Passage & Periplus leads sailing voyages through the seas that shape our future — approaching water and the land not as tourists, but as travelers who have left the shore.
Discover the VoyageMost travel moves you between places. A sailing voyage moves you between states. The sea is not a backdrop for the experience — it is the medium. Sustained suspension in the liquid world, day after day, creates conditions for change that land-based travel simply cannot replicate.
The connection between a sea passage and the rite of passage, the crossing, the transit from one world to another — these are ancient human experiences, and they are intrinsic to the act of sailing. Passage & Periplus is built on this premise: that when you approach ancient worlds--and your own journey--from the sea, something opens that would otherwise remain closed.
Before most of the group wakes, the captain assesses weather and sets the next leg. Coffee appears on deck as the anchor comes up. The morning is often for sailing — two to five hours, usually, on open water or through the islands. The pace of a boat gives you time to think, or not to think, or simply to watch.
You anchor in a bay. The dinghy takes you ashore. You explore: ruins, old churches, a hillside path with a view that has not changed since deep time. You swim. You wander. Late afternoon brings you back to the boat.
Before dinner — and dinner is late, and beautiful, and served on deck in an anchorage that may be one of the most beautiful places on earth — there is a time for a short lecture or a group discussion. That's as academic as we get. A reading — Homer, an old sailor's account, a page from the long memory of these waters. A question to sit with.
Then the meal. Then, if you want it, something deeper still: a time for the voice of the group — what did you discover? What did you feel? What questions are settling deeper? We might read from one of the great nautical adventures, and sing a song together on deck as night settles around us. Or, maybe you want to party on shore. That's fine too.
Sample schedule — varies from day to day
| 6-7 am | Captain up, day's planning set in motion |
| 7–8 am | Breakfast on deck |
| 9 am–12 pm | Sailing — open water passage (times vary each day) |
| Noon | Anchor, dinghy ashore |
| 1–4 pm | Explore: ruins, hikes, shopping, shore destinations. |
| 3–5 pm | Swim, kayak, return to boat |
| 6 pm | Pre-dinner lecture & reflection |
| 7–9 pm | Dinner at anchorage, on deck |
| After dinner | Optional reflection & conversation |
Passage & Periplus sails the waters of the Mediterranean — the heart of the ancient world, where philosophy, literature, and faith were shaped. These are not ruins; they are living landscapes and seascapes, filled with the liveliest cast of characters imaginable. Closer to home for many of us, the Caribbean provides a quick way to get on crystal blue water, and a refuge from Winter.
I was born on Maryland's Eastern Shore, a stone's throw from the headwaters of the Wicomico, a Chesapeake creek. I first sailed the Aegean in 2004, a seminary student aboard Sailing Acts — and those waters spoke something to me that has taken twenty years to answer.
In between: a family, a Master of Divinity, an MBA, and eleven years in Nairobi as a missionary, builder and entrepreneur. Then, summers sailing the Chesapeake — first with my children, then with friends, then with anyone I could talk into coming along.
Somewhere in those summers a conviction settled, and I have stopped arguing with it: I have to spend time on the water. Passage & Periplus is that conviction, made into an invitation.
Leaving Land: A companion for a voyage — Aram's book, now in review →
Two voyages are taking shape now — one in the wake of St. Paul, one for leaders. See the routes, ask questions, or reserve your place.
No commitment required. We'll be in touch as each voyage takes shape. Prefer to email? hello@passageandperiplus.com