Featured Content
Why We Want to Sail
We traded a conventional life in Ottawa for the dream of raising our children aboard a sailboat — even though I had never sailed.
About Our Boat
SV Aphrodite is a St. Francis 50 catamaran — Hull #1 of an award-winning bluewater design. See her specs, equipment, and offshore features.
Long Reads: Galapagos
Volcanoes, sharks, penguins, sea lions, offshore fishing fleets, and a message in a bottle — the Galapagos is one of the most interesting and diverse places we have visited during…
Long Reads Grenada
A muddy hike, memory-making at Grenada Carnival, drama on a public bus, sailing passages from Trinidad to Grenada and Grenada to Haiti, and what happened when COVID-19 arrived in a…
Why the Caribbean has virtually no tides
Why Caribbean tides are tiny — and why Panama’s beaches can vanish at high tide.
Luperón Long Reads — Boat Kids Go Local
Joining a local school taught entirely in Spanish, learning baseball, making friends, and discovering how quickly the Luperon cruising community can rally when help is needed.
Luperón Long Reads — Designing and Building a Mooring for Our 50-foot Catamaran
A technical long read about how we built a three-point hurricane mooring.
Luperón Long Reads — Waiting Out Hurricane Season
A gritty, funny, and affectionate look at Luperón, Dominican Republic — from stray dogs and bureaucratic red tape to unexpected kindness, cruiser culture, and lunch with Bruce Van Sant.
Bahamas Long Reads — Exumas Stories
Isolated anchorages, tidal creeks, swimming pigs, dock drama, cruiser life, and an encounter with a wild dolphin.
Southern Bahamas Long Reads — Beyond the Exumas
New to sailing, our family navigates shallow reef cuts, spots nurse sharks and wild flamingos, and visits remote island communities in the southern Bahamas.
Latest Blog Posts
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Making Sense of Malaria: Why Chemoprophylaxis Doesn’t Prevent Infection — It Only Weakens the Symptoms
In Fiji, I tried to prepare for malaria in Vanuatu but learned that chemoprophylaxis doesn’t stop infection—only weakens symptoms. A pharmacy mix-up , the purchase of 1,100 doxycycline pills, mosquito nets, and lessons in tropical medicine.
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The Far-Reaching, Humble Breadfruit: Unleashed by Explorers and Trade Winds
Trace breadfruit’s journey across oceans — a staple food turned colonial tool, reshaping landscapes and cultures from Polynesia to the Caribbean.
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Removing our rudders in the water, and towing another catamaran
When our St. Francis 50 catamaran lost a rudder on passage to Fiji, we ended up towing another boat that had the same fate. Here’s how we removed both rudders in the water, rebuilt one from scratch, and kept sailing.
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Fiji: making stew using a hot spring
This blog post describes a wonderful afternoon spent with fellow cruisers cooking using geothermal heat in Savusavu, Fiji. On Fiji’s Nakama hot springs, we cooked lentil stew and vegetables.
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Sevusevu Ceremony and First Time Kava Drinker in Fiji
During a sevusevu ceremony in Fiji, I met my first bowl of kava with hesitation, discovering both its earthy taste and a glimpse of the culture of Melanesia.
