[Webteam edit - the following posts moved from a new thread that was started in this forum]

Peter Scandling - 13th April 2014

I came across a man called Kris Larsen while reading another site.  He built a very basic boat, with a junk rig and sailed around the Pacific and Indian Oceans for about 7 years.  Having put him into Google I found his site .  He wrote a book entitled Monsoon Dervish.   I believe he now lives somewhere in OZ.  Does anyone have a copy of this book?? or indeed know of Kris Larsen and his adventures? I sent him an email requesting a to buy a copy but got no response........

Chris Gallienne - 13th April 2014

It was briefly discussed here, Peter.

He appears to lead an 'interesting' life, so may not always be available to deal with business matters.

That picture of his sail after coming through a typhoon on the way south from Japan is one of my favourite junk pictures.

Graham Cox - 13th April 2014

I have a copy of Kris's book and I also sent a copy to David Tyler, to thank him for his assistance with the design of my sail.  The source I bought the book from is no longer available.  He was selling them direct from his website last I heard, a couple of years ago, and also living on an old trawler in Darwin Harbour.  He still owned Kehaar and went off sailing on it at times.  He also went off on long bicycle trips around Australia, so he may simply be out of touch for a while, assuming his circumstances have not changed.  He's a bit of a character and anything is possible.

Thanks for the link Graham, I didn't know about the site. There's a lot of reading there.

For those of you who are interested in junk rig ocean voyaging, check out the online January Edition of The Coastal Passage at www.thecoastalpassage.com.  Kris Larsen built a 32 foot, engineless steel junk sloop, Kehaar, in Tasmania, and sailed it to East Africa, Japan, Russia, and the Phillipines over 17 years.  He has also written a book called Monsoon Dervish that you can buy online at this website.  I will write a review of it after I have read it.  The photo of his damaged sail that nonetheless brought him safely into port in Japan is pretty instructive.