On this page I will list books which are relevant to my site, and which I have read. Some are in English and some in Norwegian. Most are about sailing, cruising or technical things about sailboats.

The Pardeys’ books

I will start with some of the most recent books I have read. Lin and Larry Pardey, now in their 70s, have sailed together since the late 1960s. They built a 24 foot wooden cutter, Seraffyn, which they sailed around the world for eleven years, from 1969 to 1981, without an engine onboard! A very fascinating story, or rather, stories, well written and full of excitement. How can two people live aboard and sail an engineless little boat across oceans, through narrow passages, and into small and big harbours? Read and find out! Perhaps the most fascinating parts, and which Lin Pardey also seems to value highest, is all the nice and interesting people they get to know and become friends with along the route. As for routes, they did not have a set plan before they left. They just sort of followed their desires and decided where to go along the way.

When they had completed their first circumnavigation on Seraffyn, they spent the next three to four years to build 29 foot 6 inches Taleisin, and sailed on for many years, still without an engine. Their motto is: Go simple, go small, go now!

Here’s their web page: http://www.landlpardey.com/

Lin & Larry Pardey: Cruising in Seraffyn – As long as it’s fun. Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition. Pardey Books, 2001.

Lin & Larry Pardey: Seraffyn’s European Adventure. Pardey Books, 1979.

Lin & Larry Pardey: Seraffyn’s Mediterranean Adventure. Pardey Books, 1981/91.

Lin & Larry Pardey: Seraffyn’s Oriental Adventure. Pardey Books, 1996.

Lin & Larry Pardey: Taleisin’ Tales. Sailing towards the Southern Cross. L&L Pardey Publishing, 2016.

The Pardeys have also written a number of books about tips and advice for sailing. Here they share from their vast experience from three or four decades of cruising. They have even a special book on how to survive storms and tyfoons. Basically, these tactics consist of reefing the sails down and setting the rudder in such a way that it will counteract the sail’s tendency to turn the boat into the wind. This is an old tecnique that works best with a boat with a long keel. I mostly do coastal cruising myself, and then there is always a lace to hide if the wind blows up. I hope I will not be in a storm in the open ocean, but heaving to can be useful under normal sailing conditions too, if you need to stop for making food or go to the toilet. And it works with more modern boats as well, if not as effectively as with the Pardeys’ full keel cutters.

Lin & Larry Pardey: Storm Tactics Handbook. Modern Methods of Heaving-to for Survival in Extreme Conditions, third edition. Pardey Books, California, 2008.

Aside from til books about their cruising around the world, perhaps the ones I have valued the most is The Self Sufficient Sailor and Capable Cruiser. Here we find a distillation of what the Pardeys have learned in their years of voyaging in their famous Seraffyn and Taleisin. There is a lot of helpful advice on boat care, safety, economy, taking care of crew, advice for anchoring, you name it. I especially liked the chapters Sixteen ways to keep your lover, Free the galley slave and It may be worth your life to teach your wife. There are a few thing here that I should have known and thought about earlier! But it is not too late!

Lin and Larry Pardey: The Self Sufficient Sailor. Revised Edition. Pardey Books, California, 1997.

Lin and Larry Pardey: Capable Cruiser. Third Edition. Pardey Books, California, 2010.

They also have a book on cooking and housekeeping onboard. The drawings are by a Japanese artist whom they met on their stop in Japan with Seraffyn. Another of the interesting and fascinating friendships they made.

Lin Pardey, with Larry Pardey: The Care and Feeding of Sailing Crew. Fourth Edition. Pardey Books, California, 2014.

 

 

 

 

Velcome to my blog

Hi, I am Eilef. In this blog I want to share some stories and impressions from sailing and hiking on the west coast of Norway, and beyond. I live close to Stavanger, on a little island in the Ryfylke basin. You can find my stories in the menu above.

My aim with this blog is to share the beauty of the landscapes in western Norway, from the most remote islands out where the open ocean is the closest neighbour, to the deep fjords where the mountains rise up to the sky. People have lived here for around nine thousand years, setting their marks on landscapes and communities. I also hope to show some of the history and contemporary life along the coast.

My roots are in islands, fjords and mountains. Through my father’s line, I can go back eight generations on the same hill, close to the medieval church at Talgje, where I grew up. If I follow my father’s mother’s line, I find my roots in the narrow fjord near Sand, in the northeast parts of Ryfylke. And through my mother’s lineage, I can go back to the deep fjords and high mountains in Hardanger and to Masfjorden north of Bergen, just south of the outer parts of Sognefjorden.

Islands close to home
The Folgefonna glacier in Hardanger
View of Ryfylke
The 12th century church at Talgje, my church.
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