ABOUT William Gills

William Gills
Maybe I should have been a tern, a seagull, a seal or a boat captain. I could have been a musician but was too practical to have pursued such a career as a drummer and guitar player. I wanted to get married and raise a family; you can do both, but its hard on a musicians salary unless you More...

Description

Taken from journal entries, this boating primer and adventure story covers the good and the bad of a couple's experiences in moving up to a bigger boat. Beginning with the notion, acquisition, preparation, ultimately the excitement of cruising and exploring various boating destinations, husband and wife found refreshingly new experiences. Lubber's Log has tons of information for new mariners, and for those that have already moved up, some very relatable stories of the silly mistakes we all make along the way.

The development of the book began as a technical logbook of dates, weather, sea conditions, bearings, speeds over water, destinations, and notes referencing mechanical or equipment failures for future reference. I found myself entering tidbits of personal experience to brighten a monotonous soliloquy of data that produced only useful information for me. Later as the summer boating season wore on, I found myself wanting to tell a story, preferring to use a journal format to recount our new experiences. A graphic account, I thought, would provide us with a more valuable gauge of our growth as mariners and a narrative record of events and activities that could be recalled in the winter doldrums and perhaps shared with others, like my mother and mother-in-law, who were in our thoughts, but not with us to appreciate what we have grown to enjoy. There is a change in pace later in the book, when the focus turns more journalistic and I write down my thoughts and impressions almost as they happen. The early chapters are largely developmental, from the idea of “moving up” to a bigger boat to the process of acquiring it, preparing it for winter storage, stocking it with accessories, and becoming familiar with its idiosyncrasies. The log is loaded with details and facts the reader may find onerous and repetitive, but no more so than having to actually consider and deal with them. They are included to provide dimension to those who might think that moving up a step simply involves the acquisition of the boat. The characters, and in most cases, their names, are their own, and there’s no account that is conjured or exaggerated. I share this journal with you as if it were my own diary. Although I admit I have not shared my innermost thoughts, the reader may come to his/her own conclusions of what they might have been.