Bull Canyon: A Boatbuilder, a Writer and Other Wildlife

by Lin Pardey

Internationally famous with her husband Larry for their sailing adventures and expertise, Lin Pardey turns here to an adventure on land - the four years that the couple spent far from the sea, building the boat of their dreams in California's remote Bull Canyon. First there were the rats in the pantry, then the floods, then the fires, then the visiting cougar. Life in Bull Canyon was daunting and dangerous. Often Lin wondered just what in the world they were doing so far from their customary home on the open seas. Bull Canyon joins the canon of great tales of homesteading, told in the warm, funny, and insightful voice of a true storyteller.

Genres: Memoir

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 22, 2011

About the author

Lin Pardey (aka Mary Lin Pardey) is famous internationally for her expertise and experience in small boat sailing. Together with her husband Larry Pardey she has been sailing and writing for many years.

Lin's (& Larry's) sailing records speak for themselves:
Smallest boat to have circumnavigated contrary to the prevailing winds around all the great southern capes

Only couple to have circumnavigated both east-about and west about on boats they built them selves, using traditional means of navigation and having no engine.

Their awards tell about their dedication to the world and spirit of ocean cruising:

Ocean Cruising Club Award - for contributions to Seamanship for small boat sailing. Presented to Lin Pardey 1996.

Geoff Pac Memorial Award- to both Lin and Larry for fostering and encouraging ocean cruising in small yachts

Cruising World Hall of Fame-2000
Ocean Cruising Club Merit Award -To Lin and Larry for inspiring voyages including a west-about rounding of Cape Horn

Seven Seas Cruising Club Service Award - To Lin and Larry for their lifetime voyaging achievements 2004

Cruising Club of America Far Horizons Award – To Lin and Larry for life time achievements and contributions to seamanship 2009

Sail Magazines Top 40 Sailors who made a Difference – 2010 – As America’s first couple fo cruising, Lin and Larry have inspired countless sailors.


Lin and Larry currently make their home port in New Zealand.

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lin Pardey's picture as she's painting Taleisin's name graces an interview about her memoir titled Bull Canyon in SAIL magazine's Sept 2011 issue.

Photo published in SAIL, courtesy Lin Pardey.

Lin and Larry Pardey lived and built their 29-foot engine-free Taleisin in Bull Canyon, California. A more unlikely place for two life-long blue water sailors to build a boat would have been pretty hard to find!

I thoroughly enjoyed Lin Pardey's memoir of how she and her husband Larry Pardey made their home and built their wooden yacht Taleisin up a dirt road in a remote canyon north east of Lake Elsinore in Southern California. The efforts of the two leave their mark on the canyon, its residents, and the reader in a myriad of ways.

Lin's account is well-remembered. She both respects and is perplexed by her new neighbors, people who have been living off the grid and away from city life. Many of their challenges become her own as she weathers through the canyon's flooding, fires, intense summer heat, and pressure to develop.

All the while she is examining her own life as a daughter, wife, writer and adventurer. She shares her thoughts about her goals, her relationships and her work in such a way that the reader comes to know her way of living, to appreciate it, maybe even to envy it.

It is not the life you might expect. Lin notices and describes the tensions of reconciling her own individuality, marital role and self-reliance with the feminism of the times. She examines the trade offs of her adventurous life, alternative career, and social nature with her need to be ashore, take time alone, and be productive. Lin shares hard won lessons here that will reward any reader -male or female, married or single, landlubber or devoted ocean-goer.

To bastardize Lance Armstrong "It's not about the boat!" but with Lin's help, Larry sure does build a hell of a boat up in that canyon.

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Taleisin

Taleisin will eventually take the pair through the oceans of the world for she has now voyaged– 65,000 miles: sailing westward from California through Pacific, followed by two voyages from New Zealand to Australia and return. Then through Cook Straits of New Zealand to Sydney, south to Tasmania, westward through Australian bight to Indian Ocean, South Africa, Brazil, Ireland, England, Scotland and Norway. East coast of US, then south to Argentina and westward around Cape Horn to Chile.

My favorite quote about the Pardeys?
"They have built and sailed my uncle
Lyle's boats all over the world . . .
I own all their books and you should too!"
Michael J. Hess 2008

Lucky for us, Lin and Larry have written many books about their lifetime of voyaging and on the Pardey's website they post regularly with both a travelogue and practical tips for sailors.


Note: I received a copy of this book for free through Goodreads' First Reads Giveaways.

I pre-ordered a copy from Paracay, the publisher too because as soon as I saw this title on goodreads I knew I had to read it as soon as it came out -whether I won a copy or not!

[Heaven is a bookstore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me preface this by letting ya'll know that I won this book from GoodReads. Out of 814 people, little ol' me received one of 25 copies. And let me say, that feels pretty darn good.

Ahem, sorry just thought you should know. It T'IS truly the little things in life. Not to mention, also enclosed was a letter from the author which just made the winning that much sweeter. When I become an author, please remind me how much it means to the reader to receive those small touches. I am currently ridding myself of all my books that just sit and collect dust, but this one was not only stamped with my personal book stamp, but will remain in my stash as a keeper.

I pretty much fell in love with this book instantly. I like to be surprised when reading a book, so as I have mentioned before the only time I read the summary of a book is when I first discover it. I really liked that I could pick this book up and start from the beginning and just feel like I knew the book already. It felt like I already knew Lin Pardey.

Lin Pardey is an incredible writer who instantly pulls the reader in with all the little details, but is able to make it feel like I am not reading a bunch of little details that go on forever. She has this wonderful way of making me feel at home as if I were walking beside her and experiencing it all before me. She allows the reader into her life and holds nothing back. She does an incredible job of summing up her experience getting to Bull Canyon from the sailboat in a simply chapter. I loved the introductions and continued antics of her neighbors. I am continually enamored with the way we are so surprised when people are outright kind to us and yet, I am glad to still be amazed by this. As this was a first time read for me of Lin Pardey's books, I look forward to reading her other books now.

A few of my favorite moments were these -

The aroma of garlic and sage rubbed turkey slowly filled the pine-paneled room, and my thoughts were drawn back to the list of tasks I had to do before everyone arrived. As I basted the turkey, then formed loaves of bread and set them on the long, clean counter to rise, I surveyed my country cottage. Then wondered, just as every daughter must, "What will Mom think?" Would she see only the peeling paint in the side rooms, the rotting ceiling panels in the kitchen, the old stains on borrowed tablecloths that couldn't disguise the rough legs of the rental table, the cracks in the few serving dishes we owned, the tree stumps and old packing chests that had to serve as seats for half the guests? Or would she see the sweet-smelling boughs of pine, the cattails and brilliant autumn leaves I'd gathered to decorate the long table? Would she hear the crackle of the old wood stove as it warmed the kitchen and kept my fruit compote slowly simmering, and the sizzle of the turkey in the propane oven? Would she then envision, as I did, the romance of this hidden spot as it slowly yielded to my guiding efforts and became a real haven?

This quote made me yearn for my mother.

"Show her every ring you've got for under ten bucks," he announced to the bored looking salesman in the credit jewelry store. "I'm only joking," he added as the man pointed to the two bands that cost less than ten dollars. The joke was on Larry as I tried on fifty bands to find the only one small enough to be worn by me that day cost $9.99.

This one just made me laugh at the way life works out sometimes.

"Lin, it's only money," Larry insisted as he had often before during our lives together. "I can always go out to the beach, live on Seraffyn, and find some boatbuilding work if we run short."

Simply warms the heart.

One of my favorite stores was about them encountering and eventually adopting a cat named Dog and how that came about, but sadly I cannot possibly ruin it for anyone who will be reading this story. It is way too entertaining to divulge.

I couldn't stop laughing out loud during the entire chapter entitled "Children of All Ages" where they discuss having children before it is too late even though they decided ages ago not to. They even go so far as to look around for children to borrow. Hilariously funny!

I fell even more deeply in love with this book during Chapter "Interlude," during which Lin describes their lives off Bull Canyon where she takes care of their boat that they sailed around the world. She details another couple who have similar lives to their own gypsy-like living and how they grew into a wonderful life long friendship.

On a side note, I really liked the added touch of the hard cover. When I read a hard cover, I take the outside wrap off the book. I don't want to ruin it and I tend to be very hard on my books, as they are like another part of my body, coming along wherever I go and with everything I eat/drink. As I have read many hard cover books without the cover, they are usually nondescript and just a plain, solid color hard cover book, but this book not only had the title embossed in the front, but the authors name and beautifully done.



A big thanks to GoodReads and Lin Pardey for allowing me to receive this book and be a First Reads winner to review it!

Summary from Good Reads -

Lin Pardey and her husband Larry are internationally famous for their sailing adventures. But in 1980 -- fresh from an eleven years-long sailing journey, where they forged the early years of their marriage on high seas and in exotic locales -- they came to California looking for a good spot to build a boat, test Lin’s skills as a writer and taste the apparent security life ashore could offer.

Nestled in a rocky outcropping of winding, sparsely populated dirt roads, 60 miles from the sea and 50 miles from Los Angeles, Bull Canyon would seem an unlikely place for boat-building. But when Lin and Larry set eyes on the abandoned stone cottage at the top of a rutted, dusty lane, it was love at first sight. The house was certainly a fixer-upper, but there was plenty of room to build a boat, not to mention peace, quiet, and an abundance of natural beauty. They knew they'd come home.

Bull Canyon would bring them joy, victories and failures – but also packrats in the pantries, flooding rains that would make Noah himself cower, the occasional cougar, and an oddball collection of neighbors as ready to assist these hapless appearing newcomers as they were to gossip or occasionally cause trouble. It would be a life lived close to the land, coaxing vegetables out of acrid soil, living side-by-side with wildlife of all types, navigating dangerous roads to simply get to the nearest grocery store, no piped in water, no electricity, no phones – not even a proper address to receive mail. Their marriage would be tested, too, working side-by-side, 24/7. Life in the canyon would prove daunting, gritty, and dangerous, and a tougher bargain in the end than what they'd signed up for.

But as tough as life could be there, Bull Canyon was, indeed, the place where dreams could come true. It was here that Lin and Larry tapped into the affirming core of their marriage, accomplished back-breaking physical feats (moving enormous boulders and pouring tons of hot lead, among others), and grew to love the magical yet difficult environment.
In the tradition of Under the Tuscan Sun and A Year in Provence, Pardey takes readers on a voyage – landlocked, but a voyage nonetheless – of the heart, sharing candidly and with great humor the four years she and her determined husband spent in Bull Canyon. From the Thanksgiving when they had to hang the turkey from a ceiling hook to keep it safe from invading animals, to their constant companion, Dog (who is actually a cat), to Lin's run-in with a couple of drunk hunters, to Larry's careful coaxing of rough-sawn timber into the beautiful boat, Taleisin, their story, related in the warm, personal voice of the fireside storyteller, is a funny, tender, and engrossing tale. Bull Canyon is the story of two "dreamers and schemers" who have taken life by the horns – and bring the reader along for the wild and joyous ride.

[Kristi Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a Sailor/Voyager and you don't know who Lin and Larry Pardey are then I'm wondering what rock you've been living under, and are you even a real Sailor? Lin and Larry Pardey spent over four decades of sailing and accomplished multiple circumnavigations in two sailboats that they built themselves. Between them, they have published 9 books and countless sailing magazine articles. Bull Canyon is a special book to me because Lin gifted me the book as thanks for working at her Book Booth at the 2019 Annapolis Boat Show. It is a book that I will cherish for the rest of my days. Bull Canyon is the true story of when Lin and Larry decided to build their second boat, Taleisin up in Bull Canyon, CA. Bull Canyon is unique as it is the only one of their books that takes place on land. Of all the places to build a boat, Bull Canyon is nestled in the hills, north of San Diego and south of Los Angeles, 50 miles inland. The year was 1980, so way before that area was built up. They had to trudge up and down dirt roads to get anywhere and just as their boats had no engines, the small stone cottage they lived in had no electricity. Lin's writing really shines here as she walks us through the years they spent in Bull Canyon immersed in the small mountain community and the building of their beautiful floating home. Bull Canyon was a delight to read and provided an opportunity to get to see this adventurous couple thrive in a much different environment.

[Mrs Olga A Danes-Volkov · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional book

Oh how I loved this book. The descriptions of their life in Bull Canyon while they built the iconic Taliesin are flawless.

For me this described a life as far away as a mirage but so vividly that I could almost see it. The boat that they built still sails though sadly Larry died last year. I now have to read their sailing adventures primed by this lovely book. Highly recommended.

[Arthur Salyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book. A must read for anyone who lives in the Temecula Valley Calif....and anyone building a wooden boat....or dreamed of building a boat and sailing away (me).

Great unique characters out in the country.

My son actually lives today in their stone cottage of years ago.

[Kevin Brusett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich Human Seas to sail

Delightful introspective journey on navigating relationships while pursuing your dreams. Flows by all too quickly and leaves a smile on your heart.

[Lana Gerber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for Book Group. Way more details than I wanted to read about problems with the weather and problems getting electricity and phone. On and on and on.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book/story is captivating at first. I was a bit turned off by references to people working for "the man"-- a reference to resisting authority. Everyone gets paid by someone else. Some people get money for working, others get money when they don't. Most people pay taxes on the money they earn & those taxes go to give money to those who don't earn enough of a living. Also, the part about illegal immigrants and how they "had" to come here illegally to find work and then the hypocrisy of saying that one of the canyon dwellers didn't "follow the rules"....hmm. The self-righteous attitude, though self-preserving, was a bit too much to read about at times. A better story would have highlighted more of a person's vulnerabilites -- not to outside forces, but to the flaws within. Although if you don't have any....
I came away with very mixed feelings about the book. I guess you could say it is a love story. A story of the love between and a man and a woman, and the love that couple has for the oceans and its freedoms. It is the strength of these loves/passions that makes this couple push all else aside in pursuit of their goals. Admirable.
This is also a story of a remote and rugged canyon and its people. Through the course of the story the canyon is transformed and so too its inhabitants; there-in, is the story's tragedy. But like a child or a puppy that is so cute in infancy, the canyon too changes and grows and in so doing loses its inital charm and appeal. However, others might say it gains appeal.
I give this book three stars because it is captivating for the first two-thirds and then becomes a bit slow and predictable. You don't have to be a sailor or adventurer to appreciate it.

[Melanie Coombes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bull Canyon is the story of Lin Pardey and her husband Larry. Both are well known for their sailing adventures. In 1980, after sailing for 11 years, they decide to come to California to find a spot for Larry to build a boat and for Lin to work as a writer. What follows in this book is the tale of nearly four years in Bull Canyon, an area sixty miles from the sea. The house is a fixer upper with no electricity or phone lines, and the neighbors are all quirky characters.
They battle rats, bugs, frogs, fire, floods, and earthquakes, yet despite all this, they fall in love with Bull Canyon and the simple, unspoiled life it offers to them. There are many black and white photos throughout the book of their time in California. I was in awe of the boat that was built in this remote canyon.
I loved this book! Each chapter reads like a travel memoir. Lin and Larry have chosen a non-traditional lifestyle that was fascinating to read about. I loved picking up this book and traveling back thirty years in time to hear about this couple's adventures and trials while trying to adjust to a life back on land. Lin's writing style was easy to read and pretty much grabbed me from the first few pages. I was sad when the story came to an end. I had a wonderful glimpse into their lives for the many years they worked and lived in Bull Canyon. Whether one has been sailing or not, does not matter, this story is an amazing book that would be a recommended read to anyone who has dreamed of doing something different or reading about it. I want to thank the goodreads giveaway program and Lin for this book!

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are looking for ribald adventures and swashbuckling steamy sailors, this is not the book for you. It is a memoir, not for life at sea, but a marriage, a canyon with its characters, and building a boat. While I am not much of a seafarer, having only been sailing as many fingers as I have, I still found the content engaging, informative, and applicable to anyone's life, not just those whose passion is sailing. Pardey makes the canyon (and the boat) come alive with her descriptions of beings, both animate and not. The people and animals living in the canyon would easily recognize themselves, and the reader can also identify with both foibles and endearing qualities. Granted, I wanted to see the Pardey's take their animals with them on the boat, and I do not quite understand why they did not; of the few trips I've been on, many had pets that sailed with their boat-keepers. The photos interspersed throughout the pages added a nice counter punch to the narrative, but one thing I had difficulty with was the time line. Neither the writing nor the photos were dated, perhaps Lin was thinking it made the piece more accessible to readers in all decades, but I found it confusing to follow exactly where in time I was on any given anecdote. That being said, I recommend this to all who enjoy a good memoir, not just those who enjoy a good sloop.

[J.R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who builds a boat in the desert?

A sailor (sailors in this case) who needs cheap digs with few distractions.

If you’ve read any of her sailing books or articles you already know Lin Pardey can write. This particular book is about Lin and Larry Pardey’s four years ashore in the 1980s while building Taleisn, a new boat.

Their respite, chosen primarily for the sake of economics, was an abandoned stone cottage sixty miles from the sea and most conveniences. Lin tells with a mix of joy and pride how they transformed the cottage into a home while battling packrats, snakes, flood, fires and assorted other dangers.


There’s good humor and charm in her descriptions of eccentric but lovable neighbors, the environment and the challenges of a decidedly different way of life than they were accustomed to.

If you love boats and sailing you’ll be intrigued by the detail on the building of the 29-foot sailboat. But even those who don’t give a hoot about that will find much to enjoy in this different kind of memoir and the adventures of a couple of modern pioneers.

Lin is the author of 11 books. She and Larry have sailed more than 200,000 miles and have created a number of instructional videos on sailing. They now live in New Zealand but continue to cruise part of the year on Taleisin.

[Ruth Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew a bit about Lin and Larry's cruising adventures from their articles in sailing magazines. Did you know that I was an avid sailboat racer on the Chesapeake Bay and on smaller lakes? Anyway, I was excited to win this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Lin's engaging story details their life in Bull Canyon as they take a break from sailing to write and to work on building their 29-foot sailboat, Taleisin.

Bull Canyon is about 50 miles from Los Angeles and subject to long periods of no rain with periodic threats of devastating fires. Lin and Larry's self-reliance shines as we learn of their adventures homesteading in an abandoned stone cottage with no phone, no electricity, and no piped-in water. Their can-do attitude without spending a lot of money reminds me a lot of my life with Bob. Lin has an ease with her storytelling as she writes about their day-to-day life. She shares personal feelings about life-changing decisions, her relationship with Larry, and their life within the small community in the canyon. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Kudos to Lin and Larry for breaking from the norm and living the life that they wanted to live.

[Stephanie MacDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an adventure! Lin really does a great job at pulling the reader right in! This book is craftily worded and makes for such a smooth read. While I am not into sailing, this book will capture anyone who picks it up! The stories are incredible, one can only dream of experiencing so much out of life and it is so beyond inspirational what these two love birds have been through together. I can only imagine what this kind of living has done for their relationship, amazing. Certainly would push any two people to the limits! I really enjoyed how the scenes, especially nature, were written in such way I felt that I was there. I loved this book. While I am also not much into biographies either, this is much more that that! This is a story that inspires and captures the heart of the reader. I recommend this book to all, while not all of us can take a vacation, it is so nice reading a book that can mentally take you there. I will cherish my signed copy!

[Linda Dao · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Lin’s book! I was absolutely thrilled to see her lifestyle described in such a way that make the book more than a memoir but a journey of adventure and love. Bull Canyon showed the hardships of Lin and her husband, Larry’s life. They chose to live on land after their many years at sea. The canyon had presented its challenges each testing the couple more and more, but it still was a place for their dreams and aspirations. Their love for each other and dedication for their work was amazing. The descriptions come alive and I often found myself picturing the scene as if I was part of it too and got lost in the book. It was beautifully written. Their life out at sea and land had its ups and downs but in the end it was all worthwhile. Any reader would appreciate that. The pictures were great too as it helped me picture more of what I thought was happening. I reread my book twice because I just couldn’t get enough.

[Kaci Cronkhite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Among ocean sailors, there are few couples who have shared their love for each other, sailing, and wooden boats over more ocean miles than Lin and Larry Pardey. In Bull Canyon, Lin changes tacks - taking us onto land - into a dry, dusty canyon in California with more a cast of characters among the neighbors that many of us who've lived in remote places will recognize, sort of. It's a lovely story about the hard work and tedious attention to detail these two bring to every boatbuilding project, with a glimpse into another side of their life as writers, sailors, and above all as a couple whose passion imbues all they do. While Storm Tactics is the book I'd make sure to carry on every ocean voyage - and any of the Serrafyn (and no doubt the upcoming Taliesin Tales due out in October 2016) series guarantee some fantastic adventure - Bull Canyon is where Taliesin gets her start. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

[Linda Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting story about living a life like no other. There is no frame of reference for what Lin and Larry did: build a big boat far from water in a seasonally-adjusted dusty or rain-soaked canyon. I liked the arrival in Bull Canyon much better than the leaving Bull Canyon. What was most fascinating to me was the relationship. Living in extraordinary circumstances for so many years helped the couple learn problem-solving at home, but I was intrigued by how Lin handled some his/her situations I would have had a much harder time with; for example, her husband's insistence on her writing schedule when they were newbies in the canyon and the excitement and sense of adventure was fresh. I would have wanted to be more a part of that, and damn the writing for now. It's still a grand yarn about a couple coping in a canyon with a really big boat to build.

[Sjm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bull Canyon by Lin Pardey was a terrific read....This is a true story, yet it reads like the best of fiction. I learned a little about boat building, life in a secluded canyon without the amenities I take for granted, and what it meant to this couple to have the freedom to set sail to any destination of their choosing. What I enjoyed most about this story was the sense of adventure, bravery and optimism it portrayed...

Visit Cookie's Book Club to read more of my review as well as an interview with the author Lin Pardey.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Won this book and am happy to add my signed copy to my book shelf. You don't have to be interested in sailing or boats to appreciate this truly inspiring memoir. Lin Pardey does a fantastic job of keeping your attention through their experiences in Bull Canyon. Neighbors, wildlife, visitors, and the lack of electricity and running make for constant adventures. Best of luck to Lin and Larry as they set sail in the Taleisin. I look forward to reading of their tales at sea.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this as a first read giveaway. Lucky me! This book is about a couple (who travel the world in their boat)staying in a stone cottage in a Canyon with no electricity, telephone or running water while building a boat for their next adventure. I found it very interesting to see how they transformed their physical environment and the type of relationship they have. Wouldn't mind reading some of their other books. :)

[Beth Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, particularly because I just met Lin and Larry in New Zealand. Lin is as feisty in real life as she appears in her book. I appreciated her honesty and candid descriptions of their life in Bull Canyon. Lin writes of the obstacles they overcame, the interesting characters in Bull Canyon the hopes and dreams she and Larry shared. Even though I am a sailor I appreciated this land based tale.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won an advance copy of Bull Canyon from Goodreads and was so excited to receive it not long after my husband and I returned from a sailing vacation. I truly enjoyed the book and have great respect for the author and her husband. They had a lot of obstacles to overcome as a result of their unique choice in a home and their goal to build a boat. I'd love to meet them some day!

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book from goodreads and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The main charaters, who were the boat builders, were such interesting people. All the craziness of living in the canyon while building a boat up there was amazing. Lin and Larry were truly free spirits and lived life their own way. How many people can truly say that? I didn't want their adventures in the canyon to end!!!

[Heather Maire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is truly lovely. It's a story of Lin Pardey's life. And she does a wonderful job pulling you in. It may not be for everyone, but if you enjoy a good life story then definitely pick it up! She's lived quite a life!

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first win on Goodreads. Excited to read it.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice story that personalized their adventures and depicted their fun loving and hard working passion. So wonderful to have a shared passion!

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not normally a fan of memoirs, but I did enjoy this book. Lin is a talented writer and easily keeps the reader involved.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy, enjoyable read - most of all I liked gleaning a bit more about the off-water lives on Lin and Larry.

[Kate. Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. An easy read about adventure and goal setting in life. Even if you are not a sailor this book is great! It is full of little stories that make you laugh out loud!

[Carrie]

Awesome! I'm really excited to have won this book, it looks like a fantastic story!!