It is only recently that I have felt the tickle at the back of my brain asking me to write something for this space. But, like the faint, annoying tingle before a sneeze, if I turn my head away from the screen, the feeling subsides. And it has, again and again, over the past year.

The truth is, there isn’t much to say. I am still holding down things on Kate, still in the boatyard, still under restrictions. Steve is still unable to return due to in-bound travel restrictions. I have kept busy with boat projects, a very active typhoon season last October-November, lots of galley experiments, an upcycled container garden and lots of writing – just not blog posts.

Although I write to process and understand what is happening in my life, I am not the kind of person who finds value in sharing those reflections as soon as they hit the page. Perhaps that’s why I have never really considered myself a “blogger.” Perhaps why this has remained unwritten for so long.

So, in lieu of painstakingly describing the mundane details of the painting and varnishing I’ve been doing, or re-counting the exhaustion of sitting through 3 typhoons in 10 days, or sharing the not-very-exciting dinners for one that I have been making for the past 16 months, I thought I would post a roundup of my

Recent Published Articles

I put my extended time in the boatyard to good use and wrote a helpful little piece called “Living the Hard Life the Easy Way.”If you want a few tips on how to make yard time a little more enjoyable (even if it is only for a week or two not a year a two) this piece is for you.

And in a moment of nostalgic reflection I penned “Sea Change” which draws parallels between our first blue ocean passage down the Mexican Baja Peninsula and the emotional journey I’ve been on this year. It was published atop a double page photo and I think looks quite lovely.

In January 2020, just weeks before Steve departed and then the world shut down, we installed a composting toilet onboard Kate. This is perhaps the one thing that has let me retain my sanity over the past 16 months while living onboard on the hard. I am sure this sounds odd to anyone who hasn’t had to walk 500M to a public toilet in the pouring rain at 0300 but believe me it is the little things these days. If you are interested in learning how a composting toilet works, what it took to install and my honest opinion of using the thing you can read my pun filled article “Head Games.”

Keeping with the enviro theme I also address Food Waste again, a subject that is worth revisiting whether you live on a boat or not. And, I wrote a short piece about upcycling some faulty wet weather overalls into the best reusable shopping bags I have ever used.

I am still writing regularly for SisterShip Magazine, a great bi-monthly publication out of Australia. My column, Sustainable Sailing is where I tackle all things related to making changes in our lives that promote environmental awareness and sensitivity. The recent solstice is a great time to revisit all those lofty New Years goals we all set, you can read my ideas about how to make and keep sustainability goals HERE.

In the May/June issue of SisterShip I wrote about sustainable choices I have made the head – DIY-ing liquid soap, swapping to a safety razor (not as scary as it looks ladies!) and reducing TP waste with paper-free pees. That issue is available for DOWNLOAD. If you enjoy the content of Sustainable Sailing and SisterShip please consider becoming a subscriber and support a marine magazine written for women by women.

If, by chance, anyone reading is in Germany I am also in the pages of the June issue of YACHT magazine. They wrote an article about upcycling sails and featured some projects I made with our old mainsail. You can read the English article I wrote about upcycling the mainsail that was published in Cruising World a few years back if you don’t sprechen sie deutsch.

If you are still reading, thanks!

Please know that things are good. We are both safe and healthy, and miraculous so are family and friends. I’ll try and get back here more often with those mundane details of life and perhaps a recipe or two. If you are on Instagram you can catch up on the photo side of life onboard (including those recent painting projects) by following @yachtkate, and look for my Morning Galley View (header image of this post) that I have been posting as a Story every Monday/Tuesday for the past 48 weeks.  

Love,

H…&S