Becoming a Sailor

Becoming a Sailor

Family of Six: 10 Years Circumnavigating Aboard SV Aphrodite

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Category: About our Boat

About our Boat covers our gear, projects, haul-outs, and refits. I share what worked, what didn’t, and how we’ve adapted our St Francis 50 to best suit our needs afloat. It’s about the ongoing work, and equipment that keeps SV Aphrodite safe and seaworthy on bluewater passages.

Escher family and crew of SV Aphrodite at Lunas Shipyard prior to the launch. Paul is away in French Polynesia crewing on another boat temporarily.
05/23/202605/31/2026 Lorraine Escher

322 Days on the Hard

Blue tape on a hyalon Zar dinghy to prepare for a leak repair in Lunas Shipyard, Langkawi, Malaysia
05/13/202605/17/2026 Lorraine Escher

The Point of the Work

Karen Escher painting the keel in Langkawi, Malaysia.
04/13/202604/14/2026 Lorraine Escher

Karen paints our keel. An artist’s challenges are not what I would have expected.

Karen painting the underside of our saloon table at Lunas Shipyard in Langkawi, Malaysia.
01/11/202604/22/2026 Lorraine Escher

Learning to Paint with Karen Aboard our Sailboat

Hands showing how the curvature of our hull impacts the amount of usable counterspace.
11/27/202504/23/2026 Lorraine Escher

How Did I Miss the Skill of Measuring with Accuracy?

A man in a yellow shirt at Brother Lim Cushion in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
11/24/202501/27/2026 Lorraine Escher

A Fresh Start for Our Boat’s Upholstery in Malaysia

Eastbay Foreman, Rashid, and another woodworker from Eastbay apply new cherry veneer to a cupboard in our saloon.
10/27/202505/22/2026 Lorraine Escher

Teak and Transformation: Refinishing SV Aphrodite’s Woodwork in Malaysia

Diver Michael and Lorraine watch the Mantus anchor retrieval from the bow.
09/18/202502/18/2026 Lorraine Escher

Part 3: Diving for a Lost Anchor: A Salty Ballad from Phuket

105-lb Mantus Anchor with anchor chain
09/13/202503/12/2026 Lorraine Escher

Part 2: Losing our Ground Tackle: A Continuation of our Malaysian Anchor Chain Debacle

Rick Escher, sailor, skipper, husband amazing human
09/05/202503/10/2026 Lorraine Escher

Part 1: Re-galvanizing our anchor chain. What could possibly go wrong? Adventures at Pangkor Marina Malaysia.

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Welcome to Becoming A Sailor. I've written more than 250 posts about our travels on our St Francis 50 catamaran. We have been sailing since 2015, and our four kids have grown up on our sailboat. This is not a sailing log. Instead, it's an immersive record of a life afloat. I write to recreate the moment, whether we're standing on a volcano or cleaning our boat bottom.
- Lorraine

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Becoming a Sailor
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