Becoming a Sailor

Becoming a Sailor

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

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  • 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
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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.
March 19, 2015July 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

Living on a Boat vs Living on Land: A 9-Year-Old’s View

Sailing subculture: Artwork by Betty, age 9. Message = parenting fail
March 19, 2015August 26, 2026Lorraine Escher

Sailing Subculture: Are Catamaran Owners Seen as Snobs?

Boat Kid Perspective: Betty from SV Aphrodite before we moved aboard and began our circumnavigation.
March 18, 2015August 16, 2026Lorraine Escher

Boat Kid Perspective: Why a 9-Year-Old Wanted to Sail

Betty, age 9
March 18, 2015July 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

Meet Betty, Age 9: Skating, Forts, Books and Ice Cream

Winterized sailboats, Ottawa River, March 2015
March 17, 2015August 26, 2026Lorraine Escher

Winterized Sailboats and Winter Liveaboard Marinas in Canada

March 15, 2015July 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

First Days With Our St Francis 50: Repairs and Reality

March 14, 2015July 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

Grocery List for a 4-Day Passage: Provisioning From Scratch

SV Aphrodite, a St Francis 50 catamaran and Hull #1 as seen from the Starboard side.
March 13, 2015July 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

Buying a Catamaran: Our St Francis 50, SV Aphrodite, Is Ours

Boating in the 1970s
March 10, 2015August 15, 2026Lorraine Escher

Boating in the 1970s: Navigation Was Simpler

March 7, 2015July 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

Taking Inventory of Our Sailboat Before Moving Aboard

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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
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