Jon married the girl next door and together Jon and Barbara began building their floating home – a traditional ketch – while they were still teenagers. Their subsequent live-aboard lifestyle interspersed teaching with voyaging for more than three decades. With their five lively sons on correspondence education, they have criss-crossed the Pacific to many unusual destinations including a protest flotilla at the French Pacific nuclear test zone, the Jurassic Park island, Chatham Islands, uninhabited atolls (where the boys camped ashore) and even Antarctica.
Jon’s numerous freelance articles and six books reflect this sailing lifestyle and his passionate interest in environmental issues. Jon and Barbara publish and distribute the ‘Those Kids’ series for 9-14 year olds under their own imprint, Storm Bay Books.
Two of his ‘Those Kids’ series title
Jon and Barbara still live aboard their ketch, New Zealand Maid, currently based in the Bay of Islands.
Jon is available for for Year 5 to 9 class visits and workshops. Please email him for more details.