Blue Water, Green Skipper

I love a good book.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been contacted by a few publishers of nautical books and have been granted complimentary copies of these books to read.  I just finished, Blue Water, Green Skipper by New York Times bestselling author Stuart Woods and now I kind of want to race solo across the Atlantic.  Yeah.  It reminds me of the way I felt after I watched a particularly compelling documentary about people who climb Everest.  Buoyed by emotion, I thought to myself as the credits rolled, "I want to do that!!" and for a hot minute there was honestly contemplating how to go about doing so. Obviously my overzealous enthusiasm faded...  I will not, most likely, climb Everest and I probably will not sail solo in a race across the pond (but you never know?)... My point is, I was inspired.

Having never before owned anything so much as a row boat, Woods decided to pursue the peace of the open sea as he set out to single-handedly navigate the Atlantic during the 1976 Single-Handed Transatlantic Race...

The book covers Stuart's two year evolution from total newbie to full-blown solo sailor.  Rather than a dry, run of the mill "sailing memoir", this story has a definitive arc and the pages are colored with Stuart's natural charm and sharp wit.  His metamorphosis is (obviously) not without foibles and from embarrassing mishaps while learning to sail a dinghy (the only crew that would have him was a twelve year old) to a misbehaving wind vane (appropriately named "Fred", like his dog), the self-deprecating, dry humor peppered between the pages will make you chuckle.  Humor aside, what Wood's sets out to do is no small feet and his book is the perfect illustration of where a crazy idea, unwavering determination and a little luck can take you.  This story has all the guts of a true adventure tale (as it should, Wood's is a prolific author and has written fifty novels!) from controversy to tragedy, from inspiration to triumph, you best beware: Wood's memoir might just make you want to sail solo across the Atlantic...

And once again, I believe a good book is better if shared!  If you would like a chance to win this book, do the following: [Note: This contest is over, sorry!]

1. Comment on this post with something you have done that might seem crazy to the outside world (you will notice I have removed captcha and made it easy for you!)
2. Share our blog with like-minded family and friends; you can either share us in your own blog in the form of a post or send a link to our blog in an email (make sure you copy us on the email so we know you did it and can enter you!) AND/OR Share our Facebook Page by clicking "SHARE" on the link to this post and commenting below it. (Don't forget to comment or else I might not see that you shared us!)

BONUS:  If you do all three (i.e. share by email, blog post and share our FB page, you will be entered three times and therefore increase your odds of winning!)

Once you do one or both of those things, you will be entered to win.  I will select TWO winners on Friday morning and ship the books shortly after. 

Happy reading!

Love,
Brittany, Scott & Isla