David Seidman went to sea at the age of nine in a wooden cement-mixing trough with a sheet for a sail and a broom handle as a mast, and has never really returned. He has sailed up the Amazon, down the Yangtze, and around the Caribbean. He is now a writer and columnist for boating magazines in Britain and the USA.
Paul Cleveland has worked as a wilderness ranger in New Mexico and designed and built trails in the Appalachians. He is a frequent contributor to Backpacker and Climbing magazines and the Gorp.com Web pages. He guides whitewater rafting trips and teaches CPR and first aid for the Red Cross and wilderness navigation for Outward Bound.