Unanchored Life

boatlifeadventure

Farewell Comet: Scotland and a Maiden Voyage

Reader, we have arrived. Nine months and over nine thousand miles after leaving the dock in Florida, with nothing but a plan, a dog, and a startlingly over-optimistic sense of our own competence, Moonfleet is finally anchored in Scottish water. To be precise, she is anchored in 15 foot

The Canoe

Ah, the fickle life of boating. Just when I start to feel like a cool, competent, boaty person, life gives me a wedgie and shoves me clean off the cliff of smug into a stagnating pool of humility. Let’s rewind to the glory days of last winter in the

New video drop: The crossing that made us stop and think

Reader, after nineteen hours of the Bristol Channel doing its level best to end us, Ken and I limped into Milford Haven looking less like intrepid sailors and more like two people who’d lost their minds, but gained a newly decorated carpet, courtesy of Gypsy. But here’s the

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England My England: The Crossing That Humbled Us

A brutal overnight crossing of the Bristol Channel, a seasick dog, frozen lip filler, and our first days exploring Wales - does this get easier?!

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How Spain Conquered The Hungry

We crossed an ocean, arrived in Spain, and immediately discovered that conquering the Atlantic was nothing compared to finding lunch

atlanticcrossing

We Crossed the Atlantic. Would We Do It Again?

After 4,500 miles, countless vats of coffee, several mechanical betrayals and a small fortune in fuel, we finally reached Spain. So now that we’ve actually crossed the Atlantic, there’s only one question left… would we do it again?

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Everyone Needs a Ken

It took an engine alarm in the middle of the Atlantic, a cargo ship in the dark, and one very resourceful husband to make me realize something surprising…

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New video drop: Horta, Azores

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The Things We Leave Behind

How a suitcase named Gigantina, a collection of baby teeth, and a trip back to London taught me what I actually miss living full time on a trawler.

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New Video Drop and a Swallow Tattoo

New video: Killer whales, a stowaway bird, Bermuda Triangle waters, spectacular sunsets, and ongoing negotiations with Gypsy about using a floating dog bathroom. Looking back, I suspect the ocean was unusually kind to us—just to lure us farther from shore.

My Boobs Crossed the Atlantic Before I did

This story is a bit of a departure from my usual newsletter type ramblings. I’m bobbing around in the Atlantic and have a lot of time on my hands to write. At some point I may write a book, and so this post is a more anecdotal flavor than

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The Atlantic Ocean Is Trying to Return Us to Sender

New video: Atlantic crossing safety prep, provisioning, emergency drills and life aboard before leaving St. Thomas for Bermuda. Back when we thought this adventure looked romantic and not like two exhausted adults and one traumatized dog living inside a maritime washing machine.

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Nine Days Until the Azores and Already Feral

We leave Bermuda and begin our Atlantic crossing to the Azores aboard our trawler with our dog Gypsy. Ocean life quickly descends from romantic sailing fantasy into stained clothes, fake grass potty struggles, Bermudan fashion obsessions, and a slow transformation into maritime goblins.

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Halfway Across the Atlantic With a Constipated Dog

Crossing the Atlantic, both radars failed, our dog staged a 45 hour potty protest, and we accidentally kidnapped a sparrow named Fred. Civilization is slipping rapidly.

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Live from Cockroach Island

We leave the Caribbean behind and head north into five days of open ocean, saying goodbye to six extraordinary months of island life. Also: our first livestream was an absolute catastrophe.

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A Sailor’s Goodbye

Sailors never really say goodbye. They just assume they’ll bump into each other somewhere improbable, like Bermuda or the Med. As we prepare Moonfleet for our Atlantic crossing, the hardest part hasn’t been the ocean ahead — it’s leaving the people behind.

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New video - Private Island, Public Beach… and our Rock Star Guest

A private island, a forbidden tree line, and a dog who keeps introducing us to famous people. Guana Island delivers perfect sand, strict rules—and a very unexpected guest list.

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How to Lose Several Mermaids, and your Nerves in Open Water

An aborted emergency practice drill, a wobbling boat, and the violent demise of several decorative mermaids: It turns out the ocean doesn’t need to try very hard to humble you. Sometimes it just waits until you’re sleep-deprived and feeling quietly confident… and then gives you feedback.

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How to Stay Married When One of You is the Captain

Eight years of marriage, one trawler, and a sudden realization: I’ve accidentally downgraded my independence while upgrading my relationship. Now I’m learning knots, night shifts, and how to take orders from my husband without starting a mutiny.

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Ahoy St John! A New Video

St John adventures, a terrifying zip line in St Martin, pirate hair regrets, and a nervous run toward a transatlantic crossing…

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Lucky: Or How to Board the Wrong Boat in the BVI With Confidence

I used to collect shells until we accidentally recreated a Caribbean coastline inside the boat. Now I collect stories. This one involves identical catamarans, borrowed dinghies, a stolen kayak, and a man named Lucky who boarded the wrong boat and met a woman with a fishing spear.

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New Video: St Thomas, BVI

Boat life update introducing our latest video, featuring my very real editor (not in a yurt), and our current position between St Martin and video-time St Thomas. Plus a preview of the BVI coming soon!

New Video: Vieques and Culebra

For your viewing pleasure, and also as a hedge against my future Alzheimer’s, here is another video offering. The big news is that I have found a video editor. This means the videos should now arrive thick and fast instead of appearing every few weeks - like our mail. Is

New Video: Mona Passage and USS Iwo Jima

Ahhhh. Retirement! In theory, it involves serenity. In practice, it involves me staring at the azure horizon wondering how I could improve it. Perhaps a feature wall? A slightly punchier shade of blue? It’s not you, Caribbean-tropical-paradise, it’s clearly me. One minute I’m admiring the

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From Monkey to Moonfleet: A Love Story in Three Boats

A Valentine’s boating love story about second chances, online dating, and why we traded sailboats for full-time liveaboard trawler life.