02 January 2017

A New Year

Well, here we are in a new year. New opportunities and new challenges. 2016 was a year of changes for Helena and me. We sold our beloved house, moved to Florida to care for my ailing mom, switched our main entrepreneurial focus from pianos and computers to writing, put the Blue Moon up for sale, and started looking for The Next Boat, in earnest.

Phew! Exhausting. How did we do all that? No idea.

But speaking of writing, Bob Bitchin and his team at Cruising Outpost magazine were nice enough to print a terrific review of "An Unlikely Voyage" in their Winter 2016-2017 Issue #17. CO, as people call it, is a cool magazine, and one I've enjoyed reading the last few years. It's all about real cruisers, cruising real boats, and keeping it real along the way. The articles are written by down-to-earth (or is it down-to-water?) folk who are actually out there having fun. With an emphasis on fun. I can't wait to get out there with them.

In the meantime, you now have a good reason to check out the magazine. The Winter issue is on your local newsstand today. Please pick up a copy, and let me know what you think of the review and the magazine!

'Cruising Outpost' Review

Well, I hope you had a good holiday and Santa brought you all the boating gadgets you wanted for the spring. I got a new stove-top espresso maker for my future boat, and have been practicing how to make a Starbucks Cappuccino. Not as easy as it sounds, but I'm addicted to them and need to be able to feed this addiction, even when far offshore. I'll divulge the recipe soon as I've mastered it.

The best cup of coffee in the world (IMHO) -- the Starbucks Cappuccino. Yum.
(No one is paying me to say this, BTW)

Speaking of Santa, all I really want for Christmas is your book review. If you've read "An Unlikely Voyage" and haven't left a review on Amazon.com yet, please do so. It would really help me out. Thanks!

And thanks for sticking around all these years. Hard to believe I've been noodling on this blog for so long. But I'm not done yet.

And wait until you see the boat we are looking at! Dang! But I need to keep that a secret until the deal is done.

Have a great, healthy, and prosperous New Year.


Next Up: Catching Up



2 comments:

  1. John, glad to hear from you. I bought your book last October,and read it while sitting thru hurricane Mathew on the Outer Banks in Corolla. "An Unlikely Voyage" is a wonderful,and funny story. I heve reread it more than once. I think it would be of much interest to more than just me, to see pictures of the standing,and running rigging of the Half Moon. Just how one lives on a twenty three foot boat practically speaking,for any length of time would interest a lot of followers. Good luck in your new endeavors. A Loyal Fan,
    Grant

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    1. Hi Grant, glad you enjoyed the book. One of the nice things about having a relatively inexpensive wooden boat is you have the freedom to experiment with rigging. I've modified the running rigging on the BM quite a bit, trying to make it easier to use. I've blogged about some of the changes. Will think about how I can encapsulate what I've learned over the years.

      Living on a 23' boat... Actually, I didn't find it all that challenging when I was sailing on my own. Adding Helena to the crew changed things, of course. Most of the changes I've made over the last few years was to make the boat more livable. Another excellent suggestion!

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