Hello, Dear Readers! Many of you are probably shocked to find this post suddenly pop up in your feed or email given that it’s been almost 5 years since the Burnetts stopped cruising. Seems like it was just yesterday! Mel says this because the Burnetts are still landlocked in Nebraska, with a big beige ocean of prairie around them as far as the eye can see. With COVID constraining the family for months inside the house they built, they ended up using many of the coping skills acquired while on a long offshore. Namely: establish a routine, anticipate Calamity, read a lot of books, and forge ahead.
One thing that kept them going was this very blog. The desire to preserve the memories within kept Mel writing that big check to Bluehost every few years. Mel and Greg began re-reading their own blog almost immediately after they sold Marvin, laughing, crying, and launching into thoughtful conversations inspired by each post. Eventually, Mel decided to write these annotations down and assemble the blog into a book. You know, just in case the internet melts someday. YOU NEVER KNOW.
Of course, this little compilation ended up being over 800 pages long! Mel, apparently, has a lot of thoughts! Alas, because of this gargantuan size, it’s only an ebook at the moment. That’s okay, as it’s designed for nomads who are fine hopping from one chapter to another, looking for that next new challenge, thrilled that even after decades of exploring there is still so much of Earth and life to experience.
Introducing the BurnettsAhoy! Book:
Our ebook is currently live on Kindle but is working its way through other digital book outlets, like iBooks, Nook, and Kobo, via Draft2Digital as we speak! Turns out Mel can learn self-publishing just as well as sailing! (This means she does her due diligence but in the end wings it a bit.)
Note that YOU DO NOT NEED A KINDLE READER to get this book! If you have an iPad, just download the Kindle app, and you are ready to go!
IF YOU LIKE THE BOOK, PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW ON AMAZON!
If you are confused and can’t recall why you even signed up for this blog, peruse Mel’s first draft of her Amazon Blurb. It is hard for authors to let go of their first draft, even if it is a bit windy!
Experience the High Seas Through the Eyes of Overthinkers! And a Cat!
Have you ever wondered if deep down inside you had the capability to recapture the unscheduled joy of discovery you had before the realities of adulthood squashed you flat? Like you, Mel pondered this question during low moments at work as a neurologist for years, figuring that after decades of rule-following she just wasn’t the brave, adventurous type, especially after that embarrassing breakdown at the top of Chichen Itza. This book begins with that fateful day of just one mouse click too many, when, despite a distinct lack of outdoorsiness, Mel launched herself, her family, and her cat off on an adventure exploring not only exotic shores, but also Mother Nature’s ability to heal the wounds of modern society with inspirational vistas, fascinating cultures, and a little peril now and then. In this book you will follow (and hopefully vicariously join) Mel and Greg as they train, prep, sail, homeschool, socialize, laugh, argue, and…crash a beautiful sleek racecar of a boat through half the world for two years of escapist bliss.
Why Buy This ebook?
Perhaps you are a frustrated explorer who feels the call to travel and yet, like Mel at the beginning, is unnecessarily afraid of the ocean. Or anything natural for that matter.
Perhaps you are an adventure reader who yearns for something different than a polished travel memoir, working travel guide, or preachy tome stuffed with cliches the sea can teach.
Perhaps you want to feel what it is like to explore over 30 tropical locations and yet come home to your own bed, and cat, every night.
Or perhaps you are just curious as to how you go to the bathroom on a boat.
Download for More Than Your Typical Travel Blog!
Much of this material was previously published online in the BurnettsAhoy! blog, an online journal Mel kept of their sailing adventure aboard the beautiful Leopard 48 catamaran The Amazing Marvin between 2014 and 2017. However, this ebook is more than a transcription of that blog! It contains a wealth of additional snarky comments, weird observations, and sailing tips written after the conclusion of the trip, predominantly while Mel and Greg re-read their blog for comfort during the dark times while, once again landlocked in America, they found themselves holding G&T’s, and crying.
This bonus behind-the-scenes content reveals what Mel originally held back from nervous friends and family following their journey with each new post. In other words, this book fills in the holes. Because stories about boats shouldn’t have holes.
Read this book for pearls such as these:
- “When prepping a boat, you do not have to prep for the apocalypse.”
- “Those who choose to cruise the oceans learn all the lessons of life. And quicker.”
- “Creativity is rewarded when anchoring, but not when weighing anchor.”
- “Sometimes you just have to suck it up and crawl into the dinghy instead of step into it.”
- “A good hostess does not allow her guests to get blown up.”
Want more like this?
Let Mel and Greg handle the customs paperwork, find the nearest grocery store, and sort out the local food packaging conventions for you while you explore the pre-COVID, peri-Atlantic world in the beautiful, tricked-out Leopard 48 sailing catamaran The Amazing Marvin. So if you are ready to have a lot of fun, go ahead, get away for a while!
As Marvin would say, “Why the hell not?”
cassie arnold
amazing. this came thru and just as i had completed two photo books of some of our sailing on song 1.
i always enjoyed your newsy, funny, sardonic writing about your experience. we used to read them out loud.
much water under the bridge since sailing times. we were toying with the idea of buying a smaller go-faster catamaran and
even went to the boat show in annapolis a short while back. the market is wild and wildly inflated but it is on the radar to be prepared should circumstances change. not for blue water as much as costal cruising, thinking to keep it more south in VA, on the hard when not being used. but we’ll see. meanwhile, working on our house and yard which is gratifying and satisfying.
cultivating our own garden so to speak. during the (ongoing) pandemic, i found a blossoming of creative output which eventuated in the making of several photo books, much writing, reading and learning about buddhism which is foundational to me at this point and so helpful a philosophy during this insane times we’re experiencing, as a country; as a world.
cassie (and michael), sending you our warm regards and congratulations on your tome.