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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Tag: Family Circumnavigation

The Escher family — two parents and four children from Ottawa, Canada — spent over a decade circumnavigating the world aboard SV Aphrodite, a St Francis 50 catamaran. These are the posts from that voyage: crossing the Atlantic and the Pacific, cruising the Caribbean, the Bahamas, the Galapagos, French Polynesia, Fiji, Vanuatu and Southeast Asia, homeschooling four kids at sea, refitting and repairing the boat in remote anchorages, and raising a family aboard across more than 40 countries. Written from the boat, as it happened.

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

Shellback Ceremony Maritime Traditions and Crossing the Equator as a Family at Sea on Circumnavigation
June 5, 2022September 20, 2026Lorraine Escher

Shellback Ceremony: Our Family Swims at the Equator

Karen pacific crossing sv aphrodite wind in hair e1759498788460
June 4, 2022June 4, 2022Lorraine Escher

After the Galapagos: A Superyacht Race and Fishing Fleets

Long reads Grenada: A picture of someone walking on a hike in Grenada during a Hash House Harriers run
December 11, 2021September 26, 2026Lorraine Escher

Long Reads Grenada: 6 Stories From Our Sailboat

June 18, 2020July 27, 2026Lorraine Escher

Story of the World Review: World History for Kids at Home

June 2, 2020August 26, 2026Lorraine Escher

Boat Schooling: Preparing Cruising Kids for University

Amazon Packages We Did Not Order
December 7, 2018August 4, 2026Lorraine Escher

Amazon Packages We Did Not Order: A Secret Santa Surprise

Christian missionaries in Haiti: at the church they built which doubles as a hurricane shelter
May 7, 2018July 29, 2026Lorraine Escher

Christian Missionaries in Haiti: Church on Île-à-Vache

January 30, 2018July 30, 2026Lorraine Escher

Leaving a Trinidad Boatyard and Night Sailing to Grenada

December 30, 2017August 1, 2026Lorraine Escher

Christmas in Trinidad: A Glorious Night with a Local Family

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From the Archives

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