PORTLAND, Maine — NEWS CENTER Maine's Chief Meteorologist Todd Gutner didn’t set out to become a children’s book author. It happened only because of—not being snarky here, just truthful—his ineptitude.
The new book is called “The Adventures of a Maine Peanut,” and it was a team effort from start to finish. Todd and his friend Samir Haydar wrote it; Todd’s wife, Rachel, edited it; and another friend, Jim Newton, illustrated it.
The story was inspired by an event that actually happened to Todd and Samir and their kids. Along with other friends, they’d gone on a fathers and daughters overnight camping trip on Richmond Island, just off the coast of Cape Elizabeth.
On their way back in stormy conditions the next morning, they decided to moor Samir’s boat called “Peanut,” in Kettle Cove. Todd tied the lines, and the four people on board went ashore.
Then things went wrong. It seems that Todd, a master of weather forecasting but not of boatmanship, tied what he has described as “a crappy knot.” It soon unraveled, allowing “Peanut” to drift out to sea on what turned out to be much more than a three-hour tour.
What happened to the boat? How did the ensuing drama inspire the book? Has Todd been forced to take repeated Coast Guard-certified courses in the art of knot tying?
Excellent questions, and we don’t want to give away too much here because it’s much more fun to get the answers from Todd, Samir, Rachel and Jim. Watch our conversation to get the rest of the story.