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Single-Handing the 38’ Wooden Sailboat He Built Himself
Acorn To Arabella

Single-Handing the 38’ Wooden Sailboat He Built Himself

You can still contribute to the fight against cancer at This week, we map out our passage from Shelburne to Lunenburg, NS, making sure to follow a route safely offshore enough to avoid the many shoals and exposed rocks on the south coast of Nova Scotia. After a quick read through the Nova Scotia c...
From P-Town to Nova Scotia: Our First International Sailing Adventure
Acorn To Arabella

From P-Town to Nova Scotia: Our First International Sailing Adventure

This week, we’re taking Arabella international—we’re sailing from Provincetown, MA to Shelburne, Nova Scotia. But, before we go too far, we need to calibrate our NEW Pelagic autopilot. After our autopilot broke a few hours into our last multi-day offshore passage (leaving us to hand steer for three ...
We’re Over-Wintering Where? Getting Ready for Our First International Passage
Acorn To Arabella

We’re Over-Wintering Where? Getting Ready for Our First International Passage

This week, we're getting our homebuilt wooden boat ready for her first international passage. Sure, it’s just to Canada, but to us, it’s a big deal! First up is finishing work on the bowsprit. I needed to get the bow out of our bronze bow roller before we could reinstall it. Thank goodness for...
Moving the Diesel Engine Panel & A New Cockpit Nav Station
Acorn To Arabella

Moving the Diesel Engine Panel & A New Cockpit Nav Station

It’s Arabella Demolition Day, folks! This week, I’m dismantling our on-deck nav station and engine control panel, and rebuilding one big station to house all of our gadgets and gizmos: the chart plotter, wind reader, VHF radio, engine controls, and our new Pelagic autopilot…which we hope will be our...
Repairing Rot in the Bowsprit & Snugging Up a Loose Rig
Acorn To Arabella

Repairing Rot in the Bowsprit & Snugging Up a Loose Rig

A calm morning in Marion Harbor makes for the perfect day to deal with the rot I found in Arabella’s bowsprit while we were back in Miami. What I thought was just a small spot of rot turned out to be a bit bigger than I had imagined—an indication that this rot was probably built into the bowsprit du...
Gale Force Winds & Broken Autopilot! Offshore from VA to MA
Acorn To Arabella

Gale Force Winds & Broken Autopilot! Offshore from VA to MA

This week, we’re setting out for a 4-day offshore run from Norfolk, VA back to Mattapoisett, MA—where we launched Arabella almost two years ago to the date! Our good friend George joined us for the passage. We learned an expensive lesson about securing our anchor before heading offshore, so I took...
Sticker Shock! Decorating the Dodger Before Cruising to Norfolk
Acorn To Arabella

Sticker Shock! Decorating the Dodger Before Cruising to Norfolk

Work on the dodger may be done, but before we can leave Okracoke, we need to install our new Garmin GMI20. The last one died halfway through our passage from Miami to Beaufort, and we had a replacement unit sent to the Okracoke post office. Despite our best efforts to get the original unit working a...
Dodging Shoals and Working on the Dodger: Sailing to Ocracoke Island & Cape Hatteras
Acorn To Arabella

Dodging Shoals and Working on the Dodger: Sailing to Ocracoke Island & Cape Hatteras

This week, Arabella makes her way to Ocracoke Island, at the south end of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Robin and I have been looking forward to visiting the Outer Banks, and maybe exploring long-abandoned Portsmouth Island. With winds expected to pipe up, we deployed a conservative sail plan for o...
Fixing a Leaky Boat Deck & More Boat Maintenance Fun
Acorn To Arabella

Fixing a Leaky Boat Deck & More Boat Maintenance Fun

After our offshore run, I promised Robin that I would wait for her in Beaufort so she could see the wild horses on Carrot Island, explore the shops in downtown Beaufort, and visit the Outer Banks before our run back North. While waiting, I tackle some boat maintenance projects, namely fixing our lea...
5 Days And 4 Nights Offshore: Catching Mahi & Learning Lessons
Acorn To Arabella

5 Days And 4 Nights Offshore: Catching Mahi & Learning Lessons

This week, the journey resumes on day three of our offshore sailing passage from Miami, FL to Beaufort, NC. Along for the journey was my old college buddy, Dave, and my new friend, Jesse, who we met in Key Biscayne. On day 2 of our passage, we brought a Mahi up to the side of the boat…and lost it a...
Setting Sail for a 600-Mile Offshore Passage (But Only After a Little Boat Work)
Acorn To Arabella

Setting Sail for a 600-Mile Offshore Passage (But Only After a Little Boat Work)

This week, we’re getting ready for a 600-mile offshore passage from Miami, FL to Beaufort, NC. Before we set sail, I took the chance to get some boat work done: scrubbing and oiling the decks, smoothing out the battens so they don’t get stuck in the lazy jacks when we hoist sail, configuring a syste...
Trading the ePropulsion Electric Motor for a Loud, Smelly Gas Engine (But At Least It Works)
Acorn To Arabella

Trading the ePropulsion Electric Motor for a Loud, Smelly Gas Engine (But At Least It Works)

This week, we start with a visit from the one and only Sam Holmes—a real, actual sailor! Sam regales us with tales of suffering and single handing his sailboat, and gives us some advice for the passages in our future. If you’re not already following him, make sure to check him out out at @Sam Holmes...
Boat Maintenance Woes: Technical Difficulties with the Watermaker & Auto Helm
Acorn To Arabella

Boat Maintenance Woes: Technical Difficulties with the Watermaker & Auto Helm

You know what they say: “BOAT” stands for “Break Out Another Thousand.” While we were anchored in the Dry Tortugas, I got our Spectra watermaker back online. This week, back in Key West, we’re troubleshooting an issue with the feed pump pressure switch, which cuts the watermaker pump in and out dep...
Autopilot or Bust: A Metalwork Collaboration Between Acorn to Arabella and SV Seeker
Acorn To Arabella

Autopilot or Bust: A Metalwork Collaboration Between Acorn to Arabella and SV Seeker

This week’s video resumes in the Dry Tortugas, where we’re stuck on finding a solution for installing our auto helm. But that can wait…first, fishing! Our bait attracted a few good-sized Nurse Sharks and Goliath Groupers, putting on quite the show for Akiva! The Nurse Sharks are gentle, but they’re ...
After Over 3,000 Miles, Arabella Drops Anchor at the Dry Tortugas
Acorn To Arabella

After Over 3,000 Miles, Arabella Drops Anchor at the Dry Tortugas

In this episode, we sail Arabella over to the clear, blue waters of the Dry Tortugas National Park, 70 miles west of Key West. Starting from the Ten Thousand Islands, we hit Key West for provisions, hot showers, and to pick up the parts we need to get our auto helm installed. It was a whirlwind stop...
Sailing Two Wooden Boats & Saltwater Fly Fishing in the Ten Thousand Islands
Acorn To Arabella

Sailing Two Wooden Boats & Saltwater Fly Fishing in the Ten Thousand Islands

In this week’s episode, we say goodbye to Sanibel Island and the beautiful “Ding” Darling Wilderness, and we set sail for Florida’s Ten Thousand Islands, an archipelago just north of and adjacent to the Everglades. It felt great to raise the sails after so much motoring. We enjoyed a lively, advent...
We Left Our Heart in North Captiva #Cruising #Sailing #LiveaboardLife
Acorn To Arabella

We Left Our Heart in North Captiva #Cruising #Sailing #LiveaboardLife

Along our journey south, we decided to drop the anchor in North Captiva and stay a few days. We totally fell in love with this sleepy island town. From walking along the shell-covered white sand beaches to checking out the wildlife, there was so much to love about North Captiva. Don't miss the...
The Boca Grande Experience #LiveaboardLife #Cruising #WoodenBoat
Acorn To Arabella

The Boca Grande Experience #LiveaboardLife #Cruising #WoodenBoat

We took Arabella to Boca Grande for a week to get some boat work done...but we had to spend some time adventuring, too. We paddle boarded over to Three Sisters Island, took Victoria out sailing (after repairing her transom), wandered around the "Old Florida" back roads, had lunch at the ...
Transom Repairs on Victoria: Boat Work is Better in Boca Grande & North Captiva
Acorn To Arabella

Transom Repairs on Victoria: Boat Work is Better in Boca Grande & North Captiva

Get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Use code ARABELLA at checkout. Download Saily app or go to -------------------------- We’ve sailed our beautiful wooden sailboat all the way from Maine to Boca Grande, where it’s time to stop and give our tender, Victoria, a little TLC. Her trans...
Paddleboarding Adventures in Cabbage Key & Cayo Costa #SailFlorida #LiveaboardLife
Acorn To Arabella

Paddleboarding Adventures in Cabbage Key & Cayo Costa #SailFlorida #LiveaboardLife

Four months ago, we left Maine on our hand built wooden sailboat. Join us in Southwest Florida, as we adventure our way through Cabbage Key and Cayo Costa. We set out on paddleboards to find the elusive "Tunnel of Love," a natural mangrove tunnel that leads into a lagoon on the back side ...
Cruising Cabbage Key & Cayo Costa: Finding a Hidden Paradise
Acorn To Arabella

Cruising Cabbage Key & Cayo Costa: Finding a Hidden Paradise

Use this link to subscribe and save $20 off your first subscription of AG1 -------------------------- This week, Arabella exits the Caloosahatchee River and sails towards the Gulf of Mexico, dropping anchor in Cape Coral to provision the boat and head in to Rumrunners for a nice dinner on the water...
Cruising the Okeechobee Waterway #Sailing #Cruising #Travel
Acorn To Arabella

Cruising the Okeechobee Waterway #Sailing #Cruising #Travel

We spent 4 days cruising the Okeechobee Waterway in our handbuilt wooden sailboat, and this is what we saw... 🎥 Watch the full episode - -------------------------- Sign up for our email newsletter: Acorn to Arabella started as a wooden boat building project in Granby, Massachusetts. Steve bega...
Cruising the Okeechobee Waterway from East to West
Acorn To Arabella

Cruising the Okeechobee Waterway from East to West

Join us (and a tree full of pelicans) as we begin cruising east to west on the Okeechobee Waterway. Not many sailboats our size have the ability to cruise the Okeechobee Waterway. Because we are gaff-rigged, our masts are shorter, giving us the clearance we need to pass under the many bridges and po...
Cruising the Intracoastal Waterway East Coast Florida: Saint Augustine to Fort Pierce
Acorn To Arabella

Cruising the Intracoastal Waterway East Coast Florida: Saint Augustine to Fort Pierce

This week, we continue cruising the Intracoastal Waterway down the east coast of Florida. We miss sailing, but offshore waters were calling for sloppy seas and light winds. With few safe harbors to duck into in the case of emergency, we decided to stay grounded in the ICW. And when we say “stay grou...
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