Galley Notes : The Comfort of Confit Garlic

I‘ve always been a bit of a worrier. When the wind picks up in the middle of the night I can’t just lay there knowing we are ok, I have to get out of bed to check our position. When I have an unexplained ache or pain I have been known to jump to the…

Sustainable Sailing: The Ukay Ukay & Upcycling Bedsheets

As the third of four children I grew up in hand-me-downs. Clothing was passed down from older siblings, an extensive circle of cousins, and bought from Frenchy’s,  some may argue a now iconic secondhand store. It wasn’t that we couldn’t afford new, in fact I have several favourite outfit memories that were new clothes (My…

Morning Galley Views – 52 Weeks (and counting) in Photos

I wake most mornings between 0430 and 0530, sans alarm. After awkwardly scooching out over the head of our triangle-shaped bed I start my day by heading to the galley to light the right-hand burner of our small gas stove and put the kettle on. While I am there I open the small hatch that…

Sustainable Sailing – My New Column

I am very happy to announce that I am now writing regularly for SisterShip Magazine! The first edition of my new column, Sustainable Sailing, was published in April and will appear in each following bi-monthly issue of the magazine. As a treat the digital April issue is available for FREE!!! Please feel free to share…

Living Low-Impact on a Boat

If you have been reading for a while, then you probably noticed that we try hard to live in a way fosters sustainability and that is low-impact to the world around us. A big part of this comes about by the small, everyday decisions that we make. Whether it is choosing reusable shopping bags over…

Solar Cooking Tips

I was introduced to solar cooking back in 2009. We had only just arrived in La Paz, Mexico when I spotted a box-type solar oven on the bow of a catamaran in the marina we were staying at. (Oh, the days when marinas were plentiful, and we were foolish enough to pay to be alongside!)…

Galley Notes: Roller Coasters, an Empty Fridge & Veggie Fritters

This week it feels more like we live on a roller coaster than we do a sailboat, so have been the emotional peaks and troughs. We finally made some long-term sailing plans (HIGH), only to discover a broken pressure plate in the transmission (LOW). In a strange twist of fate, Jim, a fellow sailor we…

DIY: Low-Impact Liquid Hand Soap

Living a low-impact life is important to me. It is also something that I practiced long before we moved onboard. However, living on a boat is living a little closer to the natural world than most, and I mean literally. For instance, our sinks drain directly overboard, which means everything that goes down the drain…

Galley Notes: Making Yogurt On Board (AKA. Battle of the Bacteria)

As someone who travels as part of their daily life it seems inevitable that once a year or so I suffer through a bout of food poisoning. Tuesday, on a quick trip to town to pick up laundry, it seems I also picked up some greeblies. I won’t bore you with the details but let’s…

Pseudo-Single Handing & Cooking for One

Steve is away earning beer coupons, so we can keep doing this sailing thing. If you’ve been here for a while you know this is a kind-of-regular occurrence. By that I mean he spends 8-12 weeks of the year away working, just not necessarily on any regular or predictable schedule. This time however, it was…