Pirate of My Own Sailboat by Patricia Krysinski

About the book

Pirate of My Own Sailboat is about Cassandra McCullough, who saw no option but to reclaim command of her sailing yacht from her Dutch crew. Otherwise, she would remain as cook and financier of their 6,000 mile voyage from Ensenada, Mexico to Bonaire in the Dutch Caribbean. Based on the author's real-life sailing experiences in exotic ports of Baja California, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, a middle-aged baby boomer and professor challenged youth, experience, and the sea.

In Puerto Escondido, Mexico, with only a 30% chance of making it without a professional crew, she fired the Dutch skipper and regrouped. Left alone with only Martin, a Generation-X-Dutch deckhand, she defiantly accepted the challenge. "Never tell me I have only a 30% chance of making it" became her rallying cry. Cassandra and Martin survive novice mistakes at sea, engine failure in the Panama Canal. Their relentless desire to complete the journey against unbelievable odds transcends themes on stories.

However, the intra-generational relationship between Cassandra and Martin pit power, friendship, and dependency against survival. They fight and laugh like brother and sister, but commit to each other as only a skipper and captain do in the demands of sailing the seas. Each becomes an instrument through which the other takes charge and learns to become the captain of one's own ship and life.

About the author

Reared in Central Texas, Patricia Krysinski learned to follow her dreams. After earning a bachelor's degree in English and biology from Texas A&M University and a Master of Education and a Doctorate of Education from Washington State University, she held the professional positions as high school English teacher, high school principal, and associate professor.

At forty-eight years old, she purchased and learned to sail a yacht, a Morgan OutIsland 41. Then, after receiving a one-year research grant from the University of Northern Iowa to conduct a study on the island of Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, she combined two dreams: To conduct research in the Caribbean and to complete a sailing dream-voyage to the Dutch Antilles.

Her current project, Pirate of My Own Sailboat, is a novel based on her experiences during the voyage to Bonaire. It is a story about a middle age baby boomer-professor who battles for control of her ship from others. Ultimately, she becomes the captain of her own ship and her life.

Patricia resides in the Dutch Caribbean, but maintains a residence in Texas. In addition to relentless joy in sailing, her interests include SCUBA diving, snow skiing, cycling, and yoga. Her constant companions are sailing dogs -- a Yellow Labrador Retriever, a German Shorthaired Pointer, and a Chesapeake Bay Retriever.