**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; Wishing Well Red Ribbon, 2025; Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist for Memoir, 2025. More than a sailing memoir, We Ran Away to Sea is an intimate exploration of how two strong, loving people pursue meaning — and how, over time, they come to understand each other more fully. They had built a life many would admire — a strong marriage, two children, creative work they loved, and a restored Victorian home in a Midwestern college town. Yet, Kent was dissatisfied. Was this all there was to life? Pam, too, wanted a wider world — for herself and for their children — beyond the familiar rhythms of small-town life. So they did what most people only talk about: they walked away and set sail. They returned after a year, believing the dream fulfilled. But some longings do not quiet easily. A decade later, they tried again. Told in two distinct voices through memoir and letters, We Ran Away to Sea is a story of courage, compromise, and enduring love — a reminder that daring to seek a different way of living may not lead where you expect, but it can deepen how you understand home, partnership, and yourself. For anyone who has ever wondered whether it’s too late — or too risky — to begin again. **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 River - 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! "An engaging recounting of improbably true adventures, crossing the Atlantic Ocean and cruising the Caribbean. In a sailboat." — "Book of the Week" in The Albuquerque Journal "He [Kent] has that envious ability to say what he means in no more words than is necessary to get his point across whilst holding the reader's attention throughout .... I enjoyed We Ran Away to Sea immensely and can recommend it to all sailors, particularly those with that recurring pipe dream who might one day 'just do it.'" — The Sailboat Cruiser "The writing is concise, colorful, well-paced, and nicely illustrated with photos and maps. This armchair sailor found it a pleasure to read." — Mark Wuschke, Author of Return to Rome (as Mark Munro) "Kent and Pam didn't present a glossy, smarmy portrayal of cruising life. Tough? Yes. So why do it? They answer the question by showing us the almost agonizing beauty of the sea and its path to beautiful wonders. Well done." — Ginny A. Sollars, Author of Windswept "A perfect book for armchair travelers, especially those not brave enough to embark on their own journey by quitting their jobs and going forth." — Carol H. Sibley, Librarian "A remarkable story of just what the title claims. Unlike so many similar sail-away yarns this one balances the views of the two participants. Very different goals. Planning to run away? Read this book, too." — Norm on Cape Cod, Retired Pro Sailor "I saw up close the depth of Kent's loving relationship with Pam. This book was a real joy to read. I laughed, I shed tears, I wished it wasn't going to end." — Pilgrim "Whether you're dreaming of sailing, readying yourself to leave the dock, or just want to tag along on someone else's adventure, you can't go wrong with We Ran Away to Sea." — Renee Petrillo, author of A Sail of Two Idiots Kent Kedl grew up enjoying the outdoors, competing in football and track, and trying to outdo his older brother Doug in their hometown of Sheridan, Wyoming. He quit school during his senior year at the University of Wyoming to serve in the Peace Corps in Colombia. Upon his return, he completed degrees in mathematics and philosophy, and enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Oregon. He taught philosophy at South Dakota State University in Brookings for more than twenty years, eventually leaving South Dakota (twice) to live full-time on a sailboat. Pamela Kedl spent her life trying to resist other people's schedules and avoiding being a professional at anything. Her work ranged from the esoteric-a flutist, a potter, a photographer, and a transoceanic sailor-to the pragmatic: a welfare worker, an English teacher, a librarian's assistant, and a waitress. Pamela Kedl died of an auto-immune disease in June 2009 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.