About Landfall Leatherworks

This is my landfall after seven years at sea. Seven years at the whim of the elements, calling a sailboat home. And with this return to terra firma, I bring stories – of doldrums and squalls, of far-flung atolls and the delicious isolation of ocean crossings. In 2015 I hopped on a boat in my native Northern California and headed West by South. I didn’t expect ocean cruising to so quickly become my identity and lifestyle for the entirety of my twenties. During my passage from Mexico to the Marquesas aboard a thirty-foot steel gaff-rigged ketch, I found myself with time, and nowhere to be. I had 48 days of a very distinct, isolated reality; of sea and sky, sunup and sundown. I wrote, read, cooked, and stared at the horizon. I sewed. An old scrap of sailcloth became my hand-stitched take on a sailor’s ditty bag, using traditional sailmaking techniques. This little bag would eventually become the catalyst for Landfall Leatherworks. This brand is the tangible result of my desire to make sense of, and make something of, my years at sea. Upcycled sails innately lend a compelling quality to the bags – no two are alike, and each carries the story of its former voyage. These bags are more than vessels, inextricably linked to my story and the sea itself. - Emma CaseyRead their story