A fun and exciting guide to the world of living out at sea. This book will teach you what you need to know inorder to live safely, economically and cheaply when spending moths at sea. If nothing else, this book will send you chasing for your dreams, whether it be to take an adventure at sea or just about anyhting else. This is the first of a four-book series which begins on the journey that Lin and Larry Pardey began 34 years ago in their self-built 24-foot engineless cutter, Seraffyn. In this journey, we explore places such as Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and the Islands of the Atlantic ocean. Throughout the book, we learn about people and customs, we learn about the tricks of boating, we learn about surviaval. This 25th anniversary edition includes a new forward, new appendixes, and a color photo album showing Lin, Larry and the Serraffyn during those months at sea.
This second book in the Seraffyn cruising series begins with their arrival on the southwest coast of England where they coasted eastward, stopping where fancy held them, where good friends were made, to winter at Pooole, and work to pay for th enext leg of their voyage - toward the Baltic. Denmark, Sweden, Finland were full of welcoming and interesting people and an almost invisible bureacracy. But things were definitely different when they reached Poland were armed guards watched while the poeple greeted them with flowers, fruits and sweets. Their foray behind the Iron Curtain of the 1970's introduced them to some of the people who lead the Solidarity Movement, the force that eventually toppled the Soviet Union. You'll be right on board as they weather a fierce mast-under broach in a Baltic gale and through the wintery North Seas. Here is a feast for the fantiasies of stay-at-homes and a warm account of just two years of the lives of two people who have lived in a wide adventurous world for more than four decades. Their motto -- Go Small, Go Simple, Go Now has encouraged thousands of other sailors to take the plunge. And this book is an entertaining instruction manual on how to live a rich life on very little money. "Lin Pardey has, in her deceptively simple and fresh-faced style, told the story of an unusual and appealing marriage partnership, a speical way of life. Yachtsmen will enjoy the technical description of the problems of maneuvering in the tight harbours and unmapped channels...the perils of heavy seas in a small boat. But what is remarkable is that she can draw a nonsailor into these special subjects and make them as comprehensible and absorbing to a landlubber as they would be to someone about to set out on the same itinerary in a small boat of his own." R. Sokolov, NewYork Times Book Review
The pleasures and adventures of cruising under sail are amazingly affordable, say Lin and Larry Pardey. But to keep your dream on budget, you have to decide: Are you a cruiser or a consumer? In this book, a logical successor to their Self-Sufficient Sailor and Capable Cruiser, they discuss making your getaway plans, finding a truly affordable boat, keeping your outfitting costs and maintenance time under control, and learning to feel confident as you cruise farther afield. Their comparison of the gear considered necessary by many yachting experts and the gear carried by several cost-conscious cruisers will help you guage wheter you are buying the true necessities or overloading your boat with high-tech items that can break down and steal your sense of confidence offshore. The chapters on getting the most from your cruising funds, the attributes of successful long-term voyagers, how to upgrade your boat with your own hands, plus answers to the then questions most frequently asked by potential cruisers will help you prepare to explore under sail. as Lin and Larry explain, "The decisions you make now will determine if yu'll come back from your cruise feeling more empowered or more enslaved by today's consumer society."
In As Long as It’s Fun, the biography of Lin and Larry Pardey, Herb McCormick recounts their remarkable sailing career—from their early days in Southern California to their two circumnavigations to their current life in a quiet cove in New Zealand. Through interviews with their families, friends, and critics, McCormick delves deeply into the couple’s often-controversial opinions, sometimes-tenuous marriage, and amazing list of accomplishments. As Long as It’s Fun is as much a love story as it is a sea yarn, and, like all such stories, it’s not without complications . . . which makes it not only a sailing tale but also a human one.
Let Cruising in Seraffyn introduce you to a special world. The first of a four-book series, it is full of the sights, sounds and people of Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and the islands of the Atlantic Ocean. Read how Lin and Larry built their wooden 24-foot engineless cutter and set off hoping for a few months of true freedom in spite of limited finances. Share their excitement as they learn how to earn as they go and sail ever further afield. These two persuasive sailor/writers set out convincing arguments to get you chasing your dream sooner than you think -be it exploring the world under sail or adventuring towards any new goal. A favorite of sailors and armchair sailors for over four decades, this book is more than a first-rate tale and love story; it is also a carefully thought-out guide to living aboard a small boat, with fun and good seamanship as guiding principles. This tribute edition, created by Lin to honor Larry, includes a new foreword, updated appendices and a color insert showing Seraffyn during her circumnavigation and afterwards, under the guardianship of subsequent owners - which proves that Larry really did build her to last for 50 years or more.
"Go small, go simple, go now." This message by the Pardeys has inspired three generations of sailors and kept Cruising in SERAFFYN consistently near the top of nautical best seller lists for over two decades. An engaging tale of a leisurely sail through the Gulf of Cortez and the Panama Canal to the Azores and England, Cruising in SERAFFYN is also a carefully thought-out guide to living aboard a small boat, with fun and economy as guiding principles. Four appendices provide vital data for anyone contemplating long distance cruising.
After spending eleven years sailing around the globe, husband and wife, Larry and Lin Pardey, decide to spend some time as landlubbers in Bull Canyon, California, and build their own boat, where they experience perhaps their most adventurous voyage yet.
Larry Pardey is accepted as one of the master craftsman of the wooden-boat building world. He and his wife, Lin, have built and repaired many boats including two strong, handsome cruising cutters and sailed twice around the world in them. This impressive book shows the process of constructing a boat hull with extensive photographs and drawings and includes ample time-saving procedures. From financial and time planning, lofting, floors and framing, selection of materials, planking and spiling, design considerations, to deck beams, man-hour norms and details critical to wooden boat construction, this volume serves as th emost comprehensive guid a potential builder could ever use. Reders will also appreciate the discussions of how to select from numerous construction methods and materials, how to set up the shop and tips for sharpening and making your own tools. The new appendix on proper adhesive selection is "must" reading.
With stories from paradise and hard-won lessons in seamanship, Taleisin's Tales reflects back to the first miles Lin and Larry gained together on their second cruising boat, taking the reader from launching and sea trials between California and the Sea of Cortez to French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, Tonga and New Zealand. In the style readers have come to know, Taleisin's Tales relates stories sometimes harrowing, sometimes cautionary, sometimes hilarious, often heart-warming - and shows how slowing the pace brings unexpected moments of clarity and joy, and that sailing across an ocean on a small boat is not easy but, with the right partner and attitude, can be beautifully rewarding. Taleisin's Tales takes the reader from Bull Canyon, California, to Kawau Island, New Zealand, where, after almost 28 years of voyaging on Taleisin, Lin and Larry now live with a publishing company, a boatyard and a fifteen-foot Herreshoff sloop.
The Care and Feeding of Sailing Crew, despite the title, is hardly a cookbook; rather it’s a primer on successful cruising. Certainly, anyone contemplating, or preparing for, off shore passages would want to read and then keep this volume aboard. A 50 day passage from Japan to Victoria, Canada in 1979 provides Lin a base for discussing everything from menus to clothing, to choosing a fresh chicken, to dealing with port officials, to preventing sea sickness, to buying liquor abroad as well as the best material for underwear. Lin and Larry have been full time cruisers and professional sailors for some 40 plus years, it’s all that they do. They’ve learned a lot and a great deal of their wisdom appears in this book, where specific situations mix with general guidelines. As a bonus, Lin writes very well. She’s able to seamlessly tie one subject to the next in a style that seems like great conversation rather than reading a how-to-do-it text. By structuring the flow of information in and around the process of food preparation while experiencing the joys and travails of a very long passage, she provides the reader with a good cruising tale enhanced with a thousand useful tips. Tips vary from entertaining aboard to coping with money transfers. There are great tips on provisioning in foreign ports as well as a strong suggestion to only go a short distance before anchoring following a farewell party. Excellent chapters will help insure your crew stays healthy and well rested. Others deal with creating an ideal galley. From big ideas to small tips, all are presented logically and with useful illustrations. Learn why credit cards are safer to use than debit cards, how to keep eggs for up to 3 months without refrigeration. How you can determine which engine parts are likely to fail, which plastic material makes the best water jugs, how Lin outsmarted weevils and learned to bake fresh bread. Find out which galley layout works best offshore. Rain water catchers – how to make the best kind. On board trash collection and dealing with "black water" in boats lacking holding tanks. Which cutlery and dinnerware holds up best. Standing watches, getting rest and using Dramamine as a sleeping aid. The book covers everything from the value of "a little black cocktail party dress" to the safety of double sinks. Finally, intertwined in the cornucopia of wisdom is meal after nourishing meal sure to lift the spirits of a weary crew. Those recipes and cooking tips alone make for a book of great value. All the other info is just priceless gravy. This fourth edition of The Care and Feed of Sailing Crew incorporates ideas and information gathered by Lin and Larry during their more recent voyages through the Line Islands and south through the Pacific to New Zealand. The majority of chapters have been expanded to include the most up-to-date information on sources, supplies and new technology. Additional recipes and cooking ideas for use on cruising boats of all sizes have been added to ensure this valuable reference source continues to be relevant for all sailors who venture away from home, be it for a weekend cruise to nearby islands or a voyage around the world.
