http://www.boatinternational.com | May 2018On board
with
BOB AND
AMY BOOK
Having gone two years
without a yacht, the
Books are making up
for lost time. They have
crossed the Atlantic
to explore the Med –
and meet new friends
along the way, as they
explain to Risa Merl“YACHTING DEFIES COMMON SENSE. It’s
really irrational when you think about it; a deep-
rooted love,” says Bob Book, owner of 47 metre
Heesen Book Ends, his 17th yacht of that name.
It was in the middle of their honeymoon more
than 40 years ago in Acapulco, Mexico, that Book
and his wife Amy discovered their passion for
boating. The newly-weds went out on a little five
metre boat along the coast, and Book was
instantly smitten. “I went back every day until
I got sun poisoning. I’m on my honeymoon in
this very romantic place, and I couldn’t do
anything! Good introduction to boating, right?”
Book says with a laugh. Back home in New York,
Book wasted no time and bought his first boat.
“It was a 25ft single screw. It had a mustard
hull and yellow seats. Amy named it Book Ends,which has stuck all these years,” says Book. “I was
the captain and she was my first mate. And we
had no idea what we were doing.”
Since that time, the Books have become
seasoned sailors, owning ever-larger Book Ends,
including a Westport 112 and a 40 metre before
their new Heesen. The maiden voyage of the first
little yellow Book Ends was a short mosey down
the Hudson River and around the Statue of
Liberty. For second-generation Americans,
whose grandparents arrived at Ellis Island as
immigrants escaping troubles in Europe, seeing
Lady Liberty from this perspective brought tears
to Bob and Amy’s eyes. “Our grandparents
arrived in steerage, and here we were in our own
boat, living the American Dream,” says Book.
Truth be told, Bob Book is the American124