Coastal Cruising: Bay Breeze & Aquavit

    AVAILABLE NOW  on AMAZON  Kindle and Paperback!         ACROSS FLORIDA STRAITS  follows a bastard son of a young Cuban dancer growing up in an all-inclusive Soviet resort on the south shore of Cuba. Matvey’s story spans post-revolution life in Cuba through the Special Period and modern times. His perilous journey takes him to Key West and a chance for a new life. Publishing in Fall 2023 HOUSEBOAT HERMIT -  Nefarious activities in the Everglades forges an unlikely friendship between Thompson, an old hermit living on a houseboat, and a burned out and disillusioned National Park Service Park Ranger. Seeking a more peaceful wilderness and life changes they migrate to North Florida’s Nature Coast, encountering more adventures along the way. CAN’T OUTRUN THE PAST  (Novella) Trouble follows Thompson, the houseboat hermit, and his unlikely friend Ranger to North Florida’s Big Bend wilderness. Unknown agents target Thompson to secur...

We’re anxious to get back to AQUAVIT for the summer in Maine. Day sailing on Calypso, our Ensign, has had to suffice this past spring since Hurricane Ian foiled our usual cruise to the Keys and weather fronts closed our window to sail west. Our recent trip to Iceland has humbled us and fostered an even greater respect for the power of the ocean. We admire the mariners who ply the coastal challenges of Maine in seas and fog. But the conditions we observed along the coast of Iceland seemed even more extreme and challenging, taking seamanship to a new level. We are fair weather boaters and, even with 20,000 miles on the water, admit our trepidation at the condition the brave few mariners face here in Iceland and the Faroe Islands! Harbors are carved out in niches in the rocky coastline, protected with seawall revetments. Sturdy craft are moored on floating docks to deal with tides. Safe harbor inside a rock seawall. One of the five cruising sailboats we saw in Faroe Islands and Iceland Re...