Maria moored in the golden light of sunset

Photography

Seen from Maria.

A travelling home, the people and dog who share it, and the changing light beyond the deck.

The story in photographs

Not a gallery. A life moving through Europe.

Maria is the constant. Around her, towns, rivers, weather and everyday routines keep changing. These photographs show what the journey feels like, not simply where we stopped.

Maria herself

A working boat became our home.

Her shape, name and working character are always part of the view.

The full profile of Maria beside a French town
Maria, with the whole boat and life on deck visible.
Maria moored beneath a dramatic summer sky
A quiet mooring beneath a sky that fills the day.
Oscar standing on Maria at sunset
Oscar keeping watch as the evening light catches Maria’s hull.

The crew

Home is the people aboard it.

Kaz through the hatch, Oscar watching the bank and the unhurried moments between journeys.

Kaz smiling as she emerges through a wooden hatch aboard Maria
Kaz appearing through the hatch — spontaneous, personal and unmistakably life aboard.
Oscar resting his head and paw over Maria's rail
Oscar watching the world from Maria.
Kaz relaxing at the table on Maria's deck
A still afternoon on deck.

Underway

The practical rhythm of travelling.

Long reaches of water, ropes and locks, then a city appearing around Maria again.

Looking forward across Maria's deck on the Canal du Rhône au Rhin
Travelling the beautiful Canal du Rhône au Rhin.
Kaz talking with one of the helpful éclusiers beside Maria
Helpful éclusiers — part of the pleasure of travelling through the locks.
Maria moored in Lyon beneath a modern city building
One day countryside; the next, Maria is part of Lyon.

Light on the water

The hours that make us stop.

Mist before the day begins and the last warmth of evening after everything has gone quiet.

Morning sun and mist seen along Maria's deck
Morning mist from Maria’s deck.
Golden evening light across a river and footbridge
Evening settles over the water.
A luminous evening sky beyond Maria's mooring
Stopped for the night beneath an extraordinary sky.

Stillness and memory

Maria stays with people.

A reflection on quiet water, a painter’s view of Maria, and the old hull disappearing into mist.

Maria reflected in still water at a rural mooring
Maria, still water and a quiet bank.
A local artist's painting of Maria
Maria painted by a local artist — now living in New York.
Maria emerging through mist in monochrome
Nearly a century afloat, disappearing into the mist.
Maria's deck with the Eiffel Tower ahead

Paris · 2022

Some places deserve their own chapter.

Eight weeks living aboard in Paris brought its own people, neighbours and stories. The Eiffel Tower stays with that chapter, where it has room to mean something.

Read the Paris story →

Continue exploring

Where did Maria take us?

Follow the journeys year by year, from our first season to the latest route.

Explore the cruising years