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 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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Category: Refits, Haul-Outs and Buying Gear

Refits, Haul-Outs and Buying Gear takes us out of the water and into the dusty world of boatyards, marinas, and anchorages with a twist of cultural differences and communication gaps roped in — all in pursuit of repairs, upgrades, and the endless quest to improve our boat.

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.
May 23, 2026July 20, 2026Lorraine Escher

Catamaran Haul-Out in Malaysia: 322 Days on the Hard

Blue tape on a hyalon Zar dinghy flag leaks to prepare for a hypalon dinghy repair in Lunas Shipyard, Langkawi, Malaysia
May 13, 2026August 9, 2026Lorraine Escher

Hypalon Dinghy Repair: Patching Our Tubes in a Boatyard

Karen Escher painting the keel in Langkawi, Malaysia.
April 13, 2026July 23, 2026Lorraine Escher

Keel Art: Whale Sharks and Scrollwork on Our Catamaran

Karen painting the underside of our saloon table at Lunas Shipyard in Langkawi, Malaysia.
January 11, 2026July 21, 2026Lorraine Escher

Boat Interior Painting: Teaching My Teen A Useful Skill

Hands showing how the curvature of our hull impacts the amount of usable counterspace.
November 27, 2025July 21, 2026Lorraine Escher

Measuring a Boat Countertop and Backsplash on a Curved Hull

A man in a yellow shirt at Brother Lim Cushion in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
November 24, 2025July 21, 2026Lorraine Escher

Brother Lim Cushion: Marine Upholstery in Kuala Lumpur

Eastbay Foreman, Rashid, and another woodworker from Eastbay apply new cherry veneer to a cupboard in our saloon.
October 27, 2025September 17, 2026Lorraine Escher

Boat Woodwork Refit in Malaysia: A Full-On Transformation

Paul in Power Boat Boatyard, Chaguaramas, Trinidad with our Mantus Anchor 2017 below SV Aphrodite, our St Francis 50 catamaran.
November 5, 2017July 17, 2026Lorraine Escher

Living with Four Kids in a Trinidad Boatyard

First boat haul out: Ladder to our boat with river view.
August 13, 2015August 9, 2026Lorraine Escher

Our First Boat Haul Out: Living Aboard in a Boatyard

August 12, 2015July 3, 2026Lorraine Escher

Catamaran Haul-Out in Tampa: Lifting Our St Francis 50

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On This Day

  • 9 years ago todayTrinidad Oil Spill: Our Boat in Chaguaramas Harbour

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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