More Faster Backwards: Rebuilding David B - Paperback

by Christine K. Smith (Author)

ON JUNE 16, 2006, the David B left Bellingham, Washington bound for Juneau, Alaska, on her maiden voyage as a passenger vessel. Eight years earlier, Christine and Jeffrey had found the David B tucked behind a breakwater on Lopez Island. The tired old wooden boat, built in 1929, was showing her age. When the young couple stepped aboard the neglected vessel, her sturdy work-boat style captured their hearts with an ageless beauty that only the young dreamers could see. Their desire was to own and operate a small expedition cruise ship in Alaska. With their love for one another and without much income, they pinned their hopes and sheer will on rebuilding the dying boat. What they thought would be a two-year project, became an eight-year tug-of-war between time and money as they raced to finish rebuilding the David B before it was too late. More Faster Backwards is the story of Christine and Jeffrey's uncertain struggle to rebuild the David B and their journey to Alaska on an untested seventy-seven year old boat to begin the life of their dreams.

Author Biography

Christine Smith was introduced to professional boating when she met her husband, Jeffrey, in 1996. She began working on tour and whale watch boats in 2001 because it combined her love for nature and her interest in helping others to enjoy the natural world. Christine is an avid birder, and a founding member of the Northwest Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. Alongside her role as vice president, chef, naturalist, mate, and part-time engineer for Northwest Navigation Co., Inc, she has also owns a small gardening company. When not watching birds, working on the David B, baking, or gardening, Christine enjoys long trail runs in the hills around Bellingham, Washington, where she lives with Jeffrey and their two cats Harriet and Oswald. Christine won 1st Place in the 2013 Chanticleer Book Reviews Journey Awards for True Adventure for More Faster Backwards: Rebuilding David B