In te reo, hāpai means to ‘start a journey’ - so it’s fitting Dan and Mandy Shands’ 1993 50ft catamaran, due to take them around the world, was already named that when they bought it.

The Canterbury farming couple have been working flat tack for about 20 years without an OE or a decent holiday, and all while raising two kids.

Realising they are well overdue for a break, and a bit worn out from the demands of the farm, they’re taking the plunge to first beef up their sailing skills, then take the T-Bird around the world – until the funds run out and the dream is complete.

"From the age of 20 we have just been working, every day of the summer, we haven't really done the holiday thing and OE,” says Dan.

Mandy Shand on the farm in Canterbury. She and husband Dan are giving up the farm life for a while.Photo: Supplied.

“It is sort of one of those things that you can spend your whole life saying ‘I really want to do that’, and then you never do it because you don’t make the effort.”

Dan and Mandy are doing the majority of their training in the Tauranga harbour where Hāpai lives. The plan is to sail to Tonga and Fiji next May, and then they’ll take on the world.

“We will know by then, do we love it? Can we afford it?” says Dan.

“All this is about learning as a couple, together. We are giving this a crack.”

To afford the roughly three-year plan, the couple have sold a honey business they built from scratch to afford the $450,000 vintage yacht, and they have placed a manager on their 5000-hectare Island Hills Station​ near Culverden.

Dan and Mandy Shand have been together since they were 18. Photo: Supplied.

The farm runs 1300 ewes and 160 cows, and Dan and Mandy have loved it since they took over in 2006, but recent times and challenges have prompted the couple to live out this dream earlier than expected.

“We found it really stressful at times,” says Dan, “especially in this last period where there was no certainty around immigration policy, housing or regulations on the farm or even regulations in the honey industry.

“All of those things add up.”

Instead of chucking the towel in altogether and blaming the Government and economy for their plight, he and Mandy are finding a bit of joy the best way they can, on the ocean.

“While we were looking at boats and dreaming about it, we found there were a number of people who would say ‘oh I wanted to do that’, but by the time they got into their 50s they were too old or felt they weren’t capable of taking on such a thing, and mentally learning a whole new skill.”

Dan and Mandy Shand are learning to become competent sailors in the Tauranga harbour. Photo: Supplied.

The Shands plan to take their teenage kids Amalia​ and Hugh for a year-long stint.

“We’ve had the comments like ‘you’re crazy’ and ‘what about the kids’. We have learnt not to care,” says Dan.

“Then there are others, who say ‘we have always wanted to do that’.”

The couple aren’t complete sailing novices. Dan competed in the 2005 Auckland to Suva yacht race, and as a couple they have sailed from Sydney to Perth, which took them three weeks.

“It’s tough, it’s not easy. It is not something we even know how we are going to fund and afford,” says Dan. “But we know if we don’t try it is never going to happen. There is always an excuse not to.

“We have our ups and downs, it is not easy to do, to drop it, but we would rather give it a crack, we are not scared of going out and trying it.”

Mandy Shand, right, with daughter Amalia aboard Hāpai. Photo: Supplied.

However, the peaks and troughs of the ocean won’t be enough to keep them away from farming, which has always been their first love as a couple – since they met aged 18. They’ll return, Dan says, with a fresh perspective.

“It will give us a chance to get back and really want to do it again, we have the most amazing farm.

“We love the farm, but if we don’t try we won’t know.”

Olivia Caldwell/Stuff