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Adventurer's Guide
158 pages, Paperback
Published June 12, 2025
About the author
Stephen Ladd
6 booksStephen Ladd was born in Bremerton, Washington in 1953. As a child he was happy to sit in a corner reading books, often of history or geography. After high school he traveled through Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, witnessing the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and spending a month in a Moroccan prison. Upon his return Steve studied urban planning, obtaining degrees from Western Washington and Harvard Universities. He worked for various Puget Sound counties and cities, writing land use plans and administering environmental regulations. His principal hobby was wilderness skiing.
In the late 1980s Steve designed and built 12-foot Squeak. In the early 1990s he conducted the voyage described in "Three Years in a 12-Foot Boat," which he self-published. A second edition is now available.
In 2009-2014 Steve and now-wife Virginia traveled in a 21-foot boat. They rowed, sailed, and motored from Florida down through the western Caribbean, then up the Orinoco River. In Venezuela they found the Casiquiare headwater connection to the Rio Negro and descended the latter. It fed into the Amazon. From the latter they ascended the Madeira River and the Guapore, to the head of navigation, then transported the boat to the Rio Paraguay, which they descended to Buenos Aires, Argentina. They then traveled back north via the Uruguay, Parana, Araguaia, and Tocantins Rivers, having a son in Brazil. Virginia and their baby flew home from Belem while Steve continued via the open sea, but he shipwrecked in the Dominican Republic. This voyage was documented in "The Five-Year Voyage: Exploring Latin American Coasts and Rivers."
Steve, Ginny, and their two sons live in Bremerton, Washington.
In the late 1980s Steve designed and built 12-foot Squeak. In the early 1990s he conducted the voyage described in "Three Years in a 12-Foot Boat," which he self-published. A second edition is now available.
In 2009-2014 Steve and now-wife Virginia traveled in a 21-foot boat. They rowed, sailed, and motored from Florida down through the western Caribbean, then up the Orinoco River. In Venezuela they found the Casiquiare headwater connection to the Rio Negro and descended the latter. It fed into the Amazon. From the latter they ascended the Madeira River and the Guapore, to the head of navigation, then transported the boat to the Rio Paraguay, which they descended to Buenos Aires, Argentina. They then traveled back north via the Uruguay, Parana, Araguaia, and Tocantins Rivers, having a son in Brazil. Virginia and their baby flew home from Belem while Steve continued via the open sea, but he shipwrecked in the Dominican Republic. This voyage was documented in "The Five-Year Voyage: Exploring Latin American Coasts and Rivers."
Steve, Ginny, and their two sons live in Bremerton, Washington.
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