Table of Contents

  1. Challenge Accepted
  2. Fictional Prep
    1. North Atlantic
    2. Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico
    3. North Pacific
    4. South Pacific
  3. Non-fiction Prep
    1. Everywhere
    2. North Atlantic
    3. Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico
    4. North Pacific
    5. South Pacific

Challenge Accepted

Before I jump into today’s topic, I wanted to draw attention to a recent event spreading through social media. Many of you have probably seen a flood of black and white photos of women with the hashtag #challengeaccepted and #womensupportingwomen. Before participating, I paused to consider what message I would want to convey and what image best represents that message.

I decided that I wanted to highlight a 30-year history of supporting girls and women ever since I matriculated to Wellesley College.

Growing up in a melting pot, I had a somewhat sheltered beginning. It was only when I moved to Boston did I experience contrasts in points of view - social stratification by gender, ethnicity, class, education, occupation, geography, income, derived power… and, I suppose, any other way that people seem to divide themselves from “others.”

While I could expand on all the variations, I will stay on point and focus on gender differences. I am reminded by the work of the Women’s and Gender Studies at Wellesley College as well as experiencing the dynamics of both supportive inclusion and “Mean Girls” exclusion. That’s right… even in the hallowed bastion of feminism lurks pettiness and betrayal.

Just like life.

Following graduation, I took my costly lessons-learned into the workforce and experienced more of the latter than the former. We do not live in a utopia of equality; there are invisible systems conferring dominance in some groups to the detriment of others.

With that in mind, I wanted to make an impact in a broad way among girls by becoming a board member of the Girls Scouts of Greater Los Angeles, supporting their mission:

Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. We are the preeminent leadership development organization for girls. With programs from coast to coast and across the globe, Girl Scouts offers every girl a chance to practice a lifetime of leadership, adventure, and success.

The next chapter of my life will role model these characteristics and continue the story of supporting girls and women throughout the world, teaching them to be brave and encourage adventure. Over the past few days, I selected photos in my social media stream of women from various stages in my life who have made an impact on me, who have inspired me, and who have embodied the ethos of women supporting women.

As we prepare to cast off later this year, I have relied on the support of Women Who Sail, where I have found a safe haven of inclusive support once again.

Photo by Negative Space
Photo by Negative Space

Fictional Prep

At the time of this writing mid-July, Gov. Gavin Newson ordered major reopening rollbacks in CA in attempt to control rampant coronavirus spread. Several sectors are once again shut down as of Monday. One step forward, two steps back.

We remain thousands of miles away from our sailboat. We are patiently waiting for September to roll around so that we can headout to Ft Lauderdale and complete the haul out, marine survey and sea trial. Even then, we’ll need to exercise caution to OCD levels.

During this time, I was inspired to read works of fiction about sailing in various cruising grounds. I suppose you can call it fictional prep. I’m part of the Women Who Sail Who Write Facebook group. Recently this topic came up, and I began to organize the suggested books to read while cruising an area. This can help us get to know the geography, people and culture.

So far, we’ve taken advantage of audiobooks of the following works of fiction:

… as well as non-fiction:

Here is a collection of the suggested reading. Based on a cursory glance at the synopses, these range from literature and best-sellers to self-published fare (that may have typos and require ruthless editing). They also cross a variety of genres. Personally, I will be steering away from steamy, chick lit.

I find it interesting that this list of books excludes many locales including Europe, South America, Australia, India, Africa, Russia and Antarctica. Perhaps the sample size is too small. Perhaps it is an indication of the type of sailors that happened to respond to the request. Therefore, it seems like a good project for me to tackle, that is to round out and complete the list.

The list is organized by bodies of water rather than land.

Photo by Pixabay
Photo by Pixabay

North Atlantic

Photo by Asad Photo Maldives
Photo by Asad Photo Maldives

Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico

Photo by Zoe Pappas
Photo by Zoe Pappas

North Pacific

Photo by Asad Photo Maldives
Photo by Asad Photo Maldives

South Pacific

Photo by Melanie Wupperman
Photo by Melanie Wupperman

Non-fiction Prep

Some of the contributors didn’t seem to pay too much attention to the request and proposed a variety of non-fiction books. I am including these below, which would include memoirs, travel logs, autobiographies and biographies.

Everywhere

Photo by Matheus Guimarães
Photo by Matheus Guimarães

North Atlantic

Photo by Tony Cowen
Photo by Tony Cowen

Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico

csc-2013-oct-fouled-prop-ketch

North Pacific

Photo by Asad Photo Maldives
Photo by Asad Photo Maldives

South Pacific

Regardless of the category, we hope you find some enjoyable reads from these lists. If you would like to add to this list, send us a message!

If you would like to delve deeper into our adventure as it unfolds, please consider joining the Serenade Wind Crew. Our sister site provides more information on what it means to be part of the crew, unlock the pirate’s booty, and receive other exclusive access and benefits.The first 50 members have a gift waiting.