Featured Content
From House to Sailboat: How a Family Road Trip Changed Us
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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Boat Interior Painting: Teaching My Teen A Useful Skill
Painting our galley and table was a life skill I wanted to share with my daughter and the results genuinely surprised us both.
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Measuring with Accuracy: The Skill I Never Learned
A refit in Malaysia taught me something unexpected. When remote craftsmen asked for exact measurements of our galley-down countertop, I had to learn skills I thought I lacked. This is the story of how a reluctant measurer found confidence under pressure.
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Brother Lim Cushion: A Fresh Start for our Marine Upholstery
What began as a plan to refresh our leather saloon cushions quickly expanded into something much bigger. Meeting Calvin at Brother Lim Cushion made us rethink our cockpit cushions, bench seats, foam, mattresses, and even our cockpit enclosure. This post sets the scene for the projects that followed.
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Ultraleather Boat Upholstery: Our Honest 9-Year Review
Ultraleather promised durability for our saloon cushions. It didn’t take long before wear and mildew began. Nine years later they were fit for the curb. A real-life upholstery review from life afloat.
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Boat Woodwork Refit in Malaysia: A Full-On Transformation
Detailed St. Francis 50 refit on SV Aphrodite in Langkawi: new teak and holly floors, re-varnished cabinetry, and trusted boat woodwork by Eastbay Teakdecks.
