GOB Article

[HenryC]

My article, "Sextant Reflections", is scheduled to appear in the July/August, 2014 issue of Good Old Boat magazine.  This will probably be my last article, at least for GOB. I'm retired now, and the writer's market is getting pretty thin for celestial navigation pieces.  This is really the only branch of seamanship I feel particularly qualified to write about, and this piece is more about nostalgia, romance and the persistence of memory than of any practical benefit.  As I mention in it, celnav is about as relevant any more as Morse code telegraphy, hard-hat deep sea diving and muzzle-loading firearms.  Still, I'm pretty proud of it, and I think it may be the best piece of writing I've done yet.  

I hope you enjoy it.

Henry Cordova

http://sandyjdesigns.com/graphics/furling.jpg

[Bob23]

Thanks, Henry. I've enjoyed all your other article unfortunately, I've let my GOB subscription lapse. One of them had to go. I still enjoy Messing About and SCA. I'll get a copy of GOB so I can read the article.
I like writing for Messing About in Boats although it's been quite some time since I submitted something. They don't pay anything and that's part of the attraction for me. Everyone's an amateur. I do it for the love of writing and I sure ain't no professional.
Bob23

[HenryC]

The folks at GOB have been very good to me, and have printed quite a few of my articles.  They have also anthologized some of my boat and boatyard reviews in their downloads; a form of immortality for me.  Those documents will remain useful for years to come, and I am honored to see my byline alongside some of America's finest boating journalists and writers. Their website has an "article search" feature under "Reader Services" that will allow you to track them down. I salute Karen and Jerry for a fine magazine, done the way it should be, Mom-and-Pop style. And I thank them for the opportunity to show my stuff.

But in today's economic climate, they've been forced to specialize, to do one thing and do it well. They seem to be concentrating on the DIY aspects of boat maintenance and operation, and they provide a great resource in that area for the ordinary sailor, as opposed to the gentleman yachtsman who can simply buy his way out of a problem.  The kind of writing I do, more about the spiritual and philosophical aspects of sailing, has been increasingly left out.  The practical area where I do have some skill and experience, navigation, is becoming increasingly automated and digitized--obsolete.  Even simple piloting and dead reckoning skills don't seem to have the urgency they used to have.

I wish GOB the best of luck, and highly recommend it for those into the kind of sailing and boat ownership we do. And I thank them for the opportunity and the exposure. I too, am only an amateur writer,  but the 'spiritual and philosophical' rewards have been more than adequate.