Jack and Emily sell everything, buy a sailboat, and point her bow toward the Bahamas. But the life Jack fought his way out of doesn't let go that easily — and out on open water, there's nowhere to run.
A leap of faith, a boat called Free Spirit, and a past that will not stay buried.
Jack and Emily's voyage aboard Free Spirit begins as a leap of faith — a chance to trade the safety of shore for the promise of open horizons. From Savannah's bustling marina to the turquoise cays of the Bahamas, every mile demands more from them: storms that test their seamanship, reefs that threaten their hull, and shadows from the past that will not stay buried.
What starts as a dream of freedom becomes a passage through love, fear, and discovery. Along the way, the sea gives as much as it takes — awe, danger, and the quiet moments that bind two souls together against the vastness of the ocean.
This is their story: of choices made at the helm, of nights under stars, of laughter and tears in the close quarters of a boat called Free Spirit. It is a journey not just across water, but into the heart of what it means to truly live.
The Voyage
South from Savannah, down the Florida coast, and across to the islands. Tap a leg of the passage to follow their route.
Savannah, Georgia
Where it starts. Jack and Emily come to Savannah to see the Cabo Rico that will become Free Spirit — and to decide, for real, whether they're the kind of people who sell everything and sail away. A face from Jack's cage-fighting past has already shown up once. It won't be the last time.
SavannahFlorida CoastThe CrossingBahamas
Aboard Free Spirit
Two people, one 36-chapter passage, and a boat that has to carry them both — in every sense.
Jack
Ex-cage-fighter
He filled seats and took the hits while promoters drank expensive liquor and laughed. Jack is done being owned — but Joey, from that world, doesn't agree that he's free to go.
Emily
The one who kept the books
One of the first five employees at a company that grew past $123 million — and still invisible in its hallways. The boat is her way out, too, if she can let go of the life she built.
Free Spirit
Cabo Rico sailboat
The boat Jack and Emily buy in Savannah and rename Free Spirit. Storms, reefs, and close quarters will test her hull and her crew from Savannah to the Exumas — where Emily's best friend Nicky joins them.
Read the Opening
Chapter One begins not on the water, but under fluorescent lights — at the moment the whole voyage is still just an impossible idea.
Chapter 1
The Decision
Emily sat at her desk, the weight of the world pressing down on her shoulders. The fluorescent lights above hummed a monotonous tune, illuminating the endless sea of paperwork and corporate jargon that had slowly consumed her life. She should have felt accomplished. After all, she was one of the original five employees of Capital Business Solutions, a company that had grown from a modest startup to a colossal enterprise generating over $123 million a year. Yet here she was, feeling like a ghost in the hallways, invisible to the very place she had helped build.
Her phone buzzed painfully loud against the hard surface of her desk. It was Jack. She took a moment to breathe before answering, clearing her mind of the disappointment that threatened to engulf her.
“Hey, babe. You busy?” His voice, warm and familiar, wrapped around her like a cozy blanket.
“Just the usual,” Emily replied, glancing at the time. “Long day, but I'll manage. What's up?”
“I had an idea,” he began, his excitement palpable even through the phone. “What if we sold everything? We could buy a sailboat and just… sail away into the sunset.”
The proposition hung in the air, and Emily found herself disarmed by the simplicity of the suggestion. “Sail away?” she echoed incredulously, letting a laugh slip. “Jack, do you have any idea how crazy that sounds? I have responsibilities. This is our life.”
“You're the one that always says to get up off the mat and never give up!”
“I know it sounds wild, but hear me out,” Jack continued, his voice brimming with energy. “You're miserable at work, and I'm tired of the scum that I have to deal with in every single match! I'm sick and tired of being taken advantage of! Those promoters have no idea what it's about in that cage! I'd like to see what they would do if they saw someone throwing a kick! Right for their head! I sell the tickets and I fill the seats, and they have the balls to think that I don't know what's going on! I'm just a punch-drunk guy who doesn't have a clue in the world of fighting for money… and we've talked about this before! What if this is our one chance? We've talked about adventure. Why not go for it?”
Emily's heart raced, caught in a maelstrom of emotions. The thought of sailing — of leaving behind the mundanity of her job, the suffocating corporate ladder — was intoxicating.
“Let's think about it,” she said finally, her voice wavering. “We can start by selling some things, testing the waters, maybe? I just… need time.”
“Of course, Em. We can take it slow.”
— Ghost Wake, Chapter 1. The yard sale, the boat, and Savannah are still ahead of them.
Book Details
Title
Ghost Wake
Author
Jonah Hale
Genre
Nautical thriller
Series
Book One
Chapters
36
The boat
Free Spirit — a Cabo Rico
Route
Savannah → Florida → Bahamas
Formats
Paperback & ebook — coming soon
Publisher
Bull Moose Publishing
About Jonah Hale
Jonah Hale writes about the sea the way sailors live it — the seamanship matters, the weather is real, and freedom always has a price. Ghost Wake is his first novel and the first book of Jack and Emily's voyage aboard Free Spirit. Book Two is already on the horizon.
More about the author, and what's next, lives at his home page:
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