Featured Content
Why We Want to Sail
We traded a conventional life in Ottawa for the dream of raising our children aboard a sailboat — even though I had never sailed.
About Our Boat
SV Aphrodite is a St. Francis 50 catamaran — Hull #1 of an award-winning bluewater design. See her specs, equipment, and offshore features.
Long Reads: Galapagos
Volcanoes, sharks, penguins, sea lions, offshore fishing fleets, and a message in a bottle — the Galapagos is one of the most interesting and diverse places we have visited during…
Long Reads Grenada
A muddy hike, memory-making at Grenada Carnival, drama on a public bus, sailing passages from Trinidad to Grenada and Grenada to Haiti, and what happened when COVID-19 arrived in a…
Why the Caribbean has virtually no tides
Why Caribbean tides are tiny — and why Panama’s beaches can vanish at high tide.
Luperón Long Reads — Boat Kids Go Local
Joining a local school taught entirely in Spanish, learning baseball, making friends, and discovering how quickly the Luperon cruising community can rally when help is needed.
Luperón Long Reads — Designing and Building a Mooring for Our 50-foot Catamaran
A technical long read about how we built a three-point hurricane mooring.
Luperón Long Reads — Waiting Out Hurricane Season
A gritty, funny, and affectionate look at Luperón, Dominican Republic — from stray dogs and bureaucratic red tape to unexpected kindness, cruiser culture, and lunch with Bruce Van Sant.
Bahamas Long Reads — Exumas Stories
Isolated anchorages, tidal creeks, swimming pigs, dock drama, cruiser life, and an encounter with a wild dolphin.
Southern Bahamas Long Reads — Beyond the Exumas
New to sailing, our family navigates shallow reef cuts, spots nurse sharks and wild flamingos, and visits remote island communities in the southern Bahamas.
Latest Blog Posts
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A Day at Snow Kingdom Ends on Bangla Road
A failed skating trip in Phuket turns into an absurd family night on Bangla Road, complete with tailors, neon signs, and the looming knowledge that Betty leaves for university in 59 days.
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Paul’s Grenadian Rum Punch
A from-scratch recipe for Grenadian rum punch, as described by our then 13-year-old son, Paul, after he learned to make it in St. George’s, Grenada. At the time, he was interested in the recipe. Now that he’s 18, he has shown renewed interest in the rum punch itself.
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Job Jar: 15-Minute Boat Jobs for Kids
Our Job Jar contains more than 100 editable, 15-minute boat-cleaning jobs for kids — small jobs that make a big difference aboard.
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Paul’s Curry and Coconut Rice Recipe
This is Paul’s recipe for Curry with Coconut Rice. He made this recipe many times while sailing as crew on a catamaran called SV O’Vive.
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From Boat Kid to Sailor: Paul’s Pacific Crewing Adventure
An update on our son Paul’s 2026 Pacific Puddle Jump adventure, crewing aboard another catamaran from the Bahamas to French Polynesia.
