Becoming a SailorLearning to sail
Learning to Sail describes when Rick and I completed our sail training courses in the Caribbean and invited a skipper aboard for the first few weeks until we gained confidence handling the boat on our own.
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Sailing with Kids: Our First Year Cruising as a Family of Six
Our first year living aboard a St Francis 50 with four young kids: the refit, costly system failures, anchoring out, the Bahamas, and finding our groove.
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Beginner Sailor Checklist for Leaving an Anchorage (PDF)
The printable departure checklist our family uses to leave an anchorage smoothly, written when we were new to sailing and anchored in the Turks and Caicos.
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First Squall at Anchor: Why We Moved Off Egmont Key
Our first squall at Egmont Key, Florida: why we moved before the anchor could drag us onto the beach, and what a catamaran feels like in chop.
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Becoming a Sailor: Discovering an Alien Landscape
Motoring our St Francis 50 to a Tampa boatyard with veteran sailor Dave Houston: pelicans, dolphins, strange markers, and why every sailor has a start.
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VHF DSC Radio: When and How to Send a Distress Call
Written the day I passed my VHF licence: what everyone aboard should know about the red DSC Distress button and when grave, imminent danger justifies it.
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Slow Is Pro: Sailing Lessons From an Antigua Instructor
'Slow is pro': tips from Ondeck instructor Logan Knight in Antigua on leaving the dock, motoring out, raising sails and manoeuvring in a marina.
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Learning to Sail in Antigua: Helming, Docking and Dinghies
One-on-one sailing lessons in Antigua after my RYA Competent Crew course: helming over Atlantic swells, docking practice, dinghy driving and awareness.
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Great Bird Island, Antigua: Dinghy Drama Without a Motor
Rowing to Great Bird Island, Antigua, on an RYA course: current, a kicked-open drain, makeshift bailing, then a Robinson Crusoe beach and a blowhole.
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RYA Competent Crew Course in Antigua: A Day on the Water
A day on my RYA Competent Crew course with Miramar Sailing in Antigua: man-overboard drills, the narrow Goathead channel, Atlantic waves and mooring.
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Learning to Sail: Day Skipper vs Competent Crew in Antigua
Struggling on my RYA Day Skipper course in Antigua, I switched to Competent Crew to master tacking and gybing. By 2026, we had sailed to 40+ countries.
