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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Removing Rats on a Sailboat: How they Get Aboard
One morning in Barbados, in the hull of a 65-foot Farr, Rick spotted a rat under the bunk pillow above him. The skipper of SV Spirit of Juno dealt with the eight-inch beast using a screwdriver and a firm foot.
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Hiking in Sailing: Why Sail Racers Sit on the High Side
Slowly, very slowly, I’m acquiring the language of sailing. Rick called from Barbados, and I learned hiking: holding yourself out over the windward side to keep a heeling boat flatter and faster.
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Child Safety While Traveling: Teaching Our Kids to “Heel”
My kids had a day off, so I took Betty and Paul to the Children’s Museum. This post isn’t about tilting boats at all. It’s about the valuable skill of teaching my kids to heel and stay close ashore.
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Medical Emergencies at Sea: Preparing to Be Self-Sufficient
Days of highs, lows and the unexpected. As I started my Day Skipper course in Ottawa, Rick, asthmatic with one working lung, was laid low in Antigua wondering if he had pneumonia. My studying took a back seat.
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Sailing Crew Packing List: 5 Weeks With Carry-On Only
Exactly what Rick packed, wore, and bought during five weeks of sailing training with Ondeck in Antigua, carry-on only, revised after the trip. A useful list if you’re crewing somewhere warm.
