Cruising Sailors Forum Archive

problem is getting stuff right and keeping it up to date

A couple . . . make that maybe four? years ago I wrote some "Goin' Ashores" for the Chesapeake Bay Waterway Guide. These are just descriptions of what's ashore when you get to a harbor, say Reedville, or Portsmouth, Virginia (just two examples) -- history, stuff to see, places to eat, etc.. Someone else did the navigation stuff. I drove to all the places (it would take lifetime by boat!) and tried to do my "due diligence." I'd get into writing, then call a few places I hadn't had time to actually eyeball -- "number no longer in service."
We actually had lunch in one restaurant . . . that then closed before the book came out . . and it was in a marina owned by the owner of Waterway Guide! Two years later, I'm in the same town (Urbanna) on another project, and the hot-spot ice cream parlour not only wasn't there . . . the building was gone!
So, first you have to get reliable information, then you have to check up every five minutes to make sure it's correct. You can get away with some stuff with a print publication, but not on the Internet.
(When working with books . . . I prefer not to include URLs because they, too, go away.)
Stick to listing rocks and medieval castles -- stuff that doesn't move -- and be wary about any kind of businesses. Even Post Offices are being closed down these days . . .

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