Bob Ojala earned a BSE in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the University of Michigan and has spent nearly five decades in the maritime industry, including service with the U.S. Coast Guard, the American Bureau of Shipping, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. For more than thirty years, he has also run his own marine surveying and consulting business, traveling the world to survey cruise ships, tankers, dry docks, and warships.Inspired by his father, a merchant mariner of thirty-two years, Bob has spent his career honoring the men and women of the maritime world. He is the author of several non-fiction books and Sweetwater Sailors, a picture book celebrating Great Lakes sailors. More stories are on the way, including The Tugboater Family and additional tales drawn from his experiences aboard 165 ocean cruises.