Book Description
Uncharted Waters: From First Mate to Captain of Her Own Life
A novel about losing the plan — and finding yourself
After an unexpected tragedy destroys her dream sailing journey, Ina Nez confronts an impossible choice: sell the catamaran she and her partner spent years planning to sail around the world, or learn to captain it across the some of the world’s most challenging oceans.
Nez had built her career as a high-powered consultant conquering complexity; she had spreadsheets, checklists, and decades of organizational expertise. What she lacked were the sailing skills to handle their catamaran Spud by herself. Now stranded with a boat she can barely operate, she must decide: retreat to the life she understood, or forge ahead into uncharted waters?
As Nez sails from the Caribbean through Panama and into the vast Pacific, each nautical mile reshapes her from passenger to determined sailor. Along the way she discovers an unconventional family in the cruising community: swaggering YouTube stars filming every wave, sun-weathered sailors on their third circumnavigation, an enigmatic Russian with a talent for reading the stars, and a family of five whose golden retriever has superior sea legs to most humans. Even her egg-laying hen, Hei-Hei, proves that the smallest crew members sometimes provide the greatest comfort.
When a crucial decision forces Nez to choose between the secure path and the courageous one, she must face not just the technical demands of ocean sailing, but who she truly is. Is she still pursuing someone else’s dream or has she finally discovered her own?
Drawn from decades of sailing, this novel charts the course of a woman discovering that the most important journey isn’t about the distance traveled, but the person you become along the way.
If you loved the self-discovery in Eat, Pray, Love, the raw transformation of Wild, or the determined spirit of Rough Magic, Nez’s journey across blue-water passages and tropical islands will feel like coming home.
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