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First Person Accounts

First Person Accounts

Bull Canyon: A Boatbuilder, a Writer and Other Wildlife

 In this book Pardy brings her spirit as a consummate sailor and writer to more terrestrial matters; though they are on dry land, there is many a storm to weather. Beth Leonard’s description is right on: “In Bull Canyon, Lin Pardey returns to the storytelling skills that … made her Seraffyn books perennial bestsellers. After finishing their first circumnavigation, Lin and Larry take a time out from cruising to build their second boat in a wild, isolated California canyon without water, electricity or phones. … Lin writes with humor, honesty, sensitivity and warmth, deftly portraying a fast-disappearing place, a moment in history and a turning point in her life journey. … The Pardey’s many fans will treasure this story of the birth of Taliesin in a desert canyon near the top of a mountain sixty miles from the sea.”

Rebuilding Rose: The Tale of an Atkins Packet Sloop

“One afternoon in 1997, an unsuspecting Jim Spaulding arrived home from work to learn that his wife Cheryl had "rescued" a dilapidated 25-foot, gaff-rigged sloop from a date with the incinerator. Over the next six years, the Spauldings, along with a colorful cast of family and friends, faithfully restored the Atkins-design Rose to its original beauty. This is their engaging story. The tale of Rose culminates with the maiden voyage of the restored vessel on the Chesapeake Bay, but not before readers are treated to an entertaining and illustrated journey through the entire restoration process. While most of the story takes a "how-they-did-it" approach, several sections explain unique tasks in the restoration.” (Publisher’s description)

Sloop: Restoring My Family's Wooden Sailboat--An Adventure in Old-Fashioned Values

Robb is as expert working wood as he is working with words, and thus he is able to craft a particularly engaging and informed account of his efforts to restore his families sadly neglected 15½-foot Herreshoff sloop.  In documenting the technical nature of boat’s restoration, he explores the history of the Cape and Islands, his family, and yachting, and along the way, introduces a colorful cast of local characters and craftsmen who dispense advice as well as lend a helping hand.  Robb effortlessly situates his account of the technical nature of boat restoration within the historical and social context of the New England maritime community, and illuminates the value of traditions that may be in danger of disappearing.

Sea Change: Alone Across the Atlantic in a Wooden Boat

This book allows one to get deep into the mind of a sailor.  Nichols writes about his single handed journey across the Atlantic on his 27’ wooden sloop, and conveys the experience in all of his glorious and harrowing detail.  Such a journey is difficult and dangerous under any circumstance, but the author left without properly preparing his boat to confront the indifferent, powerful forces of the Atlantic, and we come to realize that perhaps the only thing more unpredictable and threatening to Nichols than the open ocean are his own thoughts.  An elegant, passionate, and deeply honest account, that goes far beyond the typical “I crossed the Atlantic” yarn.