Main content

Schooled at sea: My chaotic voyage to university

Suzanne Heywood spent her childhood sailing around the world facing storms, shipwrecks and isolation but she longed to return to England and win a place at Oxford University.

Over breakfast one morning Suzanne Heywood’s father announced that they were swapping their home in England for a new one out at sea – a 70ft sailboat called Wavewalker. What seven-year-old Suzanne thought would be a great adventure turned out to be what she describes as a decade-long living nightmare including near-fatal storms, shipwrecks and isolation. Feeling trapped, all she wanted was a formal education, but she had to be ingenious to manage it. Suzanne has written a memoir called Wavewalker: Breaking Free.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Emily Naylor and Rob Wilson

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

(Photo: Suzanne Heywood on Wavewalker. Credit: Suzanne Heywood)

Available now

41 minutes

Last on

Fri 9 Jun 202302:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 8 Jun 202311:06GMT
  • Thu 8 Jun 202317:06GMT
  • Thu 8 Jun 202321:06GMT
  • Fri 9 Jun 202302:06GMT

Watch Lives Less Ordinary on YouTube

Watch Lives Less Ordinary on YouTube

Videos from our extraordinary podcast Lives Less Ordinary.

Contact Outlook

Contact Outlook

Info on how we might use your contribution on air

Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected