LeCain Smith

As an educational series of unique adventure stories full of excitement, unexpected dangers, amazing encounters, and joyful moments all based on true events, The Amazing Adventures of the Sea Cat Chowder offers plenty of entertainment, as the sea cat Chowder provides her own viewpoint of all her experiences during a global voyage. Although this series of illustrated chapter books is intended for middle-grade and young adults, they are certainly suitable for sailors and any adult with the heart of a child. The author, LeCain W. Smith, known to his friends as Captain Lee, was born near the ocean on the southern coast of Maine and was called to the sea early in life. Over the years different sailboats took him on many nautical adventures, and on most every voyage, he had a cat as a companion. Over time, his skills came to include teaching sailing and navigation, boatbuilding, boat deliveries, yacht surveying, acting as a harbormaster, and as a licensed captain chartering boats at various locations in the USA. In addition, he wrote several nonfiction books with nautical, historical, and health-related themes. Over the years his publications include Steel Away, The Maritime History of Brooksville, and Our Inner Ocean. While living in Port Townsend, Washington, during the 1980’s he spent five years building a forty-three-foot ketch and then completed a six-year voyage around the world. In company with his mate Sheila and trusted sea cat Chowder, this extensive exploration took them through many remote islands of paradise and exotic parts of the world.

When it was over, Chowder felt that all their adventures were definitely worth sharing. Since LeCain had produced Far Away, a documentary video about the South Pacific part of their voyage, Chowder decided to tell her own version of the complete story with a trilogy of books, that include Sailing South ‘til the Butter Melts, Far Away Islands of Paradise, and Westward Beyond the Horizon (all the books released between 2021 and 2022). Each book covers about two years of the voyage.