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Our first Book

Our first book came about more by accident then by design. We are sailors. It is and was out antidote to the workday grind.  While living and working in the US, we spent every free day cruising along the East Coast. In the evening we would drop anchor, enjoy the sunset over cocktails in a beautiful location – often parked in front of a multi-million dollar mansion. Occasionally ‘things’ went wrong. Afterwards we would study what had happened and learn from the experience. We constantly upgraded our equipment and continued exploring.

One day we were chatting with fellow sailors, who remarked that they feared anchoring, being uncertain of their equipment and knowledge. Soon after that we gave a talk at our local club. A while later we delivered a seminar at a major boat show. To our utter amazement, the auditorium was packed. There were even people standing out in the hallway trying to listen to two amateurs talking about their experience.

After the seminar, an amazing ovation, and a question session that went beyond our allotted time slot, we were inundated with requests to buy our book. “What book?” we countered, and then we looked at each other.

A light came on and we duly wrote “the” book.

It took us months of research and revisions to put down everything we thought a boater might need to know when it came to anchoring their boat. Yes, even an obscure a topic such as this can provide a lot of material.

We wrote about the available equipment; categorizing and comparing this. We researched independent tests. We discussed techniques; and no, anchoring is not just throwing a heavy object overboard. Finally we wrote about etiquette to liven things up a little. The result was: Happy Hooking – the Art of Anchoring.

At about that same time, I found myself at a book show. I was an owner of a commercial printing company and we were just developing a book printing division. We were there to meet publishers, book marketing companies, and self-published authors; people who had a need for 50-1,000 copies of a given title.

At that book show I found a publisher specializing in nautical books. He offered us a nice up-front fee. However the publisher wanted to change the title to something bland. We thought long and hard and finally declined the contract.

Another light came on. Why not self-publish? After all, I was co-owner of a book printing company. We printed 250 copies of our book and became publishers in our own right!

And this is our first book well, it is the third edition of the first book