some sailing blogs that we follow

I love to keep up on sailing blogs and what other people are up to who share our lifestyle. It's been enjoyable to get to know people who are sailing around the world - I've learned so much from reading of their trials and tribulations, and that's what we hope to do here as well. The winter months leave much more time for keeping up with people.

In no particular order, here's what we're generally reading - this is just a partial list...there are so many great blogs and not enough time to tell you about all of them.

Blue Schooner Publishing
Ben built his schooner Falcon and spent some time at Constitution Marina (prior to us living here, so we've never met). He's since sailed away to Florida and continues to keep a well-kept blog.


Adventures of Sarabande and Keli and Stu are two blogs from two couples we met in the Virgin Islands. They met our cruising friend Mike in Puerto Rico and have been all meeting up at various points along their journeys. They were a joy to get to meet, and in short, meeting them has changed our lives forever.

Mike and Brian

Mike and Stuart

S/V Third Day
The Boren family's blog is always chock full of useful information, especially the expense reports that they put together. This family of four is cruising the west coast and I discovered their blog on their one year anniversary of setting sail! They're an inspiration to all cruising families.

Peregrine Sea
Tim and Sandra live aboard their boat Peregrina, a cutter rigged Stevens Custom 40 in Constitution Marina. They're a fantastic couple with a beautiful pup Pequita. Willie and Pequita are in love. Tim takes fantastic photos as you're bound to see on his blog.

Zach Aboard
This crafty mama's blog discusses living aboard with her five year old son. The family that is portrayed in this blog is serene and magical. Think Peter Pan. This is a must read for anyone raising a child on a boat.

Chris and Cate
Chris and Cate live...err, almost live on a Alberg 30. Their recently acquired gem is the foundation to a dream of sailing the world. Currently, they're sneaking off into the night to stay on their boat as often as possible, and have plans of being fully moved aboard by March 1st.

Photo is from Chris and Cate's blog, after the first of many snowstorms over the past week. We're quite jealous.

Hobo Sailor
Here's a blog of a (very) young couple who has been there, done that. Chad and Leeann have sailed over 3,000 miles in the Great Lakes, the Atlantic, and have done a Trans-Atlantic crossing. They loved the cruising life, but wanted to be closer to family, and for now they're living in our home state of Michigan.

Photo taken from Hobo Sailor's blog from February 2009

Coronado 25 Sailing Adventure
Allan hosts a wonderful blog of his adventures on his boat with his wife in Canada. He's another blogger that likes to let you know how much things are going to cost, so if you're interested in boating or living aboard, stop by his blog to get a better picture of the real expenses of boating.

s/v Bella Rose
Rob and Cheri live aboard their 36 foot sloop in Louisiana. Their goal is to help others move aboard a boat and their website has a lot of useful information in helping you do so. They even sell a DVD - 7 Secrets to Moving Aboard Your Boat.


And when we're not reading blogs, we're constantly cruising around these forums:

Ericson Yachts
Living Aboard Forums
Cruisers and Sailing Forums
Sailnet

Presto!

In a time where people are trying to be more frugal and eat healthier, all while living the go go go lifestyle, I continually tell people to BUY A PRESSURE COOKER.

After reading a lot about them on the Living Aboard forums, I decided to ask my parents to buy me a Presto 4qt. (stainless steel) pressure cooker. This thing is freaking awesome. For awhile, we went without any sort of oven, and I baked bread and made pizza in it.

The tastiest cinnamon bread ever baked.

When a fellow dock mate had caught too many flounder, we pressure cooked one and baked the other. The pressure cooked version was MUCH tastier, as it kept all the flavors locked in. Speaking of which, pressure cooking your vegetables is the much healthier option, as you're not boiling away the vitamins.

Flounder from Bruce.

One of the best things about it is the length of time it takes to make food. Justin's favorite is corn, because not only does it take 5 minutes from the time you husk it to the time it's on the table, but if you happen to forget you've bought corn and it's gone sort of wonkey, it still comes out tasting amazing. Potatoes are one of my favorites, as they are another five minute task.

Anyhow, I can't say enough fantastic things about pressure cooking.

Living Aboard Magazine (and website)

A lot of people who come to our blog are here because they are interested in living aboard (often in Boston) and are interested in the lifestyle.

A few years ago for Justin's birthday, I bought him a subscription to Living Aboard Magazine. This is a wonderful resource for anyone who is interested in living aboard or already lives aboard and is packed with useful information. I have never been more excited about advertisements in a magazine in my life - they are by far the most relevant ads I've ever come across!

They also have an amazing forum online, which has grown insane amounts since we first joined. This is also packed full of useful information and is set up in a very user friendly manner. The best part about it is that it really feels like a community of people, and we've gotten to meet quite a few people that we've talked to on there. I've never quite gotten that feel with any other forum before.

That being said, if you're interested in living aboard and are interested in talking to others who do it, visit the forums or subscribe to the magazine. You'll learn a ton and get to meet an awesome crowd of people.