Their friends warned them.
Would their romance survive the experience? Would their marriage? And would the boat?.
Alaska travels, wildlife, boat maintenance, conflict avoidance, and dreams of a dog arose during their year together.
Paula worked on her book in between field classes.
Joe worked as a Port Captain while searching for a ship\'s pilot position.
Floaters travels from central Pennsylvania, along the Alaska Highway, to Juneau, Southeast Alaska, the Inside Passage, and then beyond.
And they\'d do so in Alaska, on a 331/2 foot boat.
It would be the first time they\'d live together for more than three months in a row.
She had a sabbatical and would join him for a year.
After decades as Captain of sea-going ships, Joe was about to take a shore-side job, 5,000 miles away from Paula\'s college.
Joe and Paula Martin\'s marriage had succeeded even though Joe was away at sea for months while she taught at Juniata College.
The happily married, middle-aged couple had only lived together for eight years yet had been married for twenty.
For twenty years, the couple had thrived floating between campuses, ships, and ports, but geography was about to become their destiny.
Her mother tried to talk her out of it.
Colleagues offered alternatives.
Their friends warned them
