How Do You Say Goodbye

By Nan Baker

Living aboard a boat is the ultimate experience for the independent soul. A full time cruiser must remember the details before untying the lines or pulling the hook, idling through the marked channel, and heading out to sea. There's no gas station, no grocery store, no doctor, and no one to call the shots but the Captain. "How Do You Say Goodbye" gives the reader a look at the problems and perils of living aboard a boat as well as describing the beauty and tranquility of those one-of-a-kind unforgettable hours underway and at anchor. The experienced boater and yachtsman will appreciate the never ending adventure, both in commentary and poetry, and the want-to-be live aboard reader will learn about boating by those who lived the life for many years. Every poem is a true story. "Seven Coats of Varnish on the Teak" is the saga of a couple's firstwild bout with weather on a beautiful used boat."Sea Sounds" takes the reader into the heart of nature. "The Storm" is unforgettable. "The Watch and the Hurricane" really happened, just as related by the author. "How Do You Say Goodbye" is the title poem, and is the voice of a couple who could never say goodbye.The book, written by Nan Baker, is a tribute to her late husband, Jim, the Captain that kept thewatches and steered through the storms. It is Jim who is Captain twenty-four seven. He is the anchor. "How do you say goodbye" washes the reader in refreshing waves of originality. The author's poems and commentary are in good company with bright oil paintings as descriptive as the verse. Vincent, the artist, catches a moment and paints a timeless scene of adventure. True, Vincent's boat is not the 40 ft. Marine Trader or the 42 ft. Eagle or the 36 ft. Willard that the Bakers lived aboard. But it is the boat of Vincent's imagination. Thus, the poems and paintings agree to agree-- each compliments the voice and color of the other. "How Do You Say Goodbye" invites the reader tocome aboard and cruise the Louisiana bayous, anchor in a swamp, wait for a hurricane, cross the Gulf, attend a dock party, go through a lock, camp on a deserted island, watch the porpoise play, and hear the sounds that surround the sea."How do you say goodbye" takes the reader through days of balm and beauty and hours of discomfort and fear. The verse is a tribute to the life of boaters--all boaters-- who live aboard a boat by choice.The oil paintings in "How do you say goodbye" were created on a full canvas, photographed, andreduced to the size of the page. The colors and composition express the artist's unique style.Vincent tells a story with his work as the author tells a story with her work.The events described by the poems were witnessed or experienced by the author. And the book is a tribute to the Captain who made it all possible. Still hoping to go on one last cruise, Jim died in July 2010, still studying boat specifications and making calls for detailed information. To Jim-- who had enough courage for Captain and crew.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1483914887
• ISBN13: 9781483914886
• Release Date: June 2013
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 80 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.0" x 0.2" x 8.5"