As a recent immigrant to Canada, I had completed an apprenticeship as a shipwright and found a good paying job in the shipyard, which allowed me to buy a three-bedroom house house for my growing family. Three weeks before Christmas, the foreman at the shipyard gave me one hour's notice that I was laid off. I found piecemeal work to help pay the mortgage - then decided to go into business repairing boats. I rented a large warehouse, brought a chair from home, made a desk from a door and bought a brown manila envelope to put receipts in. I Need My Yacht by Friday, is the story of what happened next.