organically in the EU by artisans paid fairly for their craft—a direct alternative to industrial supply chains that exploit workers and pollute the environment. Packaged plastic-free, we sailed these goods 1,500 miles with near-zero emissions. We even bought organic pineapples, papayas, tree tomatoes, and passion fruit from small family farms to make chutneys and jams at sea (no small feat on a rolling swell!).

Then came the crew issue. Their reasons for being on board were slightly different from mine. They wanted a nice, peaceful sail around the world; I was trying to run an ocean trade experiment. They had very little idea why they were constantly being shouted at by me, and one by one, they jumped ship. Eventually, it was just two of us double-handing a 25-ton classic yacht loaded with a ton of cargo. He, quite reasonably, jumped ship the moment we hit Falmouth!

That left me with three massive problems:

1. No crew to sail the boat.
2. A ton of artisanal produce that hadn’t cleared customs.
3. A rapidly emptying bank account.

They say, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” But as God wasn’t helping shift chili salt or pineapple jam, I was on my own with thousands of pounds of “now-illegal” goods.

In my haste, I hadn’t properly factored in the reality of Brexit. We were no longer in a friction-free pan-European market. Because of the new rules, a £30,000 VAT bill was suddenly due on Ariana as a “foreign” import—despite flying a British ensign and being owned by a Brit. I’ve never been particularly good at reading or following bureaucratic rulebooks; I’ve always believed creative solutions thrive in a frictionless world. But the government, its bureaucrats, and its administrators were the friction.

Result: GOVERNMENT 1 – ALAN 0.

To avoid having Ariana impounded, I had to get her out of English waters fast. I gave away what produce I could and dumped the rest at a local recycling center (where nobody batted an eyelid). As for the guests and crew, they carried on with their lives.

So, I pivoted to the next stage of the project: linking the ocean route with the land.

I’ve spent the last period mapping a 400-mile walking corridor from Falmouth to Canterbury—The Great English Way. It’s designed as a canvas for a wider vision, including 21 community hubs that offer sanctuary, skill-sharing, zero-emission local agriculture, and an ethical supply chain stretching from the Atlantic islands straight through the English heartland.

It’s a massive concept, but it’s actively taking shape.

P.S. If anyone thinks I’m running this from a mansion or living on government grants, Hari and I are currently living out of a small tent as we complete the mapping and build this network step by step. It is grueling work, but it’s the most authentic way to build it.

Millions of people worldwide live on less than a pound a day without access to clean water or peace. We can’t fix everything overnight, but we can build a blueprint—a more resilient, thoughtful way of thriving outside the standard system of debt, mortgages, shopping malls, and waste.

Dreamer, lunatic, visionary, or hippie? Just little old me trying to build an adventure with purpose.

More updates soon, as I am currently looking for a new boat!

Alan Macmillan Orr

Padstow, August 2026