Every boat has a log. This one just happens to be written from both land and water.
Right now, we’re logged from St. Catharines Ontario, with our home port at Port Dalhousie Marina. Some days we’re tied up at the dock, other days we’re anchored out, and in between we’re planning, building, learning, and slowly turning a long-talked-about dream into something real.
From April to October, we live aboard SV Naughty Angler. When sailing season winds down, life shifts ashore — but the journey doesn’t stop. It just changes scenery.
Every journey has a starting point. This log begins here — but it will also reach back.
We’ll be sharing both past moments and new ones as we go, filling in the story behind SV Naughty Angler while continuing to log life as it unfolds.
Life Afloat
We live aboard at Port Dalhousie Marina, but we anchor out often — because that’s where the magic really happens.
The water brings peace. It reconnects us to nature in a way nothing else does. And if you’re a true sailor, you know the feeling: when you’re out on the water and the last thing you want to do is go back to land. The lake is my happy place.
Liveaboard life, of course, comes with its moments.
Small spaces. Learning how to provision properly. Managing power so food doesn’t spoil. Generators, batteries, and fixing things as they break — especially when your home is a 1984 Hunter 37C.
Being tied up at the dock is easy. There’s shore power, outlets, convenience. But nothing compares to anchoring out — sitting outside with a cup of coffee in the morning, surrounded by water, sky, and quiet. That kind of serenity beats a 9-to-5 any day.
That’s why we’re determined to prepare, to learn, and to go — not just talk about it.
We have friends already living in the Caribbean. When you get a phone call and they’re describing blue water, palm trees, and morning coffee under the sun… it hits you. Hard. In the best way.
At some point, it becomes less about planning forever and more about doing.
Who cares what everyone else is saying?
Just go — safely, thoughtfully, and prepared enough to learn the rest along the way.
Life Ashore
When we’re not living aboard, the Captain’s Log continues — just from a different desk.
Nauti Cast is a year-round project, and a big part of our creative life. I also spend my time building The Naughty Angler, our nautical and outdoor lifestyle apparel brand — designing, creating ads, product info for social media, editing video, and working on the sailing content we’re starting to share more of. Graham also has starting with his music studio a new Album called Moonlit Lines, its available on Spotify, YouTube and others, great listening on and off water. He also works full time during all of this. I’m home focusing on the business aspect.
The off-season is for projects and planning:
- Working on the mast and wiring before winter
- Designing a new hard top we’ll build this spring
- Attending the Toronto Boat Show and finding the paint we’ll use to continue repainting the boat after starting the first coat in 2025
- Learning and laughing with friends — including knot-tying sessions with Steve and Colleen from SV Rianne.
Some projects happen at the marina.
Some happen indoors.
Some start as sketches, notes, or late-night conversations.
It’s all part of the same journey.
How SV Naughty Angler Came to Be
SV Naughty Angler — and The Naughty Angler Company — were born in 2024, but the roots go back further.
The idea first came to me while I was cutting hair, thinking about what I wanted to add to my tattoo sleeve after an accident. I didn’t want a trout — everything happened on Lake Erie — so I leaned into an angler fish, mermaids, and an ocean vibe that felt true to me. I’ve been painting for years and one of my pieces and anglerfish solidified the idea. Then came the idea of using my nautical artwork and making something bigger.
Back in July 2019, there was a boating accident. I saved my date — and that date wasn’t Graham. After hours in the water, Graham pulled us aboard his sailboat. We became friends for years. Two years ago, he asked me out, and we’ve been inseparable ever since — working side by side toward the same dream of sailing south. There is a lot to the story so we will save that for another blog, however it is on our story page.
Life has a funny way of tying things together.
What This Log Will Be
This Captain’s Log is a place to record it all:
- Life afloat and life ashore
- Boat projects and lessons learned
- Marina moments and quiet mornings at anchor
- Planning, building, dreaming, and doing
- Emotional but Grounded
Nothing polished for perfection.
Nothing written for approval.
Just real life, logged as it happens.
If it happens on SV Naughty Angler — or because of her — it belongs here.
Welcome aboard. ⚓
Logged from St. Catharines Ontario Canada