posted January 05, 2003 01:16 AM              

I don't know if any of you have ever checked my profile, but if you did, you'll see that I am a freelance writer. Since 1996 I have been published regularly in Gam Magazine (current issue), Canadian Yachting(August 2002) and Ontario Sailor Magazines (current issue).
I would like to tackle something a bit bigger. I notice that most sailing books are of subject matter pertaining to circumnavigaotors on luxurious yachts and seldom is there anything written about dinghy CRUISING in North America. Others have written books on how to get the best performance on the race course.

I am currently planning on doing some dinghy cruising in my CL 16 "Celtic Kiss" in Canada's Maritime Provinces and am contemplating writing my story into book form. In fact I already have 48 pages written and have done some preliminary negotiation with a printing company.

A first time author seldom has a publishing company that will print and distribute the book. I have to rely on a printing company that can only print and bind the book. The cost of printing the book is solely up to me as is the distibution. I have pitched the idea to a few small independent bookstores and many have expressed interest in my project.

The book, tentatively titled "Little Boat, Big Sea" will not be a glorified
logbook telling tales of sunshine and fresh flowers. (I'm not a "fluffy" writer).

My target audience is the dinghy/trailer sailor who would like to do dinghy some cruising of his own someday. It is NOT a "how-to" book but rather "this is what I did and this is what worked for me and this didn't"
Little Boat, Big Sea will focus more on technically orientated material with minor splashes of imagery.
My intent is not to make a lot of money from this project, but I'd like to break even if possible. What I need to know from you is "Do you think that this is a project worth doing and do you think many people would buy "Little Boat, Big Sea?"

Your opinions (positive and negative) are greatly.

Robert
Celtic Kiss #2120

posted January 09, 2003 01:20 AM              

My philosophy is "If you're gonna do something, do it right, or don't do it at all" That being said it will take some time fo me to do a proper job on this so at this point I wouldn't put a time frame for completion. However I can say that "Little Boat, Big Sea" will be reasonably priced.

posted February 24, 2003 11:01 PM               

There is a lot of beauty and adventure out there in our local lakes if we just take the time to explore and observe. I'm amazed that more people do not take up small boat cruising.

Some years ago I read a book called "Blueberry" written by David Hume. It is a delightful read about Humes designing, building, and sailing his 20 foot boat called Blueberry. Hume was a school teacher who built his boat in his spare time. (He even lost a whole year due to a heart attack!) His descriptions of cruising the east coast really got me thinking about how enjoyable just plain "messin about in boats" really is. No near misses with ice bergs or total sommersaulting over 30 foot rollers. Hume explores long bays and moors in small towns savouring the local dinners' home made clam chowder. My kind of cruising.

posted February 25, 2003 04:01 PM               

Not to sound presumptuous, but have you read some of the (more or less) famous books on a similar topic? I'm thinking of Sir Francis Chichester's _Gypsy Moth_ (bigger than the CL16, of course, but one of the first modern small boat singlehand voyages, and a hell of a read). Then there's Robert Manry's _Tinkerbelle_ (crossing the Atlantic in a 13' boat in the 60s), and Gerry Spiess' _Alone Against the Atlantic_, when he crossed in his TEN footer, Yankee Girl back in the 80s.

Of course, the grandfather of them all, Joshua Slocum's _Sailing Alone Around the World_ in Spray, is the one I haven't read yet. (Here's a link: http://www.arthur-ransome.org/ar/literary/slocum2.htm )

So, somebody reads these things, anyway.