The Boat

Long Summer is an Astréa 42 from Fountaine Pajot, a French-built sailing catamaran that launched in 2018. Measuring 12.58 m (41’3″) long and 7.08 m (23’3″) wide, she's spacious, stable, and built for blue-water cruising with a family.

She has four cabins and four bathrooms — the two aft cabins are the boys' rooms, the starboard forward cabin is the master, and the port forward cabin has been converted into a workshop/storage. There's a large saloon with a galley-up layout, and the cockpit has a huge dining area that's become the heart of our daily life.

The Kit

When you live on a boat full-time, gear matters. Here's what keeps Long Summer running:

Watermaker: A Rainman portable watermaker that converts seawater into fresh drinking water — essential for long passages and remote anchorages. It makes about 130 litres per hour.

Electronics: Full Garmin suite including a GNX™ wind display, autopilot, chartplotter, and radar. Garmin inReach for satellite communication when we're off the grid.

Solar: Six solar panels on the hardtop bimini generating around 2 kW — enough to keep the batteries full in most conditions without running the engine.

Dinghy: A Highfield Classic 380 aluminium RIB with a 20 HP Yamaha outboard. Our daily runabout for getting to shore, exploring, and the kids' favourite diving platform.

Why “Long Summer”?

After eight years in Singapore — practically on the equator — we joked that we'd been living in one long, never-ending summer. When it came time to name the boat and the blog, it felt right. The plan is to keep chasing the sun, following the seasons, and making this one long summer last as long as we possibly can.

Fair winds,
Ben, Emily, Sullivan & Frankie xx