Interwoven with legends and lore, this story chronicles one man's adventure on Lake Superior, one of the world’s most dangerous bodies of water.
When Marlin Bree began building a small sailboat beside his home in Shoreview, Minnesota, he had no idea how much that would change his life. A former newsman with the Minneapolis Tribune, he decided that a nice little sailboat would be a fine hobby and after a little tinkering around, he decided that he could build his own. That turned out to be a whole new world to him.
The adventure began early. As he built Persistence, a 20-foot centerboard sloop of epoxy/ wood veneers construction, a fellow Minnesotan crossed the North Atlantic in his home-built boat, Yankee Girl. Gerry Spiess, the skipper, came over to visit Marlin's boat-a-building laid out diagonally in his two-car garage and together the two sailors decided to do a book about the record-breaking crossing of the ocean in Gerry's 10-foot boat. After the manuscript was turned down by about 25 New York book publishers, a Minneapolis firm published Alone Against the Atlantic and it turned out to be a national best seller. Reader's Digest Condensed Books also published the book in England, Italy, Japan and Germany.
Marlin decided to undertake some unique sailing experiences by making long solo voyages aboard his sailboat on Lake Superior, the world's largest freshwater lake. Persistence's 20-foot length is not considered big enough for open water cruising, but the skipper and his little boat survived high waves, winds and storms of all sorts, including a record windstorm with downbursts estimated at 130 mph. From the cockpit of Persistence, he also found that he had a special insight into a vanishing frontier. From his anchorages and remote harbors, he recorded stories on Indians, voyageurs, miners, sea captains and colorful local inhabitants. He became fascinated with the many shipwrecks he sailed over, including the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, sometimes called the "Titanic of the Great Lakes."
Buoyed by the adventure,he began a series of books that found an international audience: In the Teeth of the Northeaster: A Solo Voyage on Lake Superior; Call of the North Wind, Voyages and Adventures on Lake Superior; Wake of the Green Storm: A Survivor's Tale; and Broken Seas: True Tales of Extraordinary Seafaring Adventures. Several of these books hit national best-seller lists for a little while.
He also developed his own Log Book and Record (Marlor Press), especially suited for the amateur small craft sailor, and wrote the wry, The Dangerous Book for Boaters: A humorous waterfront guide to the ways and wiles of boaters. For the latter book, he explains: "As a small boater, you've got to have a sense of humor." The publisher prefaces the book, "Warning: Boating Humor Ahead!."
His newest book, Amazing Gulls: Acrobats of the Sky and Sea,(Marlor Press 2011) came from his love of the remarkable sea birds he saw from the cockpit of Persitence. In over 90 digital photographs and drawings, he takes readers into gulls' antics, fun and beauty. "A stunning tribute to one of the world's most recognizable seabirds."--IPG Books
In addition to his boating books, Marlin has developed a line of children's books with his writing partner, Loris Bree. These include the top-selling kid's travel books, The Kid's Trip Diary, and The Kid's Travel Fun Book. Both are in quality trade paperback as well as in the Kindle e-book edition.
Another book that rates well with readers is Kid's Magic Secrets book, which tells kids how to do magic tricks using ordinary household objects found around the home. It's educational, too (Loris is a former education specialist with a Master's Degree) because it tells the scientific or other principal used in the trick. A fun book. (By the way, it's just been signed up for use in a forthcoming movie, Friends with Benefits, starring Justin Timberlake).
Another Marlin Bree book that was signed up by Hollywood was his Boat Log and Record, which was used in the movie, "The Perfect Storm," starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Diane Lane.
Marlin also regularly writes for a passel of boating magazines including The Ensign, Small Craft Advisor, Soundings, DIY, Cruising World, Northern Breezes, Good Old Boat, and Lakeland Boating. A member of Boating Writers International, he has consistently won prizes in the BWI Writer's Contest. He is the only writer twice to win BWI's Grand Prize, the West Marine Writers Award, the highest honor BWI can bestow upon a writer.
Marlin believes in sharing his boating experiences in his website, www.marlinbree.com. Here you can see color photos of Marlin's beautiful all-wood bright finished boat under construction and under sail, as well as see Marlin's construction details and innovations, all working in wood and epoxy. Here also are downloadable materials of Marlin's two top award-winning BWI magazine articles. In the various pages, there are detailed descriptions of all of Marlin's marine books complete with critical reviews and comments as well as some examples of the writing and the content. You can spend some enjoyable time browsing these pages if you are a fellow boater.
