'Tis the season... for fraudulent reviews? Over the past two Christmas seasons, the makers of another "Blue Water" cruising video have seen fit to pepper Amazon.com with fraudulent reviews on other videos. It seems they feel that if they can scare people away from other videos, more people will buy their video.

Boy, is that a scary line of thought. From my perspective, in terms of cruising videos, the more the merrier. As Michelle and I were getting ready to cruise, I searched out everything I could find to learn more about the world we were entering. That someone would want to diminish that says much about them, I guess.

At least I'm not alone. The same happy people have left fraudulent reviews for some of the big names in the cruising world - one review goes so far to accuse the Shard's of being amateurish in video production. In truth, the Shard's have worked with multiple television networks and have many thousands of miles of water under their keel - they didn't just do a family trip a few decades ago. Coincidentally, the same "people" that leave horrible reviews for other videos also often leave glowing reviews for the one video. Hmmm....

So - if someone is going to leave fraudulent reviews for me, I can feel good about being in good company.

Producing a cruising video isn't exactly a get-rich-quick scheme. We released Being Out There just over three years ago - and with what we paid out of the cruising kitty for cameras, computers, and travel alone, well, suffice to say we haven't been cruising since (the kitty is still gone). That doesn't account for the entire year spent doing interviews and in post-production. Although several thousand copies of Being Out There have sold, we are just now reaching the break-even point.

Fortunately, we didn't do it to make money. We made the video in an attempt to answer a few of the questions that we had before we released the docklines.

The cruising world is a small place. As far as I know the makers of the other video are no longer active cruisers. That's too bad - perhaps if they were, they would still think about things like leaving a clean wake. Or maybe, they never thought about such things in the first place.

On a completely different note...

Over the past few years I've learned just how easy it is to swallow the hook. But I never thought I'd do it. Never, ever, ever. But I did just that. After starting a small business and weathering the bumpy economy, Michelle and I finally reached the point at which we had to sell our beloved Hetty B. The thought of suddenly being boat-less terrified me, to say the least. So that situation lasted for less than 10 days. In the months prior to the sale of our boat, I began scouring Yachtworld and other boat for sale sites searching for the perfect (but less expensive) replacement. I'm happy to say I found it. And she is literally perfect.

I've only been home for a week since buying her but will soon post an update.

In the meantime, please allow me to wish you a very Merry Christmas - or Happy Holidays (whatever your preference). Yes, even in the cruising world there are some nasty people but the rest of us seriously outnumber them. I know that for a fact - because through cruising, I've met some of the finest people you could imagine.

Fair Winds to you!

Mitch

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