Stephen Ladd - Exploring Latin American Coasts and Rivers in a 21 foot yacht

Ocean Sailing Podcast

Ginny met Steve at a wooden boat festival in the 1990's when he was selling his book, Three Years in a 12-Foot Boat. She thought something like, “The crazy things people do!” Fast forward to 2022 and retired City Planner, Stephen Ladd (who married Ginny) shares an amazing story of the 5-years they spent exploring the coasts and inland rivers of South America in a 21-foot yacht and gave birth to a baby during their travels. They sailed from Florida to South America following coasts and islands, then they got into the big river systems down there. Using those rivers they went up and over a big hump called the Guyana Massif, which is the highland between the Orinoco and Amazon watersheds.

Then they went up and over another big hump: the high ground south of the Amazon and north of Argentina. Then they crossed that second hump again, coming back northwards into the Amazon, but following different rivers this time. Steve's approach to minimalist sailing, and the challenges of getting off the grid, should inspire anyone with big adventuring dreams and a small budget.

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