Out Last the Sea - Jon Adams

Gael is hesitant about her future. She's in England, thinking of returning to school and writing a thesis on Joseph Conrad, but there's the catch. Conrad was a sailor and Gael knows nothing about sailing. Her professor tells her it's not important, that getting wet has nothing to do with writing. In Southampton Gael meets Timothy who takes her out in his sloop and instructs her in steering and sail handling, until one morning, after a night of beer, Gael wakes up to discover she is at sea.