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.
Glasses sit atop other World War II artifacts including a glass syringe.
September 18, 2023August 9, 2026Lorraine Escher

Peter Joseph WWII Museum: A Backyard Full of World History

September 16, 2023July 22, 2026Lorraine Escher

Fish Hook in the Face at Sea: How We Removed It

August 23, 2023July 24, 2026Lorraine Escher

Travel Safety in Honiara: Mugged on Skyline Road at Dawn

Sailing from Fiji to Vanuatu: Here is a link to our live tracking page as we inch closer to Vanuatu. On the tracking page you will also find blog posts I wrote as we crossed from Panama, Galapagos, French Polynesia, Tonga and New Zealand. This link updates as we travel. See where we are now at: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/AphroditeCanada/Aphrodite’s current position as I write this blog post.
June 23, 2023August 13, 2026Lorraine Escher

Sailing Fiji to Vanuatu: Where Is SV Aphrodite Now?

Ethical tourism: Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Eight Bathers painting.
June 20, 2023September 17, 2026Lorraine Escher

Ethical Tourism in Fiji: Eight Women and Unequal Worlds

Malaria prevention for sailors: as arranged at Guardian Pharmacy, Savusavu, Fiji.
June 12, 2023September 13, 2026Lorraine Escher

Malaria Prevention for Sailors: Getting the Right Medication

June 8, 2023August 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

Breadfruit History: Captain Bligh, Colonialism and Fiji

Dropping rudders in the water: Removing what remained of the port rudder
May 31, 2023July 28, 2026Lorraine Escher

Dropping Our Rudders in the Water in Fiji: No Haul-Out

Julia from SV Tribalance inspects her soup as it cooks
May 28, 2023July 25, 2026Lorraine Escher

Savusavu Hot Springs: Cooking Stew in a Geothermal Vent

Lorraine is offered Kava drink from the chief during a Fijian sevusevu welcoming ceremony in Savusavu.
May 26, 2023October 15, 2026Lorraine Escher

Sevusevu Ceremony in Fiji: Reluctant First-Time Kava Drinker

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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

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From the Archives

  • Boat Projects
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  • Early Years of Cruising
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