September 7, 2006:

A lot going on. Just concluded discussions for a new book with McGraw-Hill (publisher of Benedict Arnold's Navy) for a new work of non-fiction about the early days of the navy during the American Revolution. More on that as we get into it. The book is slated for a Spring of 2008 publication date. That means I have to start writing the damn thing.

Along with the non-fiction, I am currently in the process of writing a prequel to the Thomas Marlowe trilogy, focusing on Marlowe's early life as a buccaneer. This one is on spec, so there's not assurance that it will ever see the light of publication (my Viking novel, which I did not think was so bad, remains moldering in the virtual drawer).

And, most exciting of all, we finally bought a boat! She's a 26' Pearson Ariel, designed by Carl Alberg, built in Bristol, RI in 1966. A lovely, stout little sloop. We   sailed (actually motored, mostly) from Round Pond to her new home in Harpswell in late August. Took us ten hours, but it was a lot of fun. The kids loved it.

We're looking forward to many years of cruising in our fine little boat.

July 21, 2006:

Hell month almost over. A lot of traveling, went to the re-enactment of the Battle of Hubbardton and then down to Virginia for the Battle of Green Springs. Both were great events. Green Springs was brutally hot, the grenadiers were dropping like flies, and not from Continental musket balls. Mind you, re-enacting grenadiers tend to be a tad older and rounder than grenadiers of the 18th century. A good event, met a number of interesting folks.

Waiting to hear if McGraw-Hill is interested in publishing the next book.

June 23, 2006:

The American Library Association asked if I would give a talk on "Forgotten Heroes" at their 2006 Convention in New Orleans. Since McGraw-Hill was willing to pick up the tab, I happily agreed. It was my first time in New Orleans and I regret having not seen the city prior to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The French Quarter (where I probably spent a bit too much time) seems to be back together - there's nothing I could see that spoke of storm damage. But I did take the opportunity to drive around the Lower 9th Ward where so much of the flooding occurred. I was stunned at the extent of the damage and had not realized that so little had been done to make things right. The streets had a haunted quality that is hard to describe, the deserted houses with their doors hanging open, cars sitting crushed under piles of debris just as they were left a year earlier. It's like a modern-day Pompeii, a city frozen at the moment of disaster.

June 8, 2006:

Benedict Arnold's Navy has been out for a little over a month. Doing well so far. The book got a write-up in the Wall Street Journal which was a big help. I am in the process of running around like the proverbial headless chicken. Quite a full schedule of book signings and interviews. Watch for True Pirates of the Caribbean airing on the History Channel July 9 at 8:00 pm (or so we understand). I'll be one of the talking heads, not, alas, in costume.

Be sure to check out the Author Appearance Page to see where I have upcoming events. I always enjoy meeting readers at these.

As to books, I am working on a proposal for a new non-fiction and in the early stages of thinking about a new novel. But work-wise I am doing much more maintenance around the house than actual writing.

April 21, 2006:

We finished with Godspeed the second week in April. We took her out for an engine trial, which was a nice motorboat ride for us, but had nothing to do with the rigging. I was afraid we would never get the chance to sail her, since there proved to be engine trouble, but we did take her out for a shakedown in the end. The rig all worked fine and she sailed very well. She even tacked, which is no mean feat for a ship of this era. Now I'm back at my desk, working on the proposal for the next book and watching the calluses on my hands disappear.

Following are some photos from the sail. These were taken by Priscilla Simpson at Rockport Marine:

Making good way with lateen, courses and spritsail set. The author is visible on the quarterdeck wearing his silly blaze orange watch cap.

Getting ready to stow the foretopsail. I'm going up the fore shrouds , not quite as quick as I once did.

The foredeck as we're bowling along. She's a little ship, and was very crowded on board, just with the crew for sea trials. The on-board photos are by Ian Bruce, one of Godspeed's shipwrights.

A shot from nearly all the way aft. The sails are drawing well. In this shot you can clearly see the bonnet, the removable section at the bottom of the main sail. This is how sail area was reduced before the advent of reefing.

Below is a nice sequence of Godspeed tacking with courses set, the process of turning a square rigged ship through the wind. The ship is close hauled on the port tack, meaning she is sailing as close to the direction of the wind as she can, with the wind coming over her port side. Only the lower square sails, the "courses" are set - fore course and main course - as well as the lateen mizzen sail. The topsails and the spritsail, the little sail forward on the bowsprit, are clew up, meaning they have been hauled up with the lines attached to them, prior to furling.

Close hauled on a port tack, and the call         Godspeed turns up into the wind as the        As the ship comes through the wind,

is "ready about!" Spritsail is clewed up.          courses begin to flog and collapse                 the order is "mainsail haul!" The  main is

                                                                                                                                                         braced around while the fore is still aback

Bow is now through the wind and the main    Fore sail is braced full around and ship        Godspeed is now on a starboard tack and

sail is braced around. With the order "let       has successfully tacked, though she has       gathering way once again. Pretty nimble

go and haul!" the fore sail comes around       lost nearly all of her way.                                  for a 17th century vessel!

April 1, 2006:

Still working like mad on the Godspeed, pretty much taking up all time. Along with an eight hour day, I have a total three hours commute to Rockport. ME. Well worth it. Also gearing up for promotion for Benedict Arnold's Navy, which comes out in May.

Here are some more photos of the Godspeed's rigging as it progresses.

Godspeed moved from the building shed to near where she will be launched. The masts are in. The end of the bowsprit is just visible on the ground on the lower left.

Another view of the ship. Here the topmasts can be seen lashed to the lower masts, and the flagpoles above them. The whole assemblies were picked up with a crane and set in place.

Godspeed after her launch, tied up at the dock at Rockport Marine. The topmasts have been raised and the fore yard is across, the sail bent on. I actually missed her launch because I had to spend the weekend reviewing the galleys of Benedict Arnold's Navy.

The main yard is on the dock and ready to be crossed once the sail and running rigging are bent on. This is actually the edge of a slip into which Godspeed was moved. We used a crane in the slip to get the yard across, the marvels of modern technology. In the background is Godspeed and lovely Rockport Harbor.

Nick Wilson, on the port side, is working on the fore yard, while on the starboard side a cameraman from The History Channel is taping him.

The spritsail yard is across and the spritsail bent, though not yet entirely rigged. The red building in the background is Rockport Marine, where the ship was built.

A view of little Godspeed from all the way aft. The ends of the tiller is projecting up from the bottom of the picture and modern electronics and the engine controls are going in the very traditional looking binnacle box. Forward of that, the main yard can be seen, lowered to make it easier to work on. Beyond that, the fore yard is visible in the raised position. The running rigging is starting to fill in. An early 17th century rig like this is a very busy thing indeed, with lines everywhere.

March 9, 2006:

Rigging work on Godspeed is still going on. We are pretty much done in the rigging loft and are now actually working on putting the rigging on the ship. On Mach 8 I saw Godspeed for the first time, even though I have been working on her for more than a month. Here are a few more photos:

Fellow rigging goons in our not-so-neat loft. Nick Wilson is on the left and Tom Ward on the right.

Most of the blocks have been stropped, meaning that they have the rope bands around them, which allows us to attached them to the masts or yards. Here they are hanging up, waiting to go to the ship.

Preparing a strop for a block. The thin brown lines spiraling around the rope is the worming, marlin fitted into the grooves of the rope. Canvas parceling will go over that, and then a tight wrapping of marlin called service. The eye has already been served. When it is done a block will be fitted in the eye. This is for a foreyard jeer block (I think).

The instructions. Detailed rigging plans showing signs of hard use.

February 25, 2006:

This month marked a few big changes. I finished (sort of) Benedict Arnold's Navy, my second non-fiction book (if you don't include the one I ghost wrote). I say sort of because there is always a lot more work to do after an author writes "The End" on the last page. Copy editing comes next, when a copy editor rips through the manuscript and finds problems with grammar, typing, continuity, that sort of thing. Made it though that stage and now I'm waiting for the typeset "galleys" which will also need correcting. This is why most writers are thoroughly sick of their books by this stage.

The book will be out in May of this year. When it is actually on the bookstore shelves is when we can actually say it is done. But then we have to think about publicity...

The first job I was put on was making a mouse and eye for Godspeed's main stay. The mouse is a raised bulb, essentially, grafted, which fits like a wedge in the eye at the end of the rope to form a loop. Nat said he had not done one in 25 years, which meant I had him beat by about a decade. Anyway, I seemed to recall how it worked. On the left is the nearly completed mouse. The whole thing gets dipped in synthetic tar, so it loses its nice black and white pattern.

On the bench behind it is the new ditty bag I made up for this job.