On a rainy weekend a year ago, after milling around on the internet reading boat related blogs, I had this dawning epiphany, I could do this, and off I went with zeal that even surprised me. It has been a remarkable year of discovery for me, and I am generally pleased with the results, and I hope you have been too.
I had set the goal of doing two posts a week, and largely achieved it, a B+ at any rate, and I have learned a number of lessons along the way, the most important one being that I am my own worst editor. No matter how many times I read the material prior to pushing the magical "Publish" button, as soon as it publishes, and I look at it, "D'oh!", there's a typo, or a poorly constructed sentence, and back to the editor I go. So I am, as always indebted to George Flavell, my airline pilot guru friend, whose additional two eyes see what I often don't, so I can go back quickly and fix them. I am also indebted to my writer, and editor extraordinaire friend Dick for his patience, and sage editorial advice. He taught me to never waffle, or apologize for what you are writing, it never improves the story, and by asking the single question, "What line do you like the best in the story?", made me see the light, and a muddled story that had been vexing me for several weeks suddenly crystallized, and of all the pieces I have written, I am the most proud of this one. The yacht club, rockets, and the electron police.
I have learned a couple of other things along the way. You can't do this type of writing format, without learning basic HTML along the way, whether you want to, or not. You need this to fix pesky warts like spacing issues that you can't seem fix any other way. I have also learned that playing a bit with themes like a "Film Noir", or "Dragnet" backdrop makes writing a technical story more enjoyable for me, and I hope for you too, and many thanks to my wife Kate for her endless patience with me. She refers to this exercise, with a smile,"as seeing my mistress".
And lastly, to those who have linked to me, I am honored to be in such august company, thank you for the trust, and priviledge, and to fellow boat writer Mark Corke, I wish a you speedy recovery. On board with Mark Corke
Thank you, Bill Bishop
