The Cover Is Final — Trading My Badge for a Boat Is Almost Here

Captain John E. Blenker • Coming December 2026

The final wraparound cover for Trading My Badge for a Boat.

There are moments when a project finally starts to feel real.

For me, this is one of them.

After months of writing, rewriting, editing, reviewing photographs, correcting details, moving chapters around, and probably driving a few people at the publishing company crazy, I’m proud to finally share the finished cover of my upcoming book, Trading My Badge for a Boat: Finding Peace, Purpose, and a Second Career on the Waters of Tampa Bay.

The book is now in the final formatting stage with Palmetto Publishing, and if everything stays on course, it is scheduled for completion in December 2026.

And I have to admit—it’s pretty incredible to see my life wrapped around an actual book cover.

From a Badge to a Boat

For nearly thirty years, I wore a badge.

Law enforcement was more than a job. It became part of my identity. There was the radio, the uniform, the responsibility, the long nights, the good calls, the bad calls, and the friendships you build with people who understand what that life demands.

Then one day, it was over.

I retired, left California behind, and eventually found myself starting over on the waters of Tampa Bay.

I had spent a lifetime around boats, but becoming a full-time charter captain in Florida meant becoming a rookie all over again. There were no patches on my sleeve, no seniority, and no shortcut around learning a new profession.

There was just me, a boat, Tampa Bay—and a whole lot left to learn.

This Isn’t Just a Fishing Book

There are plenty of fishing stories in these pages. Some good fish, some big fish, some lost fish, dolphins, manatees, sharks, hurricanes, red tide, mechanical breakdowns, Egmont Key adventures, and more than a few days when Tampa Bay reminded me exactly who was in charge.

But the book became about something bigger.

It became a story about what happens when the career that helped define you suddenly ends.

That is something I think a lot of retired law enforcement officers, firefighters, first responders, military veterans—and really anyone approaching retirement—can understand.

You spend decades being somebody. Then the uniform comes off, the retirement papers are signed, and eventually you have to answer a pretty uncomfortable question:

Now what?

For me, the answer was waiting on the water.

The Cover Tells the Story

That’s one reason this final cover means so much to me.

The back represents where I came from—the badge, law enforcement, patrol, and a career spent serving others.

The front represents where that road eventually led me: Tampa Bay, fishing rods, sunsets, a charter boat, and of course my four-legged first mate, Sammie.

And right down the middle is the title that connects those two lives:

Trading My Badge for a Boat.

That pretty much says it all.

We’re on the Home Stretch

Right now, the manuscript is going through its final interior formatting process. Photographs, captions, chapter layouts, page design, and all those little details that I never realized went into producing a book are being brought together.

I’ve learned something during this process: writing a book is only half the adventure. Getting one published is another story entirely.

But we’re getting there.

The goal is to have Trading My Badge for a Boat completed in December 2026, and as we get closer, I’ll share information about availability, purchasing the book, signed copies, appearances, and upcoming book-signing events.

This story started almost thirty years before I ever thought about writing a book.

Then came retirement. Then Florida. Then a boat.

And somewhere along the way, I discovered something I didn’t expect:

Sometimes retirement isn’t the end of your story. Sometimes it’s just the first page of the next one.

The greatest adventure of your life may begin the day you find the courage to leave the familiar shore.