No mooring balls. Tight quarters. And a captain determined to make it fit. 😅 Welcome to Annapolis! After our first three-day crossing from Charleston to Virginia, we’re making our way up the Chesapeake Bay—with plenty of chaos along the way. We explore Fort Monroe, attempt a peaceful sunset dinner with three teenage boys, battle an invasion of biting flies, and clean up a fuel leak. Just another week of boat life! Finally arriving in Annapolis, Maryland, feels like a huge accomplishment… until it’s time to find a spot for our Leopard 50 catamaran. Steve has a plan involving multiple anchors, the dinghy, and a very tight squeeze. He’s loving every minute. The rest of us? Not quite as much. 😂 With the neighbors watching and tensions rising, this turns into a family teamwork exercise nobody signed up for. Life aboard isn’t always peaceful sunsets and beautiful anchorages. Sometimes it’s frustration, apologies, and learning how to find our way back to each other—and we’re sharing all of it. Would you squeeze in or find somewhere else to anchor? Tell us in the comments! 👇 Subscribe and join us next week when the dock master tells us to move our boat. 🫣 🍌🥞 Support Sailing Banana Pancakes on Patreon for early access to our episodes: patreon.com/sailingbananapancakes #SailingBananaPancakes #SailingFamily #BoatLife #Annapolis #ChesapeakeBay

Three days at sea brought calm stretches, a few tough moments, fishing, and a storm that had the boys rushing to get the sail down. We tried to make the most of it, found plenty of ways to keep each other entertained, and ended each day grateful for the beauty around us. Thanks for coming along for the ride! Support our family and get more from Sailing Banana Pancakes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SailingBananaPancakes

A lightning storm rolled over Charleston—and around 1 a.m., Easton snuck out to fish in his underwear and caught a shark! That was only the beginning of our Charleston adventure. We explored the city, visited the aquarium, and braved a ghost and dungeon tour after walking more than 10 miles. Along the way, we tackled boat projects, started the boys’ online school year, enjoyed a date night, and got a taste of Charleston’s wild high tides. Then, just when we were ready to leave, our anchor retrieval line got tangled. Boat life keeps us guessing, but we’re making the most of every stop as a family. We’re only a couple of weeks away from the Bahamas—subscribe and come along for the next adventure! Want more? Join our Patreon crew for early access to new episodes, exclusive live streams, and behind-the-scenes moments: https://patreon.com/SailingBananaPancakes

On our last episode, we left Brunswick, Georgia, with no real plan for where we’d stop. This time, we kept heading north toward Charleston—and boat life had a few surprises waiting for us. A loose water maker hose emptied our tanks into the bilge, leaving us with a lot of water to make and a long overnight passage ahead. Steve was seasick, so I took the helm, made jambalaya underway, and we each took a watch through the night. By morning, we were tired, relieved, and almost to Charleston. We anchored near the USS Yorktown, but soon discovered why the anchorage was so quiet: once the boat traffic picked up, the waves came from every direction. A rough night, a badly stubbed toe, and a $65 dinghy dock didn’t stop the boys from heading over to explore this incredible World War II aircraft carrier. Come aboard with us for real-life sailing, an overnight passage, and a tour of the USS Yorktown! Thanks for watching! Hit that subscribe button, and we’ll see you next week as we continue sailing up the East Coast. Join us on Patreon for early access and more from our adventures: https://www.patreon.com/SailingBananaPancakes #SailingFamily #SailingLife #BoatLife #Charleston #USSYorktown #FamilyAdventure #CatamaranLife

We left Cumberland Island for what should have been a quick sail to Brunswick. Instead, our watermaker started acting up, a huge storm rolled in, and the lightning got close enough to make everyone rethink being outside. Once we made it safely to the dock, we reunited with our friends from Waves of Wisdom and Isla, let the kids run wild, and sat them down for a Q&A—with a surprise question for Easton. We also thought his AirPod had fallen into the Atlantic… until it turned up in the boat. Brunswick brought marina fun, a dock party where every dock represented a different country, homemade pizza, free laundry, and a few days of catching up with friends and family. Then it was time to say “goodbye for now” and get Banana Pancakes moving north again. Thanks for watching! Subscribe and come along as we make our way up the East Coast. Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SailingBananaPancakes

After making it to St. Augustine, we thought we were ready to move on—but then a sailing family with four boys reached out, and we decided to stay a little longer. The boys hit it off right away, and we got to enjoy a beach day, swimming, football, and an unforgettable night of ’90s music aboard the boat. St. Augustine also brought wild storms, boat projects, and one very stinky watermaker filter. Then we headed north to Georgia and anchored near Cumberland Island, where the wild horses, historic ruins, and crab-covered marshes made it feel like we’d found a whole new world. Our first attempt to explore the island was cut short by a massive storm. We raced back through the rain and waves, soaked everything we owned, and tried again the next day. This time, we made it—and ended the visit with wild horses, Carnegie family ruins, and a night of games aboard Waves of Wisdom. Next week: a big three-day crossing. Thanks for watching, and don’t forget to subscribe! 🌟Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SailingBananaPancakes 🌟Check out our featured friends Waves Of Wisdom https://youtube.com/@UCmy0aAMQ7ceh2ppDvcC9kpA #Sailing #SailingFamily #CumberlandIsland #StAugustine #SailingLife #CatamaranLife #SailingBananaPancakes

Our first overnight sail on the Leopard 50 was officially in the books… and by morning, we were all exhausted except Easton, who was ready to catch a fish. 🎣 After landing a huge kingfish, we sailed into beautiful St. Augustine, Florida: America’s oldest city (debatably, according to Kamden). From mooring-ball chaos and a rocket launch over Cape Canaveral to a dead dinghy, exploring Castillo de San Marcos, mini golf, steak-offs, and East Coast lightning this stop had a little bit of everything. Boat life is never boring, especially with three boys. Subscribe and come along for the next adventure! Want more? Join our Patreon crew for early access to new episodes, exclusive live streams, and behind-the-scenes moments: https://patreon.com/SailingBananaPancakes

We’re sailing north from West Palm Beach and this time, we’re securing every drawer before heading offshore! 😂 With a glassy ocean and almost no wind, we finally faced one of our fears and jumped into the open ocean while the boat was still moving. The boys brought out the spear pole, Easton knocked out 100 pull-ups, and we encountered the largest pod of dolphins we’ve ever seen! After anchoring in Fort Pierce, we continued north toward Port Canaveral, where lightning, a closed lock, and a painfully expensive marina changed our plans. But it all led to an unforgettable first day of homeschool at Kennedy Space Center. 🚀 Then, instead of staying another night, we made a spontaneous decision: attempt our first overnight sail as a family. Everyone took a solo night watch as we sailed through the darkness toward St. Augustine but changing winds meant changing plans. If you’re new here, welcome aboard! Subscribe and follow our family as we learn to live, sail, and homeschool aboard our Leopard 50 catamaran. #SailingFamily #SailingLife #KennedySpaceCenter #NightSailing #LiveaboardSailing #FamilyTravel #HomeschoolFamily #CatamaranSailing #BoatLife #SailingBananaPancakes

We thought our biggest problem was a broken dinghy… until one of our engines refused to start and a massive wave came crashing through the front door of our boat. After six hours troubleshooting the engine in the Florida heat, Steve finally got us moving again. But our first real day sailing north quickly went from calm seas and sunshine to complete chaos. One open door, one massive wave, and suddenly our cabin, electronics, cabinets—and everything we owned—were soaked. Between engine trouble, seasickness, family tension, a huge sailfish breaking the line, and the realities of learning a brand-new boat, this episode is a pretty honest look at what family sailing life is really like. But somehow, the hardest days still end with a sunset, music, laughter, and the reminder that we don’t always get it right—but we never stop choosing each other. If you enjoy our sailing episodes, subscribe and join us as we sail our Leopard 50 north and prepare for the adventures ahead! Want more? Join our Patreon crew for early access to new episodes, exclusive live streams, and behind-the-scenes moments: https://patreon.com/SailingBananaPancakes #SailingFamily #BoatLife #FamilySailing #SailingYouTube #CatamaranSailing #Leopard50 #SailingAdventure #LivingOnABoat

Our dinghy died miles from our sailboat as darkness closed in and a massive lightning storm rolled toward us. Then our hair began standing straight up—the terrifying warning that lightning could strike at any moment. What was supposed to be a simple family sailing trip from Miami to Key Largo for key lime pie quickly became one of the scariest nights we’ve experienced on the water. The day began perfectly. We left Miami early, spotted dolphins, and motored across a glassy ocean toward the Florida Keys. Our only real plan was to anchor in Key Largo, explore town, and find the best key lime pie we could. But boat life had other plans. After finally getting our unreliable dinghy started, we crossed some questionable water, found a dinghy dock, and walked to the Key Lime Pie Factory. When we returned, the dinghy engine wouldn’t start. We spent over an hour troubleshooting it, but nothing worked. With darkness approaching and lightning flashing around us, we had only one option: paddle all the way back to our catamaran. At first, everyone was laughing and making jokes. But as the wind picked up, the waves grew, our phones began dying, and the boat still looked impossibly far away, the mood changed. Then Malia’s hair started standing straight up—one of the warning signs of an imminent lightning strike. We were exhausted, scared, and completely exposed on the water. More than an hour later, we finally reached our sailboat safely…only to discover that our generator had stopped working. By morning, our watermaker had failed too, leaving our family without running water or flushing toilets. Just another peaceful day of living on a boat. 😂 But this episode isn’t all boat problems and terrifying storms. We enjoy our first family sunset dinner on the flybridge, sail through the Gulf Stream, and watch the boys catch a beautiful bonita—and then hook into the biggest fish they’ve ever fought! We finish the adventure back in Miami, where we dress up for one final night with Malia and Hayden before their early flight to Boise. Saying goodbye to our daughter was harder than we expected. It’s one thing for her to leave for college. It’s another knowing that we’re the ones sailing away and will soon be in another country. This episode captures everything about full-time family sailing: incredible beauty, complete chaos, broken boat systems, deep-sea fishing, terrifying weather, and the family moments that make every struggle worth it. If you enjoy family sailing adventures, catamaran living, offshore fishing, Florida Keys travel, and the honest reality of living aboard a sailboat, subscribe and join the Sailing Banana Pancakes crew! Next week, we begin making our way north along the East Coast—but as usual, nothing goes according to plan. ⚓ Subscribe and follow our family as we sail the world 👍 Like this video if you would have paddled through the storm for key lime pie 💬 Tell us below: What would you have done when the dinghy stopped working? #FamilySailing #BoatLife #SailingAdventure

We’re finally setting sail on our new floating home—and our very first fish aboard is a beautiful mahi-mahi! 🎣⛵️ After six exhausting days of moving aboard, organizing, provisioning, and preparing our Leopard 50 catamaran, it’s finally time to leave the dock and begin our next chapter as a full-time sailing family. But before we can head out to sea, we still have a few last-minute boat projects to tackle. We rescue our Starlink from a pile of trash, shop for fishing gear, discover our water pump isn’t working, send Kamden to the top of the mast to retrieve a stuck halyard, practice tying lines, and spend an eye-watering $1,255 on our first fuel-up. Boat life is officially back! We take our new sailboat through the incredible canals of Fort Lauderdale, cruise past some of the most beautiful waterfront homes in Florida, and return to Lake Sylvia—the anchorage where so many things went wrong during our first sailing adventure four years ago. This time, we’re determined to replace those memories with better ones. After swimming, exploring the boardwalk, enjoying live music, and completing our signature Satterlee family pull-up challenge, we wake up for the moment we’ve been waiting for: our first real sail aboard our new catamaran. Of course, it wouldn’t be a true shakedown sail without a few problems. The autopilot stops working, the wind builds to 22 knots, and our trip from Fort Lauderdale to Key Biscayne becomes a long beat directly into the wind. But then the fishing line starts screaming—and Easton reels in the first fish ever caught aboard our new boat: a mahi-mahi! After years of catching barracuda, landing a mahi on our very first sail feels like the perfect way to begin this new adventure. Join our family of six as we adjust to living aboard a sailboat, learn the systems on our Leopard 50, explore Florida by boat, fish offshore, and prepare to sail around the world. If you enjoy family sailing channels, boat life, offshore fishing, sailing adventures, travel, and the unpredictable reality of living aboard a catamaran, subscribe and come along with us. New sailing episodes every week! Where should we sail next—and what do you think we’ll catch after the mahi? Let us know in the comments! #SailingFamily #BoatLife #SailingAroundTheWorld #Leopard50 #CatamaranSailing #MahiMahi #OffshoreFishing #FamilyTravel #LiveaboardSailing #FloridaSailing #KeyBiscayne #FortLauderdale #SailingAdventure #SailingYouTube #FishingFamily

I surprised Easton during our q&a session with a question of my own😂

One of the questions we get all the time: where do you put all your food?! A little look inside our galley, how we organize food, and where we manage to fit everything when your kitchen also has to survive life at sea.

We bought a Leopard 50 catamaran, moved our family of six aboard—and immediately discovered our new home wouldn’t even fit at the dock. This is the chaotic reality of becoming a full-time sailing family. After saying goodbye to everything familiar and catching a one-way flight to Florida, it was finally time to move onto our new sailboat, Banana Pancakes. But first, we had to navigate the Intracoastal Waterway, open our first bridges, squeeze a 50-foot catamaran into an impossible slip, unload an entire storage pod, survive a Florida rainstorm, and somehow find room for everything we thought we needed to sail around the world. Over five exhausting days, we cleaned, organized, provisioned, discovered broken air conditioners and rusted tools—and somehow completely missed the fact that our boat doesn’t have an oven. We also learned that Amazon may be the most important member of our crew. Moving aboard a sailboat isn’t always the dreamy yacht life shown online. Sometimes it’s sweat, storms, overflowing boxes, questionable purchases, family chaos, and trying to turn a massive catamaran into a home. But little by little, Banana Pancakes started to feel like ours. Join us next week as we finally untie the lines and begin our next sailing adventure! Thanks for watching! Subscribe and come sail around the world with our family. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with someone who dreams of leaving ordinary life behind for an adventure at sea. #SailingFamily #LiveaboardSailing #CatamaranSailing

First overnight sail On overnight passages, we all take turns on watch so someone is always up keeping an eye on things. Apparently we all have very different ways of passing the time on our shift. When your turn hits at 2 or 3 a.m., it’s basically just you, the boat, and pitch black in every direction. You can hear the water and feel the boat moving, but you really can’t see much beyond it. 😳 Some people think it sounds peaceful. Others are already stressed just watching this. 😂 Which one are you?