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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Tag: Cruising life

Pulau Indah Marina SV Aphrodite
October 6, 2026October 17, 2026Lorraine Escher

Pulau Indah Marina: A Guide for Cruisers

Betty and Lorraine on Bangla Road in front of a Cannabis Shop
June 24, 2026July 20, 2026Lorraine Escher

Bangla Road Phuket: A Family Outing Takes an Unexpected Turn

Paul Escher's Grenadian Rum Punch Recipe made with fresh fruit from scratch
June 21, 2026July 20, 2026Lorraine Escher

Grenadian Rum Punch Recipe: Authentic, Made From Scratch

Job Jar for Kids: Boat Jobs For Kids with Karen dusting our Nav desk in the background on SV Aphrodite
June 12, 2026July 25, 2026Lorraine Escher

Job Jar for Kids: How Real Boat Chores Build Grit

Paul-Curry-Coconut-RIce-Recipe-Sailing-Life
June 10, 2026July 20, 2026Lorraine Escher

Paul’s Curry and Coconut Rice Recipe

A graphical representation of Paul's trip across the Pacific from Bahamas to French Polynesia
June 8, 2026July 20, 2026Lorraine Escher

Pacific Puddle Jump at 18: Our Boat Kid Crews a Catana 50

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

Betty after accepting her university offer in Canada after years of homeschooling on a sailboat.
April 22, 2026September 23, 2026Lorraine Escher

Homeschooled on a Sailboat, Betty Got Into University

A side-by-side image of the Taipei 101 climbed by Alex Honnold in January 2026 and a land diving event on Pentecost Island, Vanuatu.
January 26, 2026July 27, 2026Lorraine Escher

Land Diving on Pentecost Island: Ritual, Tourists, Ethics

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On This Day

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From the Archives

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