If you are in the neighborhood, consider joining us when I give a presentation about my novel, Hell Around the Horn, at the National Maritime Historical Society Seminar Series this Saturday at the Hendrick Hudson Free Library, 185 Kings Ferry Road, Montrose, NY. Welcome and refreshments begin at 10:30 AM, with the presentation at 11:00 AM.

From the National Maritime Historical Society website: 

The November NMHS Seminar Series features Hell Around the Horn with author and “Old Salt Blog” founder and host Rick Spilman. This nautical thriller is set in the last days of the great age of sail. In 1905, a young ship’s captain and his family set sail on the windjammer, Lady Rebecca, from Cardiff, Wales with a cargo of coal bound for Chile, by way of Cape Horn. Before they reach the Southern Ocean, the cargo catches fire, the mate threatens mutiny and one of the crew may be going mad, yet the greatest challenge will prove to be surviving the vicious westerly winds and mountainous seas of the worst Cape Horn winter in memory.

Though this is a work of fiction it is based on a well-documented voyage in the early 1900’s, a period rarely covered, and the descriptions of life aboard are as informative as any non-fiction work without overpowering the reader with superfluous detail. Hell Around the Horn is a story of survival and the human spirit against overwhelming odds.

The Public is invited. Please register here or contact NMHS at 914-737-7878, ext. 0 if you plan to attend. A $5-$10 donation is appreciated. After the lecture, NMHS will host a luncheon with the speaker —$25 prepaid with cash bar. Reservations are required for lunch.