Welcome to "Island Time Online"

Island Time Online is the latest addition to my website for 2005, as I have decided to join in on the blogging concept as the best way to post regular updates, articles and general commentaries online for those who are interested. As many readers already know, "island time" denotes a state of mind common in the "little" latitudes where the heat and humidity slows everything down and where there is always a manana to accomplish those things which cannot be accomplished today. I first became acquainted with this way of life when I found myself living on "island time" during my kayak journey to the Caribbean back in 1988-89. Now after all those years my book about that trip of a lifetime is about to be released under the title: On Island Time: Kayaking the Caribbean, University Press of Mississippi, May 2005. The title says it all in conveying a sense of what it was like to slow down to the pace of three miles an hour for months at a time, which is something most people don't get to experience enough of these days.

That trip taught me a lot about patience by forcing me to wait and to travel at the pace wind and weather conditions permitted. Anyone who has done a long paddling, sailing, cycling or hiking trip knows that nature is in control and human concepts of time must be abandoned. But back in the "real" world we immediately tend to get swept back into the rush of trying to do too many things at once, and trying to force results before waiting to see the fruits of our labors take shape and ripen slowly over time.

Writing, like travel in a small boat, certainly requires patience and can be a journey fraught with obstacles and frustrations. Writing the books I have been working on in the past two years has at times seemed like slogging to windward against the trade winds, being blown backward almost as fast as I could paddle in the direction of my goals. But just as each paddle stroke takes you almost imperceptibly forward, each word, line and paragraph eventually forms itself into the context of a longer manuscript and before you realize it, that distant shore is within reach. The journey is complete and dreams of the next one begin to take shape.

Island Time Online is about exploring the world one step at a time, and taking as much time as it requires to do so. Topics will be as diverse as my varied interests have always been, and postings here will range from how-to articles to new products and book reviews to news relating to boating, writing and publishing. Your comments and suggestions are welcome (scott@scottbwilliams.com) as I set off on yet another new adventure in the form of online blogging.