published, books and a calendar

There has been a lot of publishing going on, and I am very pleased to see that I have some connections to some of it.

GANNET 6, You're Not Too Old by Webb Chiles was published yesterday and is available at Amazon.  The e-book is the story of Webb's 30,000 mile circumnavigation - his sixth voyage around the world - in GANNET, in a Moore 24.  He began the journey in San Diego at age 72, completing the sail five years later.  I followed the voyage closely, reading his log entries in Webb's online journal.  I look forward to reading this new version of the circumnavigation.

The Amazon site says there are over 200 photographs and illustrations in the book.  I am both pleased and honored to see that two of those photographs are mine.  Before beginning the circumnavigation, Webb invited me out for a sail on GANNET.  The two images above are from that day.  The photograph at the left was shot from the West Mission Bay Drive bridge in San Diego. There is some interesting symmetry about that photograph and the photograph shot from the same place 36 years earlier of CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE, the Drascombe Lugger that Webb sailed in his book OPEN BOAT, Across The Pacific.  You can read about that symmetry in Webb's journal here.

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The 2027 Calendar of Wooden Boats is out and available through Amazon.  The September photograph shows two boats, ARAMINTA, a ketch designed by L. Francis Herrshoff and sailed by Maynard Bray, and, at right, BELLA, designed by B.B. Crowningshield and sailed by friends Harold and Anna.  Harold built BELLA, converting the catboat design to a beautiful sloop rig.  Harold and Anna are wonderful friends, and it has been my pleasure to sail alongside BELLA in Maine, at St. Michaels and in Chestertown.  Congratulations to you both!

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Congratulations also to friend and photographer Michael Wootton.  The Sultana Foundation did a limited printing of a book of his great photographs documenting the first 25 years of SULTANA and The Downrigging Festival.  The Downrigging Festival has been the final event of my annual cruises for years now, and it is the perfect way to end the fall sail on Chesapeake Bay. I am very touched to find that SPARTINA is included in the book, a photograph on a pretty morning in 2024.  Thank you, Michael.  I look forward to seeing you at next year's Downrigging Festival.