I would be delighted to meet any or all at the following book signing events:
Aug 23, 2 pm Borders, Carson city, NV
Aug 23, 2 pm borders, Reno, NV
Sept 20, 2 pm Barnes&Noble Reno, NV
Sept 24 7:30 pm Barnes&Noble, HArbor 9, Annapolis MD
Sept 25 and 26, Boston, MA
Sept 27, 2 pm Borders Annapolis Mall
I will update with additional schedules soon.
Norris van den Berg
Rachel or Sally?
What happened to Sergeant Fletcher?
What happens to Dan and Paul at the disastrous Battle of New York in August of 1776?
How does Washington avoid the defeat of the revolution?
The sequel to “The Waterman” is underway and will be available early 2010!
At a certain point in time, a sailboat man may need to gird it up and buy a power boat. Living in Lake Tahoe where winds can be erratic, often none, then way too much, I thought it to be my time. But what boat might have that same aesthetic appeal? A Fortier 26 footer from Fortier Boats, Somerset Mass. She has a full molded keel and a skeg for stability and protection for the shaft and rudder. She came with a Navy blue hull, beautiful teak trim and a wide open cockpit. With a tiller in the stern and a second set controls for clutch and throttle for her robust Volvo diesel, she is ready to go for lobstering or fishing. But, best of all, she is sweet to drive and sweet to look at.
Heading west on Route 50 from Ocean City, Maryland, a sign notes that you are leaving the watershed of the Atlantic coastal bays. Less than a mile later, but a surprising distance nonetheless, a similar sign tells you that you have entered the watershed of the mighty Chesapeake Bay. No perceptible elevation change occurred signifying this slim divide, but there it is, and gravity rules.
The coastal Bays, open to the cleansing Atlantic Ocean remain relatively vibrant and healthy compared to the imperiled Chesapeake. These signs are to remind you of the consequences of what you leave in these precious watersheds as much as for your geographical education. Perhaps they will leave an imprint on some tourists.
A seminal event in The Waterman is when our hero, Continental Navy Lieutenant Dan Saunders, is shot in the back by an English spy. The musket ball is lodged perilously close to his spinal cord. His colleagues, unable to pry the ball out of his back without risk, resort to the use of the ship’s compass to find a large lodestone in the forest. This, in turn, uses magnetic force to extract the iron musket ball. The story here takes some liberty in that most musket balls were cast of lead, easy to melt and mold in the wilderness. Lead, of course, is not susceptible to magnetic force. But, iron musket balls were indeeed used, cast in England by and large and more likely to be used by the English than the frontiersman.
You will notice on this web page the extraordinary painting by Thomas Lovell, The Noble Train of Artillery. Lovell was born in NY in 1909 and passed away in Santa Fe 1997. He painted this work in 1946 and it is a sterling example of his fine artistry. It is also worth noting that, in my opinion, the artist took some figurative license with the reality of the scene.
The men are depicted in full Continental Army uniform when in fact most of the men were simple cart drivers and would have been dressed in working men’s clothing. Also, carriage wheels are shown as being transported but the carriages in Fort Ticonderoga had deteriorated to the point that they were left behind. Lastly, a fort is depicted in the far distance and neither Forts Ticonderoga or Henry would have been visible in this context. But, this is not a criticism of the author, each one of these poetic interpretations served to help tell the story and illustrate the heroic and patriotic nature of the cannon’s journey.
Again, my gratitude to Chris Fox of the Fort Ticonderoga museum.
I dont get it myself. ’Gradually sinking beneath the wave as the sun sets..’. The image prevails of a romantic death at sea.
To me, the concept of being submerged, running out of air culminating in an involuntary inhalation of water is not the way to go. But sadly that is the end for about 3600 US citizens each year, many in boating accidents. Not surprisingly, most of the boating fatalities occur on boats under 20 feet in length. And, you can guess this, most of those tragedies were from capsizing or falling overboard. Ninety percent of those poor folks were not wearing a life jacket.
Man, that is compelling.
In general, summer weather in Lake Tahoe is 80 degrees high, 50 degrees low, low humidity with dramatically clear skies. Deep blue during day and uncountable stars at night. But we are currently in a two week period where we have significant afternoon thunderheads, cloud cover, followed by showers, lightning and humidity. Bizarre, abnormal, and the old timers are buzzing.
Yes, but those western alpenglow sunsets over the big mountains are awesome…
I took my little ‘sit on top’ kayak out for a spin yesterday. About 100 yards off shore she began to feel sluggish. She did not seem to be lower in the water but I headed directly to shore. The water is 48 degrees here in Lake Tahoe at the end of May and 100 yards out it is 400 feet deep. As I got closer to shore, the kayak got heavier and the water in the hull moved from side to side making it very unstable. Then she went over but fortunately I was in waist deep water by then. Cold, very cold. But I was able to drag her to shore and turn her upside down to drain. I put my life jacket on (yeah, I know). I followed the shore line home stopping 5 times to drain the boat. About 12 people a year die on this lake from exposure mostly. A good lesson.
Our first blog is to recognize the heroism, fortitude and commitment of our ancestors in their extraordinary struggle against the mighty British armed forces. They bequeathed to us a structure for democratic government that has prevailed without interruption to this day. We owe them our vigilance to protect this heritage.
