Bull Canyon: A Boatbuilder, a Writer and Other Wildlife
In 1980, after eleven years of sailing around the world, Lin Pardey and her boatbuilder husband, Larry, needed time-out from the life aquatic. The couple settled in Bull Canyon, California, a rural locale that featured open spaces and wildlife galore but no electricity or phone service. For four years, Larry and Lin stayed in one place. Lin Pardey's memoir of that time offers a straightforward, bittersweet account of two seafaring soul mates adjusting to life on land. The reasons for choosing the barely- there community, located sixty miles southeast of Los Angeles, are basic. Thanks to their landlord friends, the Pardeys pay no rent for their stone cabin. There is ample space for Larry to build a boat that when completed would take the couple on another nautical sojourn. Lin, meanwhile, can focus on her blossoming writing career, which includes working on a book and regular articles for sailing magazines. Though Bull Canyon isn't as exotic as the couple's books about sailing on their beloved cutter Seraffyn, land life provides its own set of challenges. Lin and Larry have to adjust to a world surrounded by others nosy neighbors, wave upon wave of rodents, and impromptu visits from fans, friends, and family. This is not ideal for two people whose work relies on uninterrupted concentration. As Larry's boat nears completion and the Pardeys' stint as landlubbers winds down, Bull Canyon's bucolic quaintness evaporates. The state builds a freeway nearby, which gets real estate developers interested. In between writing assignments and errands, Lin spurs a movement for her rustic neighborhood to finally get electricity and phone service. Jealousy and bitterness increase among the residents. The one challenge the Pardeys can't meet is the unanticipated ravages of time. The primitive yet peaceful marvels and special intimacy that Lin once adored become inconveniences. After the utilities arrived,this intimacy, along with the camaraderie of the canyon folks seemed to disappear she writes.. . . I realized many of the original charms of canyon life were now just a nuisance. Through out this unusual but appealing story Lin remains a forthright and authentic narrator. And she learned an invaluable lesson: In taking their own rugged approach at domesticity, Larry and Lin Pardey discovered that the sea was where they always belonged. - --Midwest Book ReviewsSoon after meeting, Lin and Larry Pardey , two free and kindred spirits, set sail in Seraffyn from California,ultimately spending 11 years traversing the globe, writing articles about sailing to supplement their income. Back in southern California, their lives took a dramatic turn when they decided to take root in dry, brush-filled Bull Canyon, in a region prone to wild fires, and build a new boat--out of very flammable wood. With a cat named Dog to help manage their rat problem and a dog named Cindy running security, the Pardeys spent three years building the 29-foot sailboat, Taleisin, selling off Seraffyn, which had taken them around the world, to buy time. But Lin immediately felt cheated; was $40,000 enough to compensate for the freedom I'd given up? This idea of freedom vs. security is like fuel for Bull Canyon; it practically runs on it. Their first two years in the canyon Lin spent countless hours getting phone lines installed a crucial stepping stone toward electricity, which she achieved in their third summer (it too brought some regret). Their accomplishment is significant, highly Romantic, and admirable. With many homespun snapshots included, readers may feel as if they're following the fantastic adventures of an old friend. --Publishers WeeklyThere s something for almost everybody in the memoir Bull Canyon by Lin Pardey, who is very popular among readers of a nautical bent.  Pardey and her spouse, Larry, lived on a boat for 11 years, sailing the world, but decided to live on land for a couple of years while they built a larger and better boat. They rented an almost-inaccessible stone cottage in Bull Canyon, 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The house had been abandoned for eight years, except by rats and bees. So first, they had to make the place livable. Pardy writes about everyday life at home; hard times battling rattlesnakes, frogs, thieves, allergies, rain, wind, threats of fire and a lack of electricity; and thoughtful topics such as Lin and Larry s relationship, wondering whether to have children, and even whether to adopt a pet.  The book reminded me of Under the Tuscan Sun as Lin and Larry mingled with the people nearby and as they struggled to fix up the old place, which had a personality of its own.  This is a kind of reflective domestic adventure. It is also the story of a woman who discovers she can make a living as a writer and a good writer, at that. Her phrasing is just smooth and easy to read: I settled under the limbs of the diadora pine and swept my eyes around the homestead we d repaired and built up together. As I sat there, I began to marvel at the flexible and strong partnership we d formed, one that had been built piece by piece, then shaped slowly and carefully. In the end, she and Larry went back to the sea aboard their new boat: I d come to the canyon thinking I d wanted ... a home, a sense of belonging after years of being a foreigner. But I d left knowing I am and always will be a foreigner wherever I live, for I am addicted to change. The challenge of new projects, the quest for new beginnings, is as necessary to me as food, as sleep. It is a warm and wonderful book. --The Record-Courier, Mary Louise Ruehr