Lin and Larry Pardy are giving you the chance to address these and other questions about children's lives at sea, with their Summer Sailstice prize donation of three books including their latest release, Voyaging With Kids.
Written by three cruising parents and including contributions from cruising kids and other cruising parents, this book demonstrates that there is no “right” way to take your kids on ocean voyages. Instead, the authors aim to provide valuable insights to the pleasures and potential pitfalls of family life at sea.
‘There are as many different ways to approach cruising as there are families, and from the start we felt it was critical to include a wide range of voices from cruisers with different perspectives and experiences.’ - from Q&A With the Authors
Voyaging With Kids is the product of a year-long collaboration between authors, Behan Gifford, Sara Dawn Johnson, and Michael Robertson. At the time of writing the trio was worlds apart, each sailing with their children on various oceans around the globe. However, despite the distances and periods of poor or non-existent internet connection, they managed to keep in touch and complete the book with the help of email and shared cloud storage.
Initially, Behan, Michael and Sara knew each other only through their blogs, before Michael and Sara met in 2011. So far Behan remains a physical mystery, though Michael and Sara are ‘pretty sure she’s real.’
Author, sailor, Behan Gifford.
All three sailors were conscious of the lack of literature available to help parents prepare their family for the cruising life and were immediately drawn to Michael’s suggestion of a collaboration.
‘This is the book we wished we’d had during the years leading up to our own departures as well as when new challenges appeared once underway.’
Author, sailor, Michael Robertson.
The result is an informative, entertaining volume, which includes topics such as choosing a suitable boat, provisioning, health, communication, onboard schooling, transitioning from shore to ship and back again, and many more. There are even sections dedicated to the different ages and stages of your children’s lives. Additional stories and sidebars have been written by other cruising parents and current and former cruising kids.
When publisher, Lin Pardey was given an insight to Voyaging With Kids, she was ‘fired up.’ Lin had been wanting a way promote the idea of cruising with children. During a Thanksgiving gathering attended by boatloads of cruisers and their children, Lin found herself, ‘...wishing there was some way to encourage more folks to take their children away from so-called “normalcy” and let them experience the opportunities cruising could provide.’
Not surprisingly then, when Sara, who happened to be among the sailors at the Pardey’s gathering that year, presented Lin with the outline of Behan, Michael and Sara’s book, Lin jumped at the opportunity to help complete the project.
Author, sailor, Sara Dawn Johnson.
‘As a publisher, I am dedicated to creating well-written and informative nautical books that will encourage others to enjoy the pleasures of independently exploring the waters and shorelines of our world. I hope you are inspired and encouraged by Voyaging with Kids. And if it helps you set sail toward my part of the world in time for Thanksgiving, come on in for a taste of turkey.’
Lin and her husband Larry are known as "America's first couple of cruising” and have written a dozen books, numerous magazine articles and co-created several cruising documentaries. Their shared experiences have prompted many to get off the shore and take up the cruising lifestyle. Now based on a small island near Auckland, New Zealand, the couple operate their own publishing company, L&L Pardey Books.
Cruising is no small feat, but with the help of books such as Voyaging With Kids, and Lin and Larry Pardey’s other Summer Sailstice book-prize donations: the “Practical Package’ - Care & Feeding of a Cruising Boat, Cost Conscious Cruiser, Storm Tactics; and the “Reading Package” - Cruising In Seraffyn, Seraffyn's Oriental Adventure, Bull Canyon, you can learn a lot before you set out.
So remember to Sign-up for Summer Sailstice and get out the water on June, 18 to be in the running for one of these great prizes from L&L Pardey Books!
