Taking The Bad with The Good

Can you tell it got chilly again? Sun! Follow the Sun!

It's warming up though just in time for everyone to do their Easter rituals.

I just had a nice surprise when I was doing my occasional scan for things said about A Sail of Two Idiots (it was illegally being downloaded for a bit) and adding the fun stuff to my Chit Chat page. I just discovered Walmart is carrying it. How about that? Rather unexpected.

The book's been out for a year now and I'm happy with my Amazon rating, but, of course, not everyone is a fan (nobody and nobody's book is perfect). I try to avoid the worst reviews - they don't usually provide constructive criticism - but I couldn't help it when this one jumped out at me:
 The authors ego made me have to put the book down and walk away multiple times. I only kept reading hoping her husband would leave her by the end of the book. Um, thanks for coming back for more? Spoiler Alert! We're still married (Michael told me to add "happily-so" and guesses the reviewer is single). My critic had lots more to say (I did not have frown emoticons in the book), and I think it's pretty fair to conclude that we'd never be friends. The vast majority of the other readers (out of 61) felt the complete opposite (thank goodness), so perhaps it's a perspective thing?

Unsurprisingly, it turned out the other four negative reviews were also written by seemingly offended men, leading me to believe I might have stepped on their egos. You know, most of the books I'd read before we set out were of reluctant (even scared) women dragged on board by their living-the-dream husbands. The men were always great sailors in every sea/weather condition and could fix everything, and the thankful women happily and easily provisioned, cooked, laundered, and cleaned. Kind of a Leave It To Beaver on the high seas. I never saw any male readers complaining about that.

A great t-shirt by The T-Rex Runner
for runners who pass other runners.
NoI don't have one - I get to read them.

There are cruising couples like the above, and kudos to them, but my journey wasn't like that, so neither was my book. Instead Idiots talks to the ever growing numbers of cruisers just like us (it's a heck of a lot more realistic and takes the pressure off both sexes, which is why many men have loved Idiots). Sorry I'm not sorry. For anyone who feels Idiots is endorsing irresponsible behavior, you'll note that one of my editors was a long-time ASA instructor (but never a cruiser). She went from critic to enthusiast when she realized that I was trying to stop people from doing it the way we did (even we hadn't wanted it to go down that way) and was providing valid information to anyone thinking of doing the same. BTW, some of the dumbest and most dangerous things I saw happen out on the sea were done by well-seasoned sailors, so we didn't have a lock on stupidity. A lot of what happened to us, could have (and has) happened to many cruisers. If that bothers you (or you don't believe it), don't go cruising.


Like I said, not everyone's going to get it or like it. Instead I focus on the many emails I've received from people who enjoyed the book. I continue to help people get ready to cruise themselves (and entertain those who just wanted to know what it was like), and I'm always excited to hear from anyone who pursues whatever it is they dream to do.


And keep sending in those photos of you (or your pets) reading the book - it's been so fun! The latest Idiot fan was Nat (and pooch) in Bequia.