Ki and Linda Punches live in a 650-square-foot loft apartment, a home some couples would consider cramped.
To this pair, the place in downtown Everett is huge.
“We’re in this big space. It can be like, ‘Where are you?’” said Linda Punches, 64.
They’re accustomed to tighter quarters. For 20 years, they lived aboard their 40-foot sailboat, Starbright, at the Everett Marina.
“He had his side, I had my side. It was a wonderful life,” she said. “We lived at the end of ‘O’ dock, with a view of the sunset. It was warm and cozy, and very quiet. We just felt safe.”
Ki Punches, 75, said they sold the boat to his wife’s son three years ago. A retired physicist, he decided he couldn’t properly maintain Starbright. The classic 1950s wooden yawl was designed by noted naval architect Ben Seaborn.
What’s left of their sailing life? They have grand memories of cruises far north into Canadian waters and to Alaska. They have pictures of happy times aboard.
And oh, yes, they got a novel out of it.
“Full Circle Passage” is a blend of mystery, midlife crisis, romance, adventure and sailing. It’s also a collaborative effort. The jacket of the book, published in 2006 by Treble Heart Press, shows the author as K.L. Punches. There’s no such person. It’s the pair – Ki and Linda.
They’ve been married 20 years, and their book has a history just as long.
The novel’s plot finds a newly divorced man, turning 50, joining a wealthy businessman’s crew on a round-the-world sailboat race. “It should appeal to middle-aged people, baby boomers,” Linda Punches said.
Ki Punches, a sailor since boyhood, started writing the story while living alone at Mission Beach after his own divorce. “The novel was just 20 pages, a little narrative,” he said.
When he met Linda, who was also divorced, he found a partner and a co-author. She’d written for magazines, and had short stories published. “She kept saying, ‘Why don’t you let me read that?’” Ki Punches said.
The book “was just about a 50-50 proposition,” he said. “I’ve published a lot of technical papers. She’s a better writer. She wrote dialogue and brought the characters to life.”
The book was reviewed last fall in Nor’westing, a regional boating magazine. Diane Selkirk wrote in the magazine’s Aug. 2-Sept. 6, 2006, issue: “Sailing junkies will appreciate that they can clearly picture what is happening aboard, right down to the sail trim. And readers who haven’t a clue what a clew is will come away from the book with newfound lingo … tuck this one into your duffel bag.”
Raised in Toledo, Ohio, Ki grew up sailboat racing and cruising with his father on Lake Erie. A graduate of Purdue University, he worked for the Boeing Co. and Hewlett-Packard before retirement.
He raced boats on Puget Sound for more than 40 years, and for a time belonged to Everett’s Milltown Sailing Association.
His wife, who works at Animal Surgery and Vaccinating Clinic in Everett, came late to sailing. She still doesn’t consider herself an experienced sailor. “Sailing is beyond me. I can cook and keep my eyes on the water,” she said.
They both loved the live-aboard life. “It just got more comfortable every year,” Ki Punches said.
On Saturday, hundreds of decorated boats will parade through the Montlake Cut in Seattle, part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, to celebrate boating season’s official opening day.
Ki and Linda Punches won’t be there. They have memories of quieter celebrations.
“There’s nothing like being at anchor in a deserted cove after a hard day’s cruise,” Linda Punches said. “We’d have a glass of wine and Rossini on the tape deck.”
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.
“Full Circle Passage,” a sailing adventure novel by K.L. Punches, is available in Everett at Pilchuck Books, 2821 Wetmore Ave., and at Popeye’s Marine &Kayak Center, 814 13th St. It’s also at www.trebleheartbooks. com under “WhoooDoo Mysteries.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
