#49 I could dedicate this whole section on how to avoid these perceived dangers but the the truth is, storms, pirates, or sharks almost never hurt cruisers (almost). No, the things that actually hurt and sometimes kill cruisers are a lot more mundane, and a hell of a lot closer to shore.

#48 People get very misty-eyed when you mention crossing oceans under sail. They picture you gazing heroically into the distance with the wind in your hair (well, not me), dolphins leaping at the bow, and some sort of romantic orchestral soundtrack

#47 Working from a sailboat usually conjures up images of laptops, tranquil bays, and barista style coffees with a little heart shaped swirl in the froth. Idyllic right?. What it doesn’t conjure up is an images of you knee-deep in a bilge, swearing at seized diesel engine while an important Zoom call pings at you indecently from beneath an oil rag

#46 If there’s one thing they never mention in those performative, sun-soaked YouTube videos and Instagram posts about sailing in the tropics… it’s the vermin. Flies, mosquitoes, ticks, wasps, ants, cockroaches, rats, and a biblical variety of God’s other tiny critters.

#45 In Amsterdam recently, some residents complained about kids playing outdoors and making too much noise. The case even went to court. Imagine that. Children. Playing. Outdoors. Unsupervised. The horror!

#44 Boat stowage is like playing 4D Tetris. You want onions and you’ve found engine spares. You want curry powder and you’re ankle-deep in wet snorkels. Everything lives in three different places and moves when you’re not looking.

#43 Now, I’m not saying food is everything… but at sea, it sort of is. It’s often the only time the crew stops swearing and sits down together like semi-functioning humans.

#42 The galley is not just a kitchen. It’s the epicentre of everything that keeps you alive and props up morale when the rain’s coming in sideways and the nearest supermarket is 800 nautical miles away.

#41 We’re not diving deep here, and you’re not about to become a marine engineer. Think of this as a shallow paddle through the murky world of boat systems. Just enough knowledge to know what that weird noise might be, or where that rapidly expanding puddle of gunk under the floorboards is coming from.

#40 One minute you’re knee-deep in mud clutching a full sack of premium pork in Malaysia, the next you’re trying to trade a fishing lure for the last half-rotten tomato with a recalcitrant market vendor in Suriname. it’s unpredictable, inconvenient, occasionally disgusting, and completely central to life on a cruising boat.

#39 Let’s be honest. Haul-out is where all the nonsense about freedom and sunsets and “living the dream” comes to die. This is not sailing. This is work. Dirty, hot, frustrating work. You will bleed. You will bruise. You will curse the day you ever bought that bloody boat-shaped

#39 If anything could have persuaded us not to make our great escape, it would have been our children’s education. The idea of abandoning the comforting rigidity of public schooling was frankly terrifying.

#38 The narrow strip of the Red Sea between Africa and Arabia has seen more human ambition, conflict, and commerce than just about anywhere else on the planet. And now, Mothership is about to join the club.

#37 This month, we witnessed yet another family throw in the towel. No screaming rows or tabloid-worthy drama—just a boat quietly slipping back into a marina for the last time and the crew heading for the airport. 

#36 You’re tired and disheveled, but now is not the time to relax and crack open a cold one, as tempting as that is; you’ve still got hoops to jump through. Bureaucratic hoops.

#35 A bureaucrat’s first instinct often seems to be to make the clearing-in rules impossible to navigate and then blame you for not following them.

#34 In many cases, checking in (or “clearing in,” as it is more appropriately termed) seems to be nothing more than a self-financing, job creation scheme.

#33 As I often tell the kids: Your favourite food is still out there in the world—you just haven’t tasted it yet. Try everything.

#32 Let’s start by focusing on the two pivotal roles of yacht brokers and surveyors and understanding who they are and what they do.

#31 it’s curious how much kudos is attached to doing things solo - solopreneurs, solo travellers, solo sailors - when doing it with family is SO much more difficult!