Becoming a Sailor

Becoming a Sailor

More Than a Decade Afloat • Raising Sailors • Stories from SV Aphrodite

Menu Skip to content

  • Our story in six chapters, in the order we sailed it.

    See the story-map →See our entire route →

    Before We Moved Aboard

    • From House to Sailboat: How a Road Trip Changed Us
    • Buying Our St Francis 50 Catamaran
    • Learning to Sail From Scratch
    • Our Family Camping Gap Month
    • Browse all 113 posts →
    • This chapter on the map →

    Florida and the Bahamas

    • Living on a Sailboat With Kids: Freedom or Confinement?
    • Crossing the Gulf Stream
    • Off the Beaten Track Bahamas
    • Bahamas Long Reads: Exumas Stories
    • Browse all 43 posts →
    • This chapter on the map →

    The Caribbean

    • Luperón Long Reads: Boat Kids Go Local
    • Dominica Travel: If Outside Magazine Visited
    • Rough Offshore Sailing in a Gale
    • Long Reads Grenada: 6 Stories From Our Sailboat
    • Browse all 66 posts →
    • This chapter on the map →

    Panama and the Pacific

    • Crossing the Panama Canal
    • Shellback Ceremony at the Equator
    • Long Reads: Galápagos
    • Sleep Deprivation at Sea
    • Browse all 11 posts →
    • This chapter on the map →

    Melanesia

    • Heavy Weather Sailing: NZ to Fiji
    • Sevusevu Ceremony in Fiji
    • Land Diving on Pentecost Island
    • Shallow Water Blackout
    • Browse all 19 posts →
    • This chapter on the map →

    Micronesia to Southeast Asia

    • Lagoon to Table: Subsistence Fishing
    • Losing an Anchor in Thailand
    • 322 Days in a Malaysian Boatyard
    • Bangla Road Phuket
    • Browse all 26 posts →
    • This chapter on the map →

    By Topic

    • Learning to Sail
    • Downsizing & Moving Aboard
    • Sailing With Kids & Homeschooling
    • Boat Projects & Gear
    • Health & Safety at Sea
    • Food & Provisioning
    • Family, Crew & Guests
    • Writing & Creative
    • Browse all 291 posts →
  • About the CrewMeet our family of six from OttawaSt Francis 50 Catamaran Specs: SV Aphrodite, a Bluewater CatSV Aphrodite, our St Francis 50 catamaran
  • Family Dictionary
  • Subscribe
  • Search

Author: Lorraine Escher

Canadian writer and sailor. Honours BA in English Literature (Carleton University) and a decade as a senior technical and marketing writer at Nortel Networks and Alcatel. Since 2015 Lorraine has lived aboard the St Francis 50 catamaran SV Aphrodite, homeschooling four children while cruising the Caribbean, crossing the Pacific, and working toward a circumnavigation. Her cruising writing has appeared in SAIL Magazine, All At Sea, and Caribbean Compass.
May 9, 2015July 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

Learning to Sail in Antigua: Helming, Docking and Dinghies

May 8, 2015October 11, 2026Lorraine Escher

Great Bird Island, Antigua: Dinghy Drama Without a Motor

Hungry seabirds near Jolly Harbour, Antigua
May 7, 2015July 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

RYA Competent Crew Course in Antigua: A Day on the Water

Sunset tonight in Hermitage Bay, Antigua
May 5, 2015July 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

Learning to Sail: Day Skipper vs Competent Crew in Antigua

My berth, aft starboard
May 4, 2015July 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

RYA Day Skipper Course in Antigua: A Relaxed First Day

May 3, 2015July 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

Antigua in Hurricane Season: Signs Peak Season Is Over

May 2, 2015July 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

Antigua Sailing Week: Our Underdog Crew’s Podium Finish

SV Spirit of Juno - 3rd place yesterday in the big boats category
May 1, 2015July 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

Antigua Sailing Week: Last Day of Racing on a Farr 65

Yellow Transderm Scopolamine packages
April 30, 2015August 6, 2026Lorraine Escher

Scopolamine Patch Side Effects: Blurred Vision at Sea

2nd place in our class today
April 28, 2015July 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

Antigua Sailing Week: Racing Spirit of Juno to 2nd in Class

Posts navigation

← 1 … 22 23 24 … 30 →

Word of the Hour

Pool Noodles New word in …

Pool Noodles

This Week in Years Past

  • 1 year ago this weekBoat Woodwork Refit in Malaysia: A Full-On Transformation
  • 1 year ago this weekGrade 6 Essay Sample: Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat
  • 3 years ago this weekMedical Mission in Papua New Guinea: Betty, 17, Volunteers
  • 10 years ago this weekLuperón, Dominican Republic: School Days and an Orange Wagon

Worth Reading

Managing Food Allergies at Sea
Checklist for the Big Move

From the Archives

  • Boat Projects
  • Homeschooling Four Kids
  • Early Years of Cruising
Subscribe

Near misses are matched, here and with the options below: Fuket finds Phuket.

+word
must appear
-word
leaves out posts that contain it
"two words"
finds the exact phrase