Making Ends Meet
Hand over your snap shackles, cotter pins and epoxy resin! A reader recently asked me what we do for money on the boat. I get this question from time to time; I write about the price of tinned beans...
View ArticleWhat’s Cookin’?
The trouble with feeding a family is that it is relentless. It can be fun to prepare a good meal – chopping vegetables, sniffing at the pot bubbling on the stove, watching everyone’s smiling face as...
View ArticleThe Art Of Making It All Fit (with helpful how-to video)
One of the more common questions I get about life aboard is, “How do you make it all fit?” That’s easy. Step one: prioritize. We follow a simple space allocation formula on Papillon. I’ll draw you...
View ArticleSinging in the Rain
Rainy days are always a treat on board. Well, okay. Rainy days in the tropics are a treat,because it is warm outside. Rainy days in, oh, I don’t know, New Zealand, when it’s Christmas and it’s...
View ArticleWar On Corrosion
My can opener didn’t always have vice grips attached. Once upon a time, it had a plastic handle. And then one day last December, the handle simply fell off. The plastic hadn’t broken – the metal...
View ArticleA Fork In The Road
The Papillon crew is a family divided at the moment. While the girls and I visit long-lost friends and relatives, Erik is on the boat, hard at work welding fuel tanks and replacing swage fittings....
View ArticleWhat Do You Do All Day?
This is one of the most common questions I get from land folks. It is usually accompanied by a wide-eyed look and a shake of the head, as though we wake up every morning in our floating prison cell,...
View ArticleThe Ninja Sailor
Stylish descended the companionway, muttering to herself. “Lanacote, small brush, Lanacote, small brush…” “Everything okay?” She glanced up at me as she started rooting through the drawers in the nav...
View ArticleShould We Worry About the Youth of Today?
Summer 2010 – lemonade Summer 2013 – handwashing Last night was Family Movie Night. We don’t do it often, but Grannie had taken a stroll through the local used DVD emporium, and sent us Ghostbusters...
View ArticleThe Scavenger Cruiser
Last October, we were sitting in a cafe in Neiafu enjoying that great rarity: food and drink we didn’t make ourselves. As I took a sip of my coffee, Erik suddenly bent down and plucked something off...
View ArticleSuperfluous Adults
I spent a lot of my childhood with my siblings down the ravine behind our house. In summer, we found salamanders under rocks and built dams across the foot-deep stream. In the winter, we slogged our...
View ArticleWhen Two Become Five
Since we arrived at anchor, the girls have lived outside. They have swung from the halyards and splashed noisily in the water. They eat on deck, read on deck, and generally spent every moment they...
View ArticleMaking Ends Meet
Hand over your snap shackles, cotter pins and epoxy resin! A reader recently asked me what we do for money on the boat. I get this question from time to time; I write about the price of tinned beans...
View ArticlePicnics With Europeans: French vs Swiss-German (with Bonus American After-Party)
Ring, ring.“Hello. This is Boat French. Would you like to go with us to Le parc provincial de la Rivière Bleue for a picnic on Sunday?“Sure!”“Bon. See you at 0900 on Sunday.”Ring, ring.“Hello....
View ArticleMaking Ends Meet
Hand over your snap shackles, cotter pins and epoxy resin! A reader recently asked me what we do for money on the boat. I get this question from time to time; I write about the price of tinned beans...
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