Chasing Sunsets

Chasing Sunsets
Lawrence Pane, Carol Wells Pane, Ryan Pane
Raymond Hill Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9765695 3 02495
Non-Fiction, Memoir
Reviewed by Kate Greenwood

Most will agree that any story of a great family adventure cannot be told by just one family member and in Chasing Sunsets, Lawrence (Laurie) Pane continually indulges his wife and son with their comments and corrections on their six and a half year circumnavigation. The reader accompanies Pane and his family on a detailed journey of their trip aboard their sailboat Dolphin Spirit. Much of the text appears to be taken from family journals and comes complete with laundry lists and warnings for future travelers.

Anyone who has done a bit of traveling will agree that at some point waterfalls, ruins, churches, etc become run of the mill and the Pane’s even developed their own DSPP (Dolphin Spirit Picturesque and Photogenic) 10 scale. Readers with children will especially enjoy watching the development of the son Ryan as he celebrates Easter in the middle of the Pacific marveling at the Easter Bunny’s ability to find him and then toward the end of the trip on their way to Cabo as he catches a nearly 300 pound marlin.

Embarking on an ambitious trip as this is not for just anyone given the magnitude of the voyage but the Pane family came through with flying colors and with their sense of humors still amazingly intact. For the armchair adventurer as well as the budding cruiser, Chasing Sunsets is replete with both the highlights and pitfalls of 56 countries and will either satisfy your thirst for adventure or ignite the spark for your own detour from ordinary life.