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.
Fierentino Para Anchor: Stopped sailing image
May 24, 2023July 28, 2026Lorraine Escher

Fiorentino Para Anchor: Our Overnight Stop Before Fiji

May 22, 2023July 30, 2026Lorraine Escher

Fiji Biosecurity Rules: Using Up Contraband Food at Sea

Losing a Rudder at Sea on a Catamaran
May 20, 2023July 28, 2026Lorraine Escher

Losing a Rudder at Sea, 500 Miles from Fiji

Heavy weather sailing: Paul on the deck of SV Aphrodite
May 19, 2023October 8, 2026Lorraine Escher

Heavy Weather Sailing at Night: New Zealand to Fiji

Fear at Sea: looking up through a hatch on SV Aphrodite
May 18, 2023October 8, 2026Lorraine Escher

Fear at Sea: Finding Calm in Heavy Weather

Miele washing Machine repair: SV Aphrodite in Auckland Harbour also known as Waitematā Harbour.
May 1, 2023September 26, 2026Lorraine Escher

Miele Washing Machine Repair on Our Boat: Miele Stepped Up

Sleep deprivation at sea: Spectacular sky underway on SV Aphrodite, a St. Francis 50 catamaran, during Our Pacific Crossing from Panama to New Zealand.
June 18, 2022July 27, 2026Lorraine Escher

Sleep Deprivation at Sea: 4 Watch Methods We Tried

Galapagos Long Reads with a Close-up of the Feet of a Blue-Footed booby bird
June 12, 2022September 26, 2026Lorraine Escher

Sailing to the Galapagos: 5 Stories From Our Family Boat

Betty from St Francis 50 catamaran Aphrodite swimming in Chuuk Lagoon.
June 11, 2022July 30, 2026Lorraine Escher

What Lies Beneath? Barnacle Busting Outside the Galapagos at 2,000 Meters Deep

Colour striations on the Sierra Negra volcano hike on Isla Isabela, Galapagos.
June 9, 2022September 25, 2026Lorraine Escher

Sierra Negra: Hiking in Darwin’s Footsteps on a Galapagos Volcano

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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

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Checklist for the Big Move

From the Archives

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