Boathooks links our two passions, books and boats, in the most productive way we can think of!

Jo and Andrew Holloway (yacht "Chamchela") have had "equal but different" boating backgrounds.  I (Jo) grew up with boats in our back yard since my earliest memories out in Central Africa (Zambia, Rhodesia, Tanzania, Malawi). Boats were my Navy father's love, and my first memories were of a yacht hull that he and a friend were building in the garden. After that came a melee of yachts, cabin cruisers, sailing dinghies, (mostly Optimists), rowboats, kayaks, canoes, dugouts, even rafts(!) ... and then I left home for the serious business of earning a living (can television and film be considered serious??), and it was many years more before I was able to once again take up the old flame.

Andrew too grew up "messing about in boats", in the UK, though more on an annual holiday basis and mostly rowboats. His first real experience of sailing came when a friend invited him to sail a yacht back from Hong Kong to South Africa; sadly the friend hated it, and bailed when they reached Singapore, but Andrew was hooked. His dream became one of sailing around the world, and of eventually retiring onto his own yacht. Andrew flew on to South Africa to fulfill a work contract, and enjoyed it so much he stayed ... and met me (Jo), just as I was planning to return to the UK. My plans changed, and I too remained.

Years on, we went on a "second honeymoon" to the Indian Ocean islands, where the passion for sailing rose again for us both. After returning to our home in South Africa, it didn't take long for a casual look-see to assess the boat market to turn into a buy, and we've owned "Chamchela" ever since. Her web site states that she's for sale, to invest in the publishing business, but in truth I doubt we'd part with her unless we received a reeeeeeeally good offer!

After doing major renovations and preparations (Andrew did this almost single-handed, including a complete rebuild of the seized 55 hp Hatz engine), we finally set out to sail around the world in 2006, but due to a cancer operation (me) the budget was hugely reduced. When we'd arrived in Kenya and couldn't legally find work there, we had to bring forward our plan of starting a publishing company (Sunpenny Publishing), fly home to the UK and get it moving, leaving "Chamchela" in Kenya – where she was sold at the end of 2009, sadly - but a blessing for business cashflow, too! We now live on the Broads and have a small cabin cruiser, and a double kayak. Can't keep us off the water, it seems!

On the business side: Andrew is a trained proofreader and has written technical (electronics and amateur radio) articles for magazines over the years. He also ran his own electronics design company for 25-odd years, producing the manuals for all the equipment he supplied.

I have been a writer for as long as I can remember, but a professional writer (i.e. paid!) for about 24 years now. I have written for television, film, radio, multimedia, and print. I have also been an editor, and have spent a lot of time developing new writers and teaching people to write. The publishing side itself has been more of a learning curve, but I think we're getting the hang of it now. Ha!

Sunpenny Publishing had been going for just under 2 years when we decided we were ready to start our boating imprint - thus, Boathooks! We aim to launch in mid-2010. We hope you enjoy our particular brand of style and beauty in our gift books, as well as our other variety of boating titles. :-)