Rowing, building and book writing, and an introduction

[brucemoffatt]

Hi good forum members. I'm an amateur boat builder in Adelaide, South Australia. My current project is a Caledonia Yawl which I am building in a marquee in my back yard. I have given myself an estimated two years to build it, at which time I'll be in my early 60s and ready to do a bit of adventurous sailing in it.

I've previously built a racing rowing scull of western red cedar strips to Graeme King's design. It's a honey of a boat. I row this most weeks on a Sunday morning.

I've been posting in the Antipodean section about a book I'm writing and it has been suggested that I post about it here. Drafts of each chapter of the book are put up on scribd as I write them and they are publicly available. The subject matter is a delivery trip of a small catamaran from Ballina in New South Wales to Adelaide in South Australia, a distance of somewhere near 1400 nautical miles, give or take a bit. The boat was not a wooden boat though. If you are interested to have a look at the work in progress it's here:
http://www.scribd.com/bruce_moffatt_2/


Cheers,

Bruce in Adelaide

[Hwyl]

Welcome Bruce, I get "link doesn't work"

[brucemoffatt]

Welcome Bruce, I get "link doesn't work"

That would be because I can't spell my own name
I think I'll try to fix it in the original post now. Thanks for the heads up Gareth.The link should be this, i I type it more carefully:
http://www.scribd.com/bruce_moffatt_2/

[brucemoffatt]

Chapter 6 has been uploaded. Sydney to Jervis Bay. First solo leg of the trip.

http://www.scribd.com/bruce_moffatt_2/

[brucemoffatt]

Chapter 7 has been uploaded, Jervis Bay to Eden. A good long leg of 130 miles with a strong wind in the North East to broad reach with. Single handed with no autopilot, satnav, GPS or magic wand. The yacht, the wind, the sea and me. Yippee.

http://www.scribd.com/bruce_moffatt_2/

[brucemoffatt]

Chapter 8 has been uploaded. I've had a cold all weekend so I've been stuck inside, and I have written two chapters in two days.

This new chapter is about being stranded in harbour while bad weather blows outside. Twofold bay in New South Wales.

http://www.scribd.com/bruce_moffatt_2/

[brucemoffatt]

Chapter 9 has been uploaded. Drunken Sailors, surf rescue squadron, lamingtons. What more could a sailor man want? Bare naked Ladies? Will mermaids do?

http://www.scribd.com/bruce_moffatt_2/

[skuthorp]

I like your synopsis Bruce, mermaids eh? McMike will be interested.

[brucemoffatt]

A better link

http://www.scribd.com/collections/3597847/A-DRIFT/

[brucemoffatt]

Chapter 10 has been uploaded in DRAFT. Marlo to Refuge Cove.

[brucemoffatt]

Chapter 11 has been uploaded. Refuge Cove to Lorne, including a major storm at Lorne that ripped the roof of the local BP, knocked down some Norfolk Pines, and threatened to destroy the catamaran Kathleen.



http://www.scribd.com/collections/3597847/A-DRIFT/

[m2c1Iw]

Good oh Bruce thoroughly enjoying your adventure.

[brucemoffatt]

Good oh Bruce thoroughly enjoying your adventure.

Thank you for the kind words. I'll keep writing then

[Phil Y]

Romping along, keep em coming

[brucemoffatt]

Chapter 12 uploaded, now at Port Fairy and finally out of Bass Strait. The coast turns north-west and we turn our head out of the south-westerlies and into the long home straight.

See above for the link

[brucemoffatt]

Chapter 13 uploaded, now at Robe in South Australia and within striking distance of home.

See above for the link.

[brucemoffatt]

Chapter 14 uploaded. Robe to Adelaide. Thrills, spills, anger and surprise.

See above for the link.

Only a brief epilogue to follow and first draft is done.

[crawdaddyjim50]

Well done, Mr. Moffatt! Thank you for taking the time to write your adventure down.

J.F.Sanders

[Phil Y]

I like that you describe the sailing-a lot of sailing books and blogs are just travelogues. I've really enjoyed reading your story, thanks

[brucemoffatt]

I like that you describe the sailing-a lot of sailing books and blogs are just travelogues. I've really enjoyed reading your story, thanks

Thanks so much for the kind words, and many thanks to the whole forum for encouraging me to start writing. This has been brewing inside me for nearly 30 years and suddenly it has all come rushing out onto the computer.

I've now compiled all of the chapters into one big book-sized file, added charts and photos, and done another edit. A couple of close friends are doing an editorial review for me and I'll be posting it on the Amazon books site in a few weeks. I've even written in some clues on how to find an additional extra chapter on-line, The Tao of Crackers, which may mean something to those who have read the whole boook so far.

This has been an exciting and unexpected turn of events. I've discovered how much I love writing. I'm very very grateful to you all for nudging me along and for the kind words of encouragement.

In the meantime the weather has not been very conducive to making progress on the Caledonia Yawl, however I've continued to scrounge some excellent materials. I feel a breakthrough with progress about to happen there.

Very best regards,

Bruce in Adelaide.

[Phil Y]

Bruce-I didn't realise you'd just written all that after we met you here, only a few weeks ago-thats amazing!

[brucemoffatt]

Bruce-I didn't realise you'd just written all that after we met you here, only a few weeks ago-thats amazing!

Hi Phil, I have had 29 years to think about it. A couple of times over the years I've thought of writing some of it down, but I've always talked myself out of it - it's all me me me, and what isn't me is about sailing, so I never had the nuts to write it. When I joined up here I wrote that first bit, and you guys said write some more, so I got the old log book out and when I started it all fell onto the page. It was just like I'd only got back yesterday. I'm so glad someone read it and liked it, and I'm really glad I actually finally wrote it. Thanks a million for the encouuragement.

[brucemoffatt]

Since I signed up here a lot has happened in my life. I was encouraged by some forum members to write some stories, so I wrote a book. I lost my job, but although it had a lot to do with boats it was a rotten job.

Now my book has been published on Amazon as a Kindle e-book. This forum gets a mention, and you can read that in the book preview.

Thank you all for poking me into action. Now I'm a happily self-unemployed author. It feels so good to say that.

Bruce

The book title is Drift and it is written under the nom de plume Frankk Fatt

[Phil Y]

Awesome! Good luck with sales. What a fine achievement.

[brucemoffatt]

Thanks Phil,

Sales are terribly slow, but that's not really the point. I'm happy that some wooden boaties here actually enjoyed reading it, and more than that, pushed me along to write it.

I did a 'free download promo day' and gave away a hundred copies, and that feels good. It's a lot more copies than I've sold. I'm still happily self-unemployed after being made redundant so I've started writing a sequel. It's called Bait and is all still based on sailing around on that same boat, but it's 99% fiction this time. It's a sailing adventure murder mystery set around Port Lincoln, SA, with aquaculture, greenies, drug dealers, customs, murder and a big shark. Sort of Enid Blyton meets Ian Fleming with a bit of Jaws thrown in for thrills. Oh, and a big plastic boat that blows up when it runs into the rock wall at the mouth of Christmas Cove courtesy of the baddies.

Unfortunately b*gger all progress on the Caledonia Yawl to speak of. I've gathered some more materials, spar and hardware material plus a 4HP Johnson outboard that may or may not prove to be any good yet.

All the best,

Bruce in Adelaide, writing on Amazon as Frankk Fatt

[Phil Y]

Bait sounds fun. Even if you don't make a living out of writing it sounds like you are enjoyingg it, good stuff.

[bluedogsailor]

Bruce,
I'm grounded for at least six months due to a knee injury and look forward to looking in on your chapters (in between doing my "day job" work with my leg propped up and creating a web site related to island lifestyle trivia). Regarding your boat build project, what are your planned destinations when finished and, too, what do anticipate the construction cost to be when completed? --

[brucemoffatt]

Hi bluedog,

I'm planning one trip in the boat when finished, depending on how old/capable i am when that day eventually comes round. Adelaide to somewhere around Merrimbula via the coast, then on a trailer to the head of the Murray River and down the length of the Murray, out the mouth and back to Adelaide via the sea.

I suffered a blow to the boatbuilding today. We had a pretty nasty squall come through Adelaide (Phil can confirm, hopefully he stayed in out of it) and the shed/tent I'm building in blew itself to smithereens. Weather is moderating from around midnight tonight so I'll cover it with a tarpaulin for now.

I had one decision made for me the other day. A friend has been donating gear to my boat project and among the latest was a 4HP Johnson outboard that would suit mounting in a well, but not outboard on a bracket. So a well it will be, if the outboard is repairable. I've gathered some reasonable spars, sails and hardware from this source with more spars to come.

By the way I've removed the chapters of the first book from scribd. You can grab the whole book from Amazon. If you don't want to buy it there will be a free download weekend promo in a week or so if I get my act together. Let me know if you want that to happen and I'll remember to set it up.

Cheers,

Bruce in Adelaide

[Phil Y]

Dead right about the weather! We live in the Hills and it was awful. Snow. Maybe 3 or 4 inches of compacted hail sitting on the road. Everything horizontal.

Hey Bruce a warning first that with the cortizone I'm on at the moment my brain seems to be in overdrive and not always 100% rational, but I got to thinking that "Bait" sounds like a combination of Storm Boy and something from Clive Cussler. To be brutal I think you need to find your writing style a bit-Adrift spoke in several different tongues as I read it. But anyway, there is a heavily subsidised film industry in South Australia. The eternal almost spastic optimist in me is saying that if you could hook up with the right script/screen writer, producer, financier etc etc, you could have something there which is interesting unique, showcases some beautiful SA locations. Could be a real goer.

Phil

[brucemoffatt]

Hi Phil,

Regarding finding a style and writing in different voices, I'm in full agreement. That's a very insightful observation, and spot on, and thinking back, that's exactly how I wrote it - wondering how I could,should,would put something, wondering who the audience might be, wondering how to put something in words to please an imaginary reader. If you hadn't tapped me on the shoulder with this new post I would probably never have woken up to that.

Thank you so much for the insight. Who cares if it is driven by Cortisone. (Actually, I care. my mother was a long-term user of the drug and it ruined her body, so please, get well enough to not have to take it.)

I'll keep you in the loop regarding Bait. I'm not going to release drafts for open review this time as I am intending to write and edit and rewrite until I am happy with it. Can't remember who said it, but an author of some repute said to the effect that all first drafts are ****, but unless you write one you won't ever get to the final release. I have to agree.

Stay warm mate, it's still icy down here at Largs,

Bruce

[brucemoffatt]

A quick thread bump.

Since the book Drift was published last year I've sold around 140 copies as a $1 e-book, of which I theoretically get $0.35 per copy, and given away hundreds more copies in promos. The book is now under its third cover, and is available as an e-book from Amazon, Smashwords, iTunes, Diesel Books, and a heap of other big name resellers. If the tally of my dividends ever gets to $100 they'll send me a cheque, however sales seem to be asymptoting to the zero axis, so no aspirations there.

The book has been reviewed on-line seven times and has been rated at 4/5 by three reviewers and 5/5 by four reviewers. Talk about head swelling material! Many people have asked about a paperback, so I've worked up the material to make it fit for paper production, and late last week I released it through Createspace. Over the Easter break I managed to pre-sell 34 copies at $8.99 a copy. As much as I personally prefer e-books, it looks like paperbacks still rule. I've had 80 copies printed and expect at this rate to have no problems getting rid of that many myself, and the printer is also going to push it out through their own distribution network. Here is where it lives on their on-line shelf: https://www.createspace.com/4187764

My personal situation is much the same. I'm still self-unemployed, having been made redundant at 60. I'm doing lots of rowing coaching. I have shelved the Caledonia Yawl build since the storm that blew away the temp shelter (refer above), and I'm building a Welsford Scamp in my back shed instead. I still have all the work I did on the CY, so none of that is lost, just deferred to an unknown future time.

So this sort of wraps up the loose ends of this thread. It has been a bit long-winded as an introduction, but I'm like that. If Drift becomes a best seller I'll update this thread again, otherwise, it's done.

Bruce in Largs, South Australia