AT the end of last summer, a West Devon family set out on the experience of a lifetime — an expression often used glibly, but in this case, absolutely accurately. The Coiley family from Tavistock — mum and dad Graham and Bridget and their three sons, Jack, George and Jed — left Plymouth in their boat Double Waters, with the intention to sail out into the wide blue yonder — possibly even around the world. Fifteen months on they are still travelling — although a circumnavigation is now not on the cards. Graham said: 'After the first six months and having crossed the Atlantic, we realized that to continue the round the world plan would mean having to keep pushing on at very quick pace. 'We were meeting other cruising yachts who were completing round the world trips and they had been away for five, six, even seven years! 'We had only ever planned to be away for about two years and it's just not long enough.' The three-week, 3,000-mile crossing of the Atlantic was a huge achievement which included 36-hour gales, 10 metre high seas, fear and anxiety — and even boredom at times! But Graham said by pushing themselves to try and 'do the world' in two years, they would never have had the time to see places along the way properly. 'You would have to meet deadlines as far as weather was concerned, it would feel like a race the whole way, and Bridget and the boys were reluctant to take on the Pacific soon after crossing the Atlantic — these oceans are big and tough!' So the family revised the plan, enabling them to see far more of the Caribbean, and having the opportunity, during the hurricane season, to explore the interior of Peru. They then intend to sail west and north with the plan to sail back to Europe in June 2008. The family spent January to May this year exploring the Caribbean islands — hard work but someone has to do it! Graham said: 'There were so many wonderfully picturesque anchorages, where the crystal clear warm water, and coral reefs constantly call you in for another swin or snorkel. 'As well as seeing the wonderful, colourful reef fish, we swam with turtles and giant rays, and ashore found tortoises and big iguanas. Whilst in Tobago we took a week and all completed our Scuba open water dive course — it was great fun, a great achievement for the lads, in fact, their exam results were better than Bridget's or mine!' April saw the family in Antigua during Classic Yacht Race week, where George and Jack were lucky enough to find crewing places on a couple of 'spectacular' yachts, and experienced the thrill of racing some really big craft. On dry land, the Coileys caught some of the Cricket World Cup in St Vincent and St Lucia — although being British, there was not a lot to cheer about! A medical emergency struck when the family arrived at the island of Monserrat, hit by the devasting eruption of a volcano in 1997. Graham said: 'With a remaining population of only 4,000, Montserrat may not have been the best place to get acute appendicitis! Poor old Jack did. 'With the main hospital and town of Plymouth buried under ash, one of the schools elsewhere on the island is converted into the hospital — and late on a Sunday night, the local medical team turned out to operate on a very sore and writhing young Jack.' There were a couple of very anxious hours for the waiting family on Double Waters. Graham said: 'At 1 am Jack came out of theatre, groggy and with a nasty looking green appendix in a specimen bottle. Better out than in! 'We said a big thank you to all the hospital staff a few days later on the local radio station, by which time many people had got to hear about Jack, and during his week long stay in hospital he had a constant stream of visitors just wandering in to see how he was doing. All the people of Montserrat were wondefully kind and helpful.' Graham said it was Jack who has suffered most with ailments so far. As well as the appendectomy, he had treatment in Tobago for infected urchin spines in his foot, and had his front teeth repaired in Venezuela after a bump in a swimming pool. 'We hope to get him back to Tavistock in one piece! ' said Graham. Having laid up Double Waters for the hurricane season, the family abandoned the sea for the land and spent August to October in Peru, doing voluntary work, trekking and living with a local family, which forced them into improving their Spanish. At the two schools where the family helped out, they found themselves teaching children between the ages of three to 15, covering maths, history and even Spanish! Graham said: 'The children were incredibly enthusiastic, worked hard, and every day we were showered with kisses, handshakes and polite greetings of "hello, teacher!".' The family became so close to the school teacher, Nadia, she asked Graham and Bridget to become godparents to her five year old son, Pedro. 'We were delighted and humbled and we duly became godparents — although we think Pedro would have preferred George as a godparent, as he played far better games!' said Graham. Graham said trekking in the Andes to Machu Picchu was 'a massive highlight' of their adventures so far. 'Walking for four days with our camping gear on horses, we really enjoyed luxury camping, but the walking was rough, cold and high in the mountains themselves, at 4,600 metres altitude — then hot, as we descended to the jungle.' You can follow the Coiley's trip on their website, and see more pictures, by going to http://www.doublewaters.co.uk">www.doublewaters.co.uk