Signals from Po Tolo     Publisher: Plummer Creek Press     Date of Publication: February 2006 SYNOPSIS From the book: "Once upon a time my husband fell in love with a picture he received in the mail. When my mate laid that glossy on the table in front of me I thought, Oh, no, she's going to change everything. The photo was of a thirty-six-foot Sundowner Tug berthed in Midcoast Maine. And she did change everything." Friends thought they were nuts. Sometimes they even thought they were. But in less than a month the Hughes empty their ten room house and put it on the market, store their treasures, and in late September head to Maine to take possession of their new boat. Their plan is to take Po Tolo down the East Coast and spend the winter in Florida. Leaving Maine at the end of October is ill advised for a first mate whose only boating experience is summer afternoon cruises on calm lake water, where reasonable people stay at the dock if whitecaps threaten. Nothing had prepared her for big waves, green water flying over top of the boat, or books, mugs and plates crashing to the floor. So when a terrifying storm is encountered their first day on the Atlantic, the original plan is scrapped, and instead they spend the winter aboard their shrink-wrapped boat in Portland harbor. Then comes the summer detour to Islesboro Island, a detour that turns into a way of life. Finally, with trials, storms and many nautical miles under the keel, their journey brings them back to the Midwest, but not back to their same old life. Signals from Po Tolo is told from Shirley's journal entries, ship's log, e-mails and newsletters to family and friends.