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May 2012
Dear Friends:
Just a week before I sat down to write this I learned my brother-in-law, Michael Masculine, was killed while riding his motorcycle. He was traveling at a modest speed, the light was green, a truck driver made a left turn and hit him. Michael died instantly, just a mile from his home. When I wrote of this on my personal Facebook page, a large number of friends sent condolences and warm thoughts. Four of them said they had lost loved ones the same way. This caused me to reflect on a question we are frequently asked, “Isn’t crossing oceans on a small boat dangerous?” Our answer, “not compared to driving!” As I look back over the past 45 years of voyaging I can think of very few sailing friends who had serious or fatal accidents while at sea. In fact, the only untimely deaths directly related to sailing involved a few friends who were racing singlehanded across oceans. My thoughts wander from this to the stack of sailing magazines that arrived in my mail package yesterday. Each one had articles about the latest items you should buy to make you safer afloat, emotionally reinforcing the idea that there is danger lurking just offshore in a bid to get you to spend money on their latest product. [1] In my reflective mood I began listing a few of the reasons cruising can be safer than life ashore; you are moving far slower on a boat than in a car, say 6 or 7 knots compared to 75 or 75 miles per hour. You are rarely maneuvering at speed within a few feet of other boats. You aren’t depending on other people to be paying attention, be drug or alchol free, to notice you, to stay on their side of the road. You can choose when you sail so are not forced to be in traffic during rush hour. As the kind wishes continue arriving for all our family, I am again reminded of a quote I’ve often read – each day you spend out sailing is one more added to the span of your life. Friends, if you ride motorcyles, be extra careful. In fact, maybe you should trade that motorcycle in and gain more time out on the water at the same time as you let your family breathe a little more comfortably.
On a far lighter note, as we mentioned in last month’s newsletter, we decided to rent a small motorhome and drive from Geelong where we’d enjoyed taking part in the Wooden Boat Festival, to Sydney along the Ocean Highway. During this foray we were reminded that many of the lessons we learned from voyaging on board simple sailing boats translate well to life on shore.
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Pardey Videos
Cost Control While You Cruise (DVD) New
What does it actually cost to cruise? How do you keep from blowing the budget you set? Join Lin and Larry Pardey as they share the financial lessons they have learned during 45 years of voyaging and from countless interviews with cruising sailors from dozens of different countries and walks of life. Lin discusses ways to keep maintenance costs in control, the importance of an unstoppable cruising boat and how your ground tackle and dinghy can save you money. Lin also reveals the tempting choice that can double your cruising costs. Larry will show you simple tricks to double the life of your sails. Also included are provisioning tips and planning ideas. This DVD is guaranteed to save you many times its cost while inspiring you to work toward getting “out there” as soon as possible.
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Storm Tactics (DVD)“One of the reasons I wanted to sail east-to-west around Cape Horn was to take video shots proving that mall vessels can safelyweather storms if they are well outfitted and efficiently handled,” Larry Pardey stated after his record-breaking voyage
Get Ready to CRUISE (DVD)
Join Lin and Larry Pardey at their home base in New Zealand as they share ideas and hints to make your boat safer, easier to handle, and more enjoyable to use.
Get Ready to CROSS OCEANS (DVD)
Join Lin and Larry Pardey on board Taleisin in Fremantle, Australia, as they demonstrate gear storage for offshore voyaging, dinghy choices, warping out a stern anchor, proper life-raft storage, storm trysails, sail repairs, and other valuable hints to help you prepare.
Cruising has NO LIMITS (DVD)
Skimming before caressing tradewinds, savoring NO LIMITS tropical landfalls, evading stormy seas; such is the image of the cruising life under sail. It is all this, but it can be so much more.
Get Ready To…Pardey (DVD Set)
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Pardey Books
Bull Canyon, A Boatbuilder, A Writer and Other WildlifeIn 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. Bull Canyon is the tale story of two “dreamers and schemers” who have taken life by the horns – and bring the reader along for the wild and joyous ride.
Capable Cruiser, 3rd Edition
This revised and expanded third edition of a cruising classic includes 9 completely new chapters with such advice as: sixteen ways to encourage your lover (partner) to share your dream; strategies for turning sudden engine failure into a minor incident; choosing safety equipment; repairing rigging at sea. All of the original chapters have been updated and many are expanded to ensure that the information will be helpful for everyone who dreams of cruising – whether now or soon.
Storm Tactics Handbook, 3rd Edition
“In a storm at sea, luck is highly biased toward the sailor who has a plan.” So write Lin and Larry Pardey in this, the third edition of their highly regarded Storm Tactics Handbook. As in the first two editions of this book, they describe their concerns about the tendency of modern sailors to discard the classic methods used to bring sailing vessels of all sizes –from vast clipper ships to tiny yachts –through amazingly strong winds and heavy seas.
Self Sufficient Sailor
Full of ideas and wisdom on how to sail in comfort and safety without large cash outlays. Every sailor, whether or not they plan to sail over the horizon, should read the Pardeys. This book is what the title says.
Details of Classic Boat Construction: The Hull
Updated and expanded to include an important new appendix on the mis-advertising of epoxy adhesives and an introduction to superior, though less expensive glues. This book is used by boatbuilding schools around the world to explain the elements of classic craftsmanship and make these skills accessible to beginning woodworkers.
Cruising in Seraffyn 25th Anniversary Edition
“Go small, go simple, go now, say the Pardey’s.” This message has inspired three generations of sailors and kept Cruising in Seraffyn consistently near the top of nautical best seller lists for over two decades. This new edition, with its exciting 16 page spread of full-color photos, new forward and two new appendices, will appeal to anyone who has an adventuresome spirit.
Cost Conscious Cruiser
The pleasures and adventures of cruising under sail are amazingly affordable, say Lin and Larry Pardey. But to keep your dreams on budget, financially, emotionally, and time wise, you have to decide – are you a cruiser or a consumer? Topics covered include making your getaway plans to finding a truly affordable boat, keeping your outfitting costs and maintenance time in control, then learning to feel confident as you cruise farther ahead.
The Care and Feeding of Sailing Crew 3rd Edition
The Care and Feeding of Sailing Crew has become the preferred resource for cruising and racing sailors –whether they’re planning a weekend afloat or a round-the-world voyage. This unique volume covers everything from outfitting a galley to organizing meals safely in rough weather; from controlling seasickness to creating the right conditions for a well-rested crew.
Seraffyn’s Oriental Adventure
A tale of adventures, as two young dreamers continue their voyaging on board their self-built 24′ 4″ cutter. They cross the exotic sea that spawned Homer’s tales of Ulysses’ Odyssey, then sail through the strife torn Red Sea and across the typhoon tossed waters of the Bay of Bengal.
Seraffyn’s Mediterranean Adventure
Covers three adventurous years in the Pardey’s circumnavigation with stops in Spain, North Africa, Crete, Malta, the Adriatic, Turkey and the Greek Isles.
Seraffyn’s European Adventure
Join Lin and Larry while they winter in England working to pay for the next leg of their journey into the Baltic, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany. They dealt with armed guards on the Polish waterfront who watched while the people greeted them with flowers and fruit. They weathered a fierce mast-under broach in a Baltic gale. This story ends at the
gateway to the Mediterranean to be continued in Seraffyn’s Mediterranean Adventure.
