I spent last week in Pacific City, Oregon, working on my new book. The first morning, as I sipped coffee on the porch overlooking the Pacific Ocean, including majestic Chief Kiawanda Haystack Rock just off the beach, two deer strolled by on the narrow road, and a hummingbird fluttered inches from me. I couldn't wait to write.
A few days in, I learned that Cruising World selected Holding Fast as one of 7 Great Summer Reads for 2024! When my late husband John and I lived in Connecticut before we sailed off on Laughing Goat, John was a regular subscriber to Cruising World. Before we set out on a long voyage ourselves, we lived vicariously through the adventures of those who had already taken the plunge. For twenty years, we aspired to join them, never really sure we had what it took to be successful.
As I danced around the living room, thrilled that Holding Fast was chosen, I could hear John's laughter. During our three-year voyage, we would not have guessed that one day Cruising World would consider the story of our near-disasters, misadventures, and self-doubts worthy of a place alongside the sailing greats we had read about in the leading sailing magazine.
If you would like to learn more about my sailing adventure with John and our young daughter when we left everything behind and sailed away, go here to find Holding Fast: A Memoir of Sailing, Love, and Loss.