Alan Harper is a yachting journalist, writer and editor. He gained his Yachtmaster Offshore qualification over 30 years ago and learned navigation the old way, with pencils, charts and parallel rules, similar techniques to Greenvile Collins' time, giving him a unique ability to relate to Collins' struggles and to analyse his cartography with an understanding of the issues of seamanship and navigation. His previous books include Waiting For Buddy Guy, which won the ASCAP Foundation Award and was a Living Blues book of the year.