We Ran Away to Sea: A Memoir and Letters by George Kent Kedl and Pamela Thompson Kedl
Would you give up your comfortable life and worldly goods to sail into the unknown?
Pam and Kent sell everything, give up their jobs, take their two children, and embark on what they hope will be a new life of adventure and discovery. What could possibly go wrong?
With no experience of the sea or sailing, these naive mid-westerners cross the Atlantic Ocean in a small sailboat using only celestial navigation in the days before GPS.
With a book in one hand and a sextant in the other, miraculously, they miraculously arrive safely in the Caribbean. But their troubles are far from over. Read their gripping story, told in two voices (his and hers.
“One night Kent said, ‘If I don’t get away from here, I think I’ll die.’
I asked if I wouldn’t leave with him, would he go without us?
He said, ‘I don’t know.’
I was scared beyond writing about it.”
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About the authors:
Both Pam and Kent were Wyoming natives. Kent is a retired philosophy professor and has been a Peace Corps volunteer, construction worker, handyman, sailor, typewriter collector, and engineering student. Pam was a wife, mother, writer, potter, photographer, sailor, horsewoman, and eternal student. Read more about them under Who We Are.
Book Synopsis and Details
**Awards:** New Mexico-Arizona Book Award Finalist, 2024; Royal Dragonfly First Place in Letters, Diaries, and Journals, 2024; Global Book Awards Silver Medalist in Biography and Memoir, 2024.
Are you feeling trapped in a monotonous routine? Meet Kent, who, overwhelmed by the indifference of his South Dakota undergraduate students, and fed up with the American politics of the 1980s, yearns for a life of adventure. Then, he stumbles upon the allure of sailboats.
While retirement seems financially out of reach, living on a sailboat opens up a world of exhilarating possibilities. Imagine letting the wind guide your family wherever they wish to explore, with the sea providing nourishment and a minimal carbon footprint. It’s not just a dream—it’s a chance for their children to experience a life of freedom and discovery! After diving into sailing classics (after all, they are academics), Pam and Kent boldly decide to embrace the unknown. What could go wrong?
Told with humor and heart from both Kent’s and Pam’s perspectives, this captivating narrative of courage, creativity, and serendipity is sure to ignite your own spirit of adventure. It may just inspire you to break free from the ordinary and embark on a journey of your own.
**Places Traveled:**
– England
– Spain
– Portugal
– Canary Islands
– Caribbean
– Mexico
– Belize
– Puerto Rico
– Haiti
-Jamaica
-Trinidad
– Venezuela
– Colombia
– Central America
– The Virgin Islands (U.S. and British)
– Florida
– The Great Lakes
– Trent-Severn Waterway
– Erie Canal
– Hudson Rive
– Intracoastal Waterway
This book is enriched with maps, a glossary, photos, diagrams, itinerary, and a bibliography.
**Details:*
* – **Pages:** 352
– **Format:** Paperback
– **Published:** July 1, 2023
– **Publisher:** Jacana Press
– **ISBN:** 9798987009703
– **Language:** English
Dare to dream and take the plunge into your own grand adventure!
Includes maps, photos, diagrams, a glossary, an itinerary/timeline, and a bibliography
352 pages, Paperback.
Publication date: July 1, 2023
ISBN: (9798987009703 paperback) and (9798987009710 (e-book),
Jacana Press 