Thanksgiving Top Ten & Book Giveaway #2!

While it’s an exercise I truly feel we should all try to do everyday, it’s nice there’s a holiday that comes every year that really motivates you to step back, take a look at your life, and appreciate everything you are thankful for.  I encourage you each to take a moment today to reflect on this yourself and see if you can name your top ten.  It’s a great exercise in humility and gratitude.  The adventurous life that Phillip and I currently lead and that we work very hard for is probably the thing I am the most thankful for.  It stemmed from a very brave but scary decision I made when I was thirty to get divorced, move out of and sell my home, and eventually leave the law practice to start a remote writing career.  And, it was this lifestyle and attitude change that has fueled each of my adventures since and it was the basis for my book, Keys to the Kingdomwhich I will be signing and mailing to one of you for our Holiday Book Giveaway #2!  Right after a very fun Thanksgiving Top Ten.  The first follower to correctly answer the trivia question below in a comment wins!  Good luck.  And, feel free to leave your own top tens in a comment too.  I found this exercise in thankfulness very revealing and rewarding.

In somewhat of a particular order, here are my Top Ten!

#1 My health.  I can’t imagine what it must feel like to simply not be able to do the things you want to do.  Even the simple ones like cleaning your house or driving a car, not to mention the thrilling and rewarding ones like sailing, kite-surfing and aerial silks.  I am grateful every day that my body happily rises out of bed and to whatever I want to do, responds: “I’m in!”

#2 Family.  I pay homage today to this fine, fierce fellow, John, my brother, and when we were growing up: my mentor, my tormentor (at times), my friend and my co-conspirator in crime.  Also known as “Bro-Lo” (because Annie Jo is his “Jo-Lo”)  and also boasting a face capable of rocking sunglasses of any kind because he looks that fucking fabulous.

And you do, Bro-Lo.  Rock those shades!

#3 My youth.  This Birthday Princess turned the big 3-5 this year and I feel just a few days older than 18.  I’m so thankful I spend most of my days at this age on a boat in the sunshine, rather than behind a desk under a fluorescent light, and I’m so excited about the many more years yet to come, however many I’m granted.  I also welcome the wrinkles and grey hairs!  They’re just proof of what a kick-ass time I’ve had along the way.

#4 My sense of adventure.  This was on our way to Cuba last December.  I sometimes can’t believe Phillip and I sailed there just the two of us over 500 miles offshore from Florida to Cuba on our boat.  While we did cross the Atlantic together in 2016 as well, there was just something about that voyage, our struggles, our fears, our accomplishments and being out there, traveling that far with just one other person, that made that particular voyage feel like the biggest adventure.  I’m so glad I have a thirst and passion to see the world by boat, not to mention a boat and a buddy to do it all with!

#5 My sense of humor.  Which I get from this guy.  My Daddio!  A man who, no matter how crappy the situation was when we were growing up (because at times it was), always found a way to slide me over on the bench seat of his truck, scoop me up under his arm and somehow make me laugh.  Usually by singing some silly made-up song, a habit I also picked up.  Thanks for all the laughs and silly ditties Daddio!  Funny, I just now realized one of the main songs he used to sing to me was about a sailor.  I guess it was a prophecy.

“Who’s that knocking at your door?  It’s Barnum Bill the Sailor!”

#6 Friends (who share the same senses).  These are the people in my life who also seek adventure and who also see something funny and ironic in even the most terrible of circumstances.  They know just what to say, or when to say nothing at all, they call me on my shit and slap me straight when I need it, and they make fun of me when I need that, too.  Someone’s gotta keep me humble.

#7 Our boat.  She is the sucking black hole of our money, time, sweat, blood, money, time and money and she is worth every damn penny and drop.  Plaintiff’s Rest is our ticket to the world.  Even when you break, leak, groan, ooze, gulp and guzzle, I still love you girl!

#8 Food.  It’s just good.  All of it.  So damn good.  And, I’m so thankful to be a healthy, active person so I can keep stuffing my mouth full of it.  This is from our first Thanksgiving on the boat, 2013, when we sailed to the Wharf to spend the holiday with Phillip’s family. Gobble!  Gobble!

Annnnnd this was us about an hour later.  I’m thankful for post-Turkey sleep too.  ZZZZzzzzzz

#9 Wine.  It just makes everything better.  Particularly boat projects!  Cheers!

#10 (But really #1) My Adventure Buddy.  My life partner, my rock, my friend, my confidante, my Everything Buddy.  My Phillip.  I wouldn’t be here (a salty sailor / traveling author with the world at my doorstep) without him.  Buckle up, Sir, we’ve got a million places to go!

  

Man, that was fun, right?  I encourage you to do one of your own and go find old photos to go along with it.  It’s a great exercise in humility and gratitude.  And, since Phillip and I are so grateful for all of our followers here, we’ve got a Keys to the Kingdom gift in store for one of you.  For fun, I went back and pulled a quick story from an old blog post about our very first Thanksgiving on the boat, in 2013, to inspire the trivia question.  Funny, I mentioned several Annie docking debacles and my fear of docking, even back then.  Well, that’s another thing I’m grateful for this year.  Working up the courage to take the damn wheel and just dock the darn thing.  You may bump a few things, you may scuff the hull, but you just have to do it so you won’t be so scared of it anymore.  Docking is always going to be an adventure.  Enjoy the old HaveWind tale and good luck on the trivia!

From my November 27, 2013 HWWT post:What’ll It Be, Sir?

We had a slip reserved at The Wharf for Thanksgiving, so we pulled anchor Wednesday morning (November 27th) and headed over that way.  We were going to have to stop first at the fuel dock to pump out before we could tie up at our slip.  The wind was really howling as we neared the dock so I bundled up some more (yes, more) and prepared to jump off to secure the boat as fast as possible.  We were not going to have another Annie docking debacle.  Not that day.  

As Phillip inched the bow up next to the dock, I jumped off (with an actual line in hand this time) and clamored around furiously cleating lines off to keep the boat on the dock.  It was a bit of a scramble but we did it.

And, when the fuel boy came out to see what we needed, the first thing he said to me was:  “What’ll it be, sir?”

I can’t imagine why … 

 

My God, look at me in that outfit.  Surely, it wasn’t that cold, do you think?  Apparently Annie did.  I can’t believe I even could jump in that get-up.  But Phillip and I loved that yellow slicker.  It came with the boat, and it was way too big for either of us, but we wore it anyway, for years.

TRIVIA!

For a free Keys to the Kingdom book, signed and mailed to ya: What did we call that rubber suit of yellowy goodness?  And … GO!

The Traveling Book

Funny, that title makes me think of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.  Not a terrible chick flick.  At least that blonde gal—who I believe is now the dashing Blake Lively—was not at all terrible to look at in the movie.

You’re welcome.

No, here, we’re dealing not with pants but with a book.  A kind of special book.  One that has very specific travel powers and that has opened itself only to those salty mariners who dare to find literary magic in the most hit-or-miss of places: the Pandora’s Box that is the free marina book swap.  Many of you have seen them, perused them and—more often than not—taken them up on their very kind offer of “take a book, leave a book.”  The free marina book swap is a fantastic concept, particularly for cruisers who love to read and are generally aiming to travel on the cheap.  Everywhere you stop, there it is: a free, no-membership-required little library with a wide variety of books and no return dates.  I have previously written about my love for book swaps as well as the apparent voodoo that goes along with them, the ever-illusive “book swap mojo” and the deference it demands.

Annie here, returning (with much reluctance) a very powerful read, The Paris Wife, to the book swap in Key West during our trip down to the Keys in 2014 to pay homage and ensure my continued good book swap mojo.

I am also intrigued by the typical books you always see in the marina book swaps.  I like to imagine the types of cruisers who leave and read these genres.  I’ll bet the Clive Cusslers are the sort of Captain Ron type cruisers that bump their way into any anchorage and usually ask forgiveness rather than permission when it comes to docking their dinghy, borrowing power, water and the like.  Then, there’s the Danielle Steels and the Nora Roberts, the “Fabio books” (I like to call them), like our Western Man here.  Shazam!

I’ll bet the readers of these rather unabashed love stories are just that: romantics.  They likely see their husband/captain in a bit of a lofty, heroic manner and while many aspects of cruising may frighten them a little, they find the chivalry of their mate taking the wheel against dangerously beautiful blue water so moving, they find the courage to go.  So, kudos to you Romance Ladies.  Cruise and read on!  Now, who’s reading the John Grishams, Deen Koontz, Tom Clancy’s and the like?  Probably problem solvers.  Those types of boat-project gurus that love to talk for hours about whether you should Loctite that transmission shaft key back in place or drill a hole in it and use seizing wire.  (For those of you thriller/suspense fans who are familiar with our “tranny key” problem, feel free to weigh in in a comment below.  ; )

But, what type of cruiser leaves or takes a book like this?

Me, of course!  Being it’s duly-appointed author and just so darn proud of that little salty gem.  But also being the type of person—to a freaking “T”—the very book itself describes: “A durable but not-so-dainty sailor.”  I like to envision the other boaters and mariners out there who have read, enjoyed and especially shared Salt of a Sailor with others feel they are somewhat the same, or had somewhat the same experience when they were just getting into sailing.  Graduating from the ignorant-but-eager “What rope should I pull?” to the more seasoned “They’re not called ropes.  They’re lines.  Or sheets or halyards or topping lifts.  Anything but ropes.”

These are my people.  Having enjoyed the experience so much myself—of becoming, first, a sailor, then a cruiser, then a bonafide “I finally get it, boats … always something” boat owner—I love sharing my experience through each phase of the transformation.  My revelations, my fears and, particularly, my lessons learned.  But, what I did not quite know, until I stumbled back across the Traveling Book, was how much others were enjoying my stories as well.  Now, it’s time to share the story of the Traveling Book with you.

Travel back with me to last week.  Phillip and I cruising up Florida’s Forgotten Coast, really soaking in all the little sleepy marina towns along the Big Bend, for the first time in years feeling once again live true live-aboard cruisers.  Ahhh …

     

On our way north from Key West, we stopped again in one of our favorites Florida ports—because of its few fantastic restaurants, quiet coastal walking trails, great kitesurfing cove and rightfully-titled “friendliest marina in Florida”—Port St. Joe.  We love that place.  And, it was really fun to learn, turns out, they quite like us too.

We had just docked at Port St. Joe Marina after having spent the day motoring up “the ditch” from Apalachicola along Apalachicola River and Lake Wimico.

And, I should say up-and-coming Captain Annie docked us right and proper in Port St. Joe, because I did.  I nailed it!  And we had just finished washing the boat down—the chore we always tackle the minute we get docked up after a passage—when Lisa, who runs the marina office, walked out to our boat, knocked on the hull and asked: “Is this the famous author?”

I stammered a little, blushed, a little slow on the uptake.  “I don’t know about famous … ” I started in making my way up the companionway stairs but was wondering: “How did she know?”  Or at least how did she remember so quickly put two and two together having not yet seen my face.

“Plaintiff’s Rest,” Lisa blurted out, and Phillip and I shared a kind of “Yeah, so … “ look not knowing where Lisa was going with all of this.  “The name of your boat.  I’ll never forget it as I’ve never met another Plaintiff’s Rest, so I knew, when you hailed us out in the bay, it had to be you.  You’re Annie, right?”

I nodded and then recalled that fateful day years ago when Lisa and I first met.  You see, when Phillip and I were in Port St. Joe last on our boat (it was during our way down to the Keys in 2014), Lisa had found me pouring over all the treasures in the marina book swap and we struck up a conversation.

I’m such a sucker for books!

I told her I was a very amateur writer and wannabe author working, at the time, on my first non-fiction sailing book that did not yet have a name.  An avid reader herself, particularly of pieces written by cruisers as she meets so many running the busy marina there at Port St. Joe, Lisa immediately said she wanted a signed copy of my book once it was published.  It was the first time anyone asked me for that.  I was so flattered and motivated by our conversation that I feverishly wrote several chapters after Phillip and I left Port St. Joe on our way down to Key West.  I completed the first rough draft of Salt of a Sailor during that voyage, self-published in February, 2015 and—remembering Lisa’s request for a signed copy and her very-encouraging excitement about reading my book—sent a first edition signed copy to Lisa at the Port St. Joe Marina office.

I also decided to make that my first “traveling book,” writing a little note in the inside cover explaining why I, as the author, had donated the book to the free marina book swap in hopes that it would travel from marina to marina, being shared among cruisers, each of them writing inside their name, home port, date they finished the book, and what they thought of it for the next reader, and that I might somehow stumble across it again one day and get to see all of the “durable but not-so-dainty” mariners it had touched.  What a cool prospect!  I didn’t know if it would work, if cruisers would really follow my lighthearted instructions and keep the Traveling Book alive, or, much less, if the book even made it to Lisa in Port St. Joe.  But, I soon learned, it had accomplished much more.

“We all loved your book!” Lisa said.

I smiled.

No, take that back.  I beamed.  Lisa told me she was so excited when she got my book in the mail (now over two years ago) that she saved it for herself first, read it, loved it and then shared it with many of her permanent tenants at the marina, who then shared it with others.  Apparently my little book went all around the marina in Port St. Joe for a year or more, with all the cruisers talking about it and sharing their favorite parts, before it traveled off.  Where to?  Lisa did not know, but it didn’t matter as the whole point was that the book traveled—from book swap to book swap—not to which marinas it traveled to.  That little worn copy may be somewhere in the South Pacific right now for all I know.  I like to imagine it is.  Sitting salty, sun-dyed and dog-eared next to a leathery old cruiser and his scruffy dog, waiting to be read (perhaps finished!) during sunset.

And what an awesome moment to share with Lisa again.  “Well, you played a big part in it,” I told her, because she had, that fateful day when we chatted by the Port St. Joe Marina book swap.  So many of my followers motivate and encourage me to continue to share our ups and downs as Phillip and I are, ourselves, still working toward becoming full-time cruisers.  My writing is where it all started.

My goal when I left the practice was to build up some sort of online company where I could earn remote income through my writing.  While I have failed many times in that effort and had to learn from my mistakes and misplaced efforts and strike out in new directions, I also learned so much each time about marketing and how I can best use my writing skills (and new skills I have learned along the way) to help my clients reach and engage more people and grow their businesses, as I grow mine in turn.  Although my career as a renowned author—where Phillip and I were supposed to simply sip Mai Tais and watch my royalty checks roll in—never took off quite how I imagined, I don’t mind at all.   I simply love to write and when book or story ideas come to me, I love to run with them.  It’s the ultimate creative high!  And the ultimate reward.

Lisa, too, was about to get a very-surprising reward for her contribution as well.

“That book was so much fun,” she said, talking about Salt of a Sailor.  “I wish you had written another.”  I smiled again as Phillip and I shared a glance full of fun secrets.  I told Lisa I had written a sequel to Salt, that actually covered parts of the trip Phillip and I were taking at the time I met her, on our way down to the Keys in 2014 and that I would bring her another signed copy to the marina office later that day.  And, much to my surprise, Lisa asked:

“Does it have all of those old stories about your grandma and growing up in Alabama?”

You’re darn right it does!  And just like that.  BOOM.  Traveling Book #2 was born.

Go little book, go!

If any of you haven’t read Keys to the Kingdom yet—the story of my escape from corporate-consumeristic America—go to the Books tab at HWWT.com to download a free preview and check it out.  Next time we stop in Port St. Joe, Lisa will be thrilled to hear as well about my third book and I’ll leave her a signed copy of None Such Like It to round out the trilogy.  Books are such fun!

Also, as a fun aside.  While my docking at Port St. Joe went well, unfortunately the DE-docking did not when this amateur helmswoman took the wheel, didn’t handle the prop wash too well, backed up like my buddy Chuck would say, “a drunk elephant,” got us all whopper-jolled in between the two dock aisles (I call them) and had a slight boat bump on the way out.  Well, technically it was a very minor anchor-to-outboard *kiss* at the last minute, so Phillip says it’s technically not a boat-to-boat collision.

But, docking.  Still scary.  Still not great at it.  But still working on it.  My nerves were better this time, though.  Throughout the very tedious 10-point turn Phillip walked me through, I didn’t lose the ability to function, and I only left the helm for a second (just a split-second!) to fend off another boat’s bow.  Apparently as helmsperson that’s the one thing you’re not supposed to do.  Whoops.  Still learning.

I Believe in Words

I think we all reach a crossroads in our lives.  When somethings strikes you.  Bolts through your chest, lights your nerves on fire and smacks you right outside of your skin.  Then you’re standing there, completely exposed, wearing your true desires now on the outside rather than in, and you see your life with a new perspective.  “Am I really pursuing my dreams?” you ask yourself.  “Is this still making me the happiest I can be?”  Doubt puts a haunting hand on your cheek and turns your face to the left, then to the right and alternative paths begin to form in your field of vision.  They lead to big, frightening dreams, grand adventures, risks, rewards maybe even regrets and failures.  There is no right answer and there is no guarantee, but now—for the first time—you see an intersection and you don’t know which way yet to go.

Wow, that sounds pretty dramatic.  Sometimes it can feel that way.  That big and scary.  Some moments in your life are that powerful and the decisions you make afterward are the hardest you have ever faced.  I wrote about that moment in my life in my book Keys to the Kingdom and how it led me to quit something I had been very devoted to and to which I had given a great deal of my time and efforts (the practice of law) in order to pursue another path: cruising.  I recently had another mini-moment like that.  When something slapped the sense out of me and made me see my current situation in a new light, or perhaps I should say in a shadow.  A cave.

I was staying on our boat alone down in the Keys for a couple of weeks while Phillip was handling a trial and some other matters in Pensacola and we were gearing up to sail together to the Miami Boat Show on Libra.  Many of you know, offshore sailing is one of my most intense passions.  To me, there is nothing as beautiful as the sun sinking into a blaze of pink on the Gulf, nothing as soothing as the sway of a floating boat, nothing as entrancing as water cresting off the hull.

So, I love to sail offshore.  To reach foreign shores by boat.  But—over the last couple of years—in order to do it I have had to complete hours and hours of computer work before-hand so I could unplug and go off the grid, with most of them devoted to making our weekly HaveWindWillTravel YouTube videos and Patreon posts.  While I have several marketing clients I do work for—work that I enjoy and am very grateful I can do remotely—I spend about about 1/3 of my time working for them and the other 2/3 working for HaveWind, while also only making a mere fraction of my income.  And there is no search for sympathy here.  I set this all up myself.  I know that.  While a fun-loving, swearing sailor I am, a lazy underachiever I am not.  You can take the lawyer out of the practice, but …     I’m still Type A and I still push myself very hard at times.  Too hard sometimes.  And I might have continued down that path had I not had been slapped in the face with my own reality.  This was my moment:

I’m down in Key West, where the waters are crystal green, the wind is often blowing a perfect 10-15 kts out of the southeast and the sunshine, itself, is bright and warm enough to make you smile within.  I’m healthy, working for myself and living on a boat.  An amazing, great sailing, loves-to-have-water-moving-under-her-hull boat.  And I’m down in the shadowy bowels of her cabin, with probably eleven hours of video work ahead of me, that day, and griping to a very good friend about how much HaveWind work I have to do.  You know what he tells me? “That’s dumb.  You should take your boat out and go sailing.”  And you know what my answer was?

“I can’t!  I have to make a video.  And, I can’t single-hand the boat.”

You see?  SLAP!  Did you feel it?  I did.  My own words coming out of my own mouth sounded so stupid.  So unnecessarily defeatist.  I knew everything about what I had just said was wrong.  I knew my friend was right.  I knew a lot of things, but not what to do about it just yet.  So, I stayed.  In my cave.  Squinting at a glowing screen, for about three days straight, making videos.  It took some soul-searching, talking with friends—particularly my Phillip who has always guided and steered me to do things that make me happy, even if they seem big and scary and perhaps full of failures—but I finally got there.  And I knew which way I wanted to go.

Toward the water.  Into the sunshine.  Offshore on more adventures.  Sometimes with me behind the helm, learning to actually steer and sail and truly single-hand a boat so I would never have to again say “I can’t go sailing because I can’t sail alone.”

Ahhhh … that’s better.

After looking at how many hours I already have on the water and offshore, Phillip and I decided I should go for my Captain’s License.  What an amazing thing to pursue at such a young age in my sailing career.  I’m a little scared of all the studying and the big test I’ll have to take.  I’m a little scared of taking the helm of the boat and bumping into things.  And, I’m a little scared to say I’m not going to make weekly full-length YouTube videos anymore because I’m afraid to disappoint people and feel like a quitter.  But, I’m saying it anyway dammit!  And, I’ve quit something before when it wasn’t right to pursue what I felt was.

HaveWind is about inspiring you all to pursue your dreams too.  Whether they be cruising or writing or travel or whatever.  It is the pursuit of your passion and the courage to make the tough decisions that get you there.  It’s not about spending 15-20 hours a week making videos and other content to meet self-imposed deadlines.  I am incredibly proud of the videos I did make (I mean … a complete two-hour movie covering our Atlantic crossing!  Come the heck on!) and was glad Phillip and I were able to share Cuba with you in that way.  But, the filming does take me out of the moment.  The time needed to edit and create weekly high-quality videos takes its toll and takes away from our enjoyment of cruising.  Nothing about what I do here should ever do that.

And, to be honest—and those of you who have tried it may agree—YouTube can sometimes feel like a hamster wheel, making you chase harder and harder with each video to please people and grow more than you did yesterday.  It can be exhausting and frustrating.  I’m looking forward to my next voyage where I don’t have to worry about camera angles, lighting, one-sided audio or hard drive storage.  I can just sail and breath and read and write.  And Phillip and I are getting so much closer to our cruising goals and traveling more.  We will be flying down to Key West next week to spend a few weeks sailing our beautiful girl home where I will be taking the helm more, studying for my Captain’s license and accomplishing that and I’m so excited to devote my time to all of those amazing, fulfilling things.

I’m going to spend more time on the water, learning more, challenging myself, and seeing more suns melt into blue horizons over the bow of my boat than the square of my screen.

I also have a desire to challenge myself to write more and try to create scenes, characters and even more powerful emotions in each of you through words as opposed to GoPro footage.

I believe in words.  I hope you do too.

And I hope these convey to you the need, motives and excitement about this decision.  If you enjoy my writing, it will always be here and will continue to come in a heartfelt, relaxed rhythm when I find something that inspires me to share.  Not because it’s Wednesday and I have to get a post out.  I also have several articles coming out in the various sailing magazines soon and I can’t wait for you all to read them.  I have several more that a handful of editors requested from me while we were at the Miami Boat Show and I’m eager to devote this new-found free time to those as well.  Heck, maybe there’s another book in store in 2017 from Author Annie.  I don’t know, but I’m excited to find out.  Aren’t you?

As far as Patreon goes, we’re going out on top.  I know many folks signed up there because of the weekly videos and we would not feel right continuing that when we’re no longer producing full-length videos so we will be closing that chapter after our last giveaway.  I struggled with that platform on many levels because it did occasionally feel like begging.  And self-promotion is not something I have ever enjoyed. But, Phillip and I have been humbled and honored by the support and our hearts have always been invested in our Gift of Cruising campaign.  It’s been awesome watching people follow our footsteps and start cruising on their own.  For that reason, we have decided to use the last of our Patreon funds to give away our fourth and final Gift of Cruising: a free voyage on SailLibraLibra is making her final run of the season this coming May from Key West to Pensacola May 10th – 15th and we want to give that experience to one of our Patrons.

Patrons, if you are available to make that voyage and would like a chance to win free passage for the sail of your lives, email me.  We’ll throw your name in the pot and we will draw in one week, on April 14th.  Sound good?

Are you kidding me?  Sounds freaking awesome!  This could be you at the bow!

A big thanks as always to Captain Ryan for partnering with me on this.  Y’all need to join a sail on that boat.  I’m telling you.  It’s life-changing.  And, we hope, Patrons, that you all shuffle those weekly donations to a separate bank account of your own (mine is literally called “Cruising Kitty”) and put them toward your own goals and dreams.

While this decision was very hard for me to make and I had to muck through some very muddy emotions to get here, I’m very excited for what the future holds.  I hope you all see this as a positive transition and continue to find yourself inspired here and eagerly working toward your own goals.  I am incredibly proud of what I have shared in the past, the content I have created and the passion I will continue to share here.  I’ll just be doing it now more than filming and editing it.  That sounds awesome.  Let’s do it.

Do what?

“Take the boat out and go sailing!  Whoo hoo!” says In the Moment Annie.

“And I want to go there, and there, and there, and … ”  Ha.  Sail on friends!  I put a lot of heart into this farewell video.  I hope you enjoy it.  Get inspired.  Get on board.

OFFICIAL TRAILER: None Such Like It + 10 eCopy Giveaways!

First he was in shock, then he was angry.  Other times he denied it ever happened.  But it was one hell of an entertaining journey helping deliver this Nonsuch and watch as the old gal gave our buddy Mitch (Mr. “While You’re Down There” from Salt of a Sailor) plenty of grief.  This is the trailer for my new book that will be coming out this May!  There will be none such like it, I promise!  So, two exciting opportunities to get an early sneak peek before the BIG public launch later this month:

FIRST:  Patrons get free pre-release eCopies!  If you have been thinking about Becoming a Patron but have not yet, what the heck are you waiting for?!IMG_0733Also, there are some really cool Atlantic-crossing updates up on Patreon now listing our official crew for the passage (we are now up to FOUR), as well as a virtual tour of the boat, our planned long-shift/short shift watch schedule and, coming this week, results from our Captain’s testing of the satellite tracker while strapped in the cockpit of a jet.  WHOA.

IMG_0804

Oh, but back to the Nonsuch book (sorry, the Patreon stuff is kind of super exciting … ; )

SECOND:  I will also be giving away a pre-release eCopy to the first TEN FOLKS who comment on this blog post saying “Heck yeah, send me a free early copy!”

In exchange for the free eCopy, all I ask is you read the book over the next couple of weeks and post an honest review on Amazon when she goes live later this month (likely May 25th, although that may have to wiggle around some of our Atlantic-crossing preparations).  It helps with Amazon’s crazy analytics if the review comes from a “Verified Purchase,” so I will discount the book the first week (only $2.99) so you all can buy a quick $3 copy then post your review.  The purchase part is not required, merely requested, to help with Amazon marketing.  The book is yours for free regardless.  Sound like a good deal?  Alrighty then ….

Who all wants a pre-release eCopy?  First TEN folks to comment below win.  Ready?  GO!  

Adventure Sports Podcast Interview #2

I might have told a story of losing my bikini top while kite-surfing …  Pretty sure I did.

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It’s almost impossible to control the things that will fly out of my mouth.  Second interview with Travis Parsons on the Adventure Sports Podcast brought to you by 180 Tack.  A lot of fun stories in here for you kids talking about sailing, kite-surfing, Keys to the Kingdom and my gift of cruising campaign.  Enjoy!

CLICK TO PLAY

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HELP ME GIVE THE GIFT OF CRUISING!  Click to donate!

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#34: A Christmas Gift for You!

Merry Christmas kids!  As thanks for your support and encouragement this year … a FREE eCopy of (the still #1 bestseller) Keys to the Kingdom.  Shoot me an email between now an NYE and she’s yours!  — anniedike@gmail.com.

Also, enjoy this fun outtakes reel over the holiday.  Roll that Video Annie footage!

Thanks to my Patrons who help me share the journey.  Get inspired.  Get on board.

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Keys to the Kingdom is LIVE! (In honor — Video #30: My Last Legal Battle)

She’s Live!  Go Get Her!

This is it … the BIG launch. I’ve never launched a book before. I was worried I was going to hit the wrong button! Thankfully, I didn’t and she’s now LIVE on Amazon and Kindle just waiting for you to pick her up on discount this week — only $2.99 on Kindle. I put a lot of sweat and soul into this one. It will knock your boots off, I promise. Hurry, GO!

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I can’t wait to hear what you think. Please leave an Amazon review when you finish!

And, in honor of this momentous occasion, a special video treat for you.  Some very rare footage kids … from my last legal battle.  Duh, duh, duuuhhhnnn.  Enjoy!

A thousand thanks to my Patrons who have made this entire career/life/attitude change possible and have helped me inspire more people.  Get inspired.  Get on board.

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FREE PREVIEW – Keys to the Kingdom

 Preview My New Book!

Hello followers.  This is the first time I’m sending a mass email (via the blog and MailChimp) and I’m kind of nervous, excited, anxious, but I just had to do it!  I can’t keep this bottled up anymore.  I’ve finished my new book and I want (nay, need!) to share.  My gift to you for following and your continued support: a free preview (the first four chapters) of Keys to the Kingdom.

Free Preview — Keys to the Kingdom

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Drop everything right now and read it!  Or, wait until you’ve at least pulled over, shut your office door, or whatever you have to do, but then read it!  I can’t wait to hear what you think!  Enjoy!

Be sure to check out these other freebies too:

1. Sign up at HaveWindWillTravel.com to get a free preview of the prequel to Keys to the Kingdom, my #1 Amazon bestseller in sailing books: Salt of a Sailor.

2.  So you can be caught up on the salty chronicle by the time the new book releases, jump on Amazon November 25, 2015 and get a FREE Kindle copy of Salt of a Sailor. That’s a whole day of free-ness. Get on it people!  Happy Thanksgiving!

3.  “Signed copies make great Christmas gifts!” says the author. Put in your pre-release hard copy orders of Keys to the Kingdom–only $20 and I will cover the shipping (anywhere in the U.S.). Email me the mailing address and any inscription you would like: anniedike@gmail.com.

 

Next week, I’ll pick back up with the Nonsuch saga.  In blog time, Mitch, Phillip and I have brought the boat all the way up from Ft. Myers to Clearwater and we’re about to make the BIG jump across the Gulf to Apalachicola.  Click HERE if you would like to read the Nonsuch saga from the beginning.

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Thanks to my Patrons who help me share the journey.  Get inspired.  Get on board.

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Go On, Judge This Book By Its …

COVER!!  Check it out!

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Judging by its cover, is this is a book you would like to read?

While I had a fantastic time writing the entertaining tale of our first Gulf adventure in Salt of a Sailor, I had many friends and followers tell me they wanted to know more of the story─more about me.  How does a young lawyer come to quit her job, leave her home, her husband, her former life to what?  Jump on a sailboat and travel the world?  Well, it’s not quick.  It’s not easy.  But, turns out, it was my biggest adventure of all.

We are just a few weeks out from the release date now and I cannot WAIT for you all to get a glimpse of her.  What do you think of the cover art?

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I had a great time writing it, a horrible time editing it (I hate editing!) and I’m ready to share a part of the book now with you.  I will be sending out a FREE PREVIEW of Keys to the Kingdom (the first four chapters) to all of my followers via the blog next week.  If you can’t wait that long (I mean, really, who can?) jump on Patreon to get your Patrons-first copy this Friday.  You don’t want to miss this!  Sign up today!

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Thanks to my Patrons who help me share the journey.  Get inspired.  Get on board.

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