Crew's Ship Affairs is the third book in the stand-alone Blue-Collar Romance novels series, written by Bob Ojala.  The previous two books, A Tugboater's Life and The Tugboater Family revolved around the drama and romances of the Great Lakes sailors working in the tough and dangerous Marine Construction business..  This third novel continues with many of the same endearing characters, with a new character, Bob Evers, continuing to tell the tugboater crews about his unusual experiences while working aboard numerous passenger cruise ships. Most cruise ship passengers are not privy to what happens beneath the passenger decks, but Bob Evers experienced and understands the relationships that can occur, both good and bad, when 600-1000 men and women live together for four to eight months at a time..  The Crew's Ship Affairs reader will be shocked and fascinated, even at times envious, of how these various cultures learn to treat one another with respect. Romance takes on many different meanings under such circumstances..  Mr. Ojala is a Naval Architect and Marine Surveyor, very familiar with the Great Lakes. He has traveled the world to inspect ships, including over 165 Passenger Ship Cruises as an environmental auditor..  Most of the characters and experiences in the Blue-Collar Romances series come from Mr. Ojala's personal observations, changing the names where needed. His respect for the sailors and their families is obvious in these stories..  Maritime industry readers will love the true-life drama, and readers appreciating good romance will love the character's personal interactions.

To celebrate 60 years of sailing Scottish waters, the author single-handedly sailed Halcyon, a 32' wooden yawl, from Fairlie on the Clyde, round the Mull of Kintyre by way of numerous inner islands to Barra in the Outer Hebrides and to the Atlantic side of the islands, not often visited by cruising yachts. Bad weather forced a diversion to explore the sea lochs of the west coast of Harris and Lewis, the islands of Taransay (of the BBC's Castaway series) and Scarp, famed for its ingenious 'Rocket Post' experiment. While visiting these numerous islands, he met local people and experienced the sometimes violent extremes of weather such as when he was storm-bound in Stornoway for several days. There are stories galore about the island people, snippets of interesting history, legends and folklore, tales of the sea and island life, the Hebridean fishermen and lighthouses - thus uncovering another dimension of island life. Bob recounts his travels and tales, some previously unpublished, in a relaxed and highly-readable style. As well as being a unique travel book, it is an insight into the rapidly-changing ways of island life and a useful sailing guide to the Western Isles and anchorages in the Hebrides. It would be of immeasurable help to sailors keen to venture into some of the lesser-known sailing areas of Western Scotland. This vivid and entertaining story of adventurous sailing among Scotland's beautiful but challenging Western Isles will be enjoyed by keen sailors and armchair travellers alike - a truly memorable journey of over 1000 miles!