The Seas of Suzy Wong

Hello out there!  I have spent the past two years collecting my memories on paper of a sailboat trip I took in 1960 with three other guys and a dog -- from Hong Kong to Miami.  Our boat was named the Suzy Wong.  She was a 41 foot yawl (27 feet on the water line) which we had built for us in Hong Kong.  The trip covered 26,000 nautical miles and was eighteen months in duration.

That was 50 years ago!  We were all still alive when we got to Miami, and we are all still kicking now.  The story is very exciting, has many features such as danger, romance, comedy, and human kindness.  

Here is a first draft Prologue which maybe gives you an idea of what happened.

Prologue

Many years ago, when the world was larger and safer and much more mysterious, four young men had a dream.  In this dream they all fell in love with a beautiful sailboat and sailed on her around the globe.  At first they couldn’t believe they all had the same dream and were all so obsessed by it.  They didn’t know how to sail.  They had limited resources.  But they could find no peace of mind, and being robust and romantic men of action they soon decided to make their dream come true.

They journeyed to Hong Kong where they had heard about a great sailboat builder.  He listened to and understood their longing and offered to make their 41-foot yawl from a design he already knew well.  Creating this lovely boat again would be such a joyful experience for him that he even agreed to let them pay for half of it at launching, then the other half after their voyage.  This dream was meant to be.

While their sailboat was being built, the four men lived in Hong Kong and helped the Chinese boat-builders.  Hong Kong was a bustling city with much to see and do.  A famous American actor was making a movie there called The World of Suzie Wong about a Chinese prostitute.  The publicity for the movie was enormous and all over town.  Everywhere they went they saw pictures of the stars and heard stories about the filming.  The name Suzie Wong rang in their ears day and night, while they worked, while they ate, and even while they slept.  One morning they suddenly realized that their beloved dream boat must be named Suzy Wong, with the spelling a little different to honor her uniqueness and virtuousness. 

This is the true story of life on the seas of Suzy Wong.  It is a grand coming-of-age adventure, a harrowing tale of death-defying danger, a heart-warming depiction of friendship, a love story that will delight the toughest scrooge.  These four young Americans launched themselves into the most amazing, life-changing drama they could have ever imagined when they first dreamed their dream.  They became the leading men of their own epic, more magnificent and profound than any Hollywood movie could ever hope to be. (End of Prologue)

I am looking for another brilliant author to work with me to massage what I have so far into a New York Times Bestseller.  This story needs to be told, and I am Hell Bent to tell it!

I look forward to hearing from you.  

Sincerely, Paul Cardoza