Roll with it

By Geraldine Roper, January 25, 2008 @ 2:58 pm

Buy@Fishpond

Inspiration struck Mark Sommerset somewhere between New Caledonia and Vanuatu. After 62 hours battling five-metre swells on a small boat and feeling distinctly seasick, he tried to imagine rolling with the waves—not worrying about the next swell or the highs and lows that were coming.

“The metaphor stuck,” he says. “We are all corks in the ocean really, being bobbed along by the waves.”

And so Cork on the Ocean was born, a children’s book written by Sommerset and illustrated by wife and fellow-sailor Rowan. The couple closed their Auckland design agency and moved to the Kai Iwi lakes, north of Dargaville, to turn their idea into reality, and then into a commercial proposition. The couple also published and distributed their book, before striking a deal with Random House New Zealand, which released a paperback edition in late 2007. Two more Cork books are currently in production along with block-mounted artwork from the books, and possibly an animated series in the future. For now, however, the Sommersets are just enjoying the ride.