The Great Sea Ahead

 Hey everyone, and welcome to The Great Sea Ahead . I'm Marc Cappelletti, and thanks for tuning in to the podcast where I share audio chapters from my memoir. If you're just finding this, we're on chapter 13. I've gone from college to becoming a new, insanely inept assistant cruise director aboard a small ship full of senior citizens. We were in Alaska. We've explored British Columbia and San Fran...

Welcome to chapter 12 of The Great Sea Ahead . We’ve moved on from Mexico, and are exploring Costa Rica and Panama. But, really, we’re getting into so much more thanks to the intimacy of these ships and crew/passenger interactions that they foster. This chapter gets into some real life lessons, and shares the story of what happened when a passenger suffered a heart attack on board. I don’t know wh...

Finally, this chapter answers questions like “What do you tell a hungry man who forgot his teeth?” and “What if a metalhead guitarist had to play for a frustrated group of senior citizens?” You know, the basics. We’re still in the Sea of Cortez, a place I immediately fell in love with, and got to revisit many times. But this chapter, like the memoir itself, is about so much more than the destinati...

Welcome to the audio version of Chapter 10 from The Great Sea Ahead: A Memoir About A Young Man, A Small Ship, And The Old Souls Who Set His Course . Don’t forget to like and subscribe in order to support my work, and this channel. Every little bit helps! Thanks, Marc Get full access to Marc Cappelletti from The Great Sea Ahead at marccappelletti.substack.com/subscribe

The following is from my memoir, The Great Sea Ahead: A Young Man’s Journey to Find His Course, and the Retired Passengers Who Set Him Straight. I release a new chapter every other Wednesday. Welcome to Mexico. In this chapter, you'll see what it's like to bring 96 senior citizens through Copper Canyon, across Mexico, and flying over the Sea of Cortez to La Paz. “…Our hotel in Chihuahua City is a...

When does going home change its meaning? When does it bring up more questions than answers? This chapter explores my first trip home after a two-month stint at sea. Thanks for giving it a listen! CHAPTER VIII I’m waiting for the driveway to sway, my luggage to roll from the house, my mom to grip the car door to keep her balance. But the asphalt is solid beneath my feet, home as welcoming as ever....

Here’s the audio version of the 7th chapter in The Great Sea Ahead. This one is about being true to yourself. A lifelong challenge—no doubt! But a lesson I started to learn during our food- and wine-themed cruises in the San Francisco Bay and Napa Valley. And if you missed the last few audio chapters… The Great Sea Ahead is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work,...

Welcome to Chapter 6 of The Great Sea Ahead , my memoir about a directionless college graduate who gets set straight by unexpected groups of cruising senior citizens. Here’s what in store for you: “The explosion rings through the crew deck in the early morning, rocketing me from my Dramamine-fueled sleep and down the bunk ladder before I even clock that I’m awake. “What the f**k was that?” Blake s...

“The air is thick with spin cycle exhaust and a lust for pain, the laundry room crammed with a dozen or so crew members cheering on the newest deckhand, Reese, who tumbles inside the industrial clothes dryer. It’s medieval. Insane. And I can’t take my eyes off of it. I thought dryer runs were going to be a relay race, or a cruising team building activity. No, this is a front-loading clothes dryer—...

Thanks for checking out the audio version of chapter 4 of The Great Sea Ahead . The encounter with Mrs. Brennan was a turning point in how I came to view my passengers, and my role as their assistant cruise director. I’m proud to share these kinds of stories because I know so many others who’ve had deep interactions that stick with them. It’s the beauty of working aboard a small ship, where you re...

Welcome to the 3rd audio chapter of my memoir about the lessons of adulthood learned through a year spent at sea with retired travelers. Listen as I see my first glacier, eat lunch with a retiree living on the edge, and—thankfully—don’t have to give another speech! (For a few days) Love travel memoirs? I’ve compiled my favorite travel books and memoirs in this searchable database. Get full access...

I was walking alongside Bristol on the edge of a tiny airfield on Haida Gwaii, forty miles off the coast of British Columbia. He was eighty two. Just out of the hospital. Wearing Adidas cross-trainers with neon yellow soles that skimmed the grass as he shuffled forward, eyes locked on the sea. He didn’t want to wait inside the airport for our flight to Vancouver. He wanted fresh air. The smell of...

Step into the lounge, where I deliver my first mumblings of an introduction to the passengers. Learn why I didn’t feel steady even before I left solid ground. And, see how I came to view “perspective” as the key to customer service and daily life. Or click here for the full chapter text. The Great Sea Ahead is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becom...

Writers grinding it out and wondering what the hell you’re doing: you’re not alone! In this video you’ll see me scroll, open folders, scroll, open more folders, and scroll again to show just how long I’ve been working on this memoir, how many decisions I’ve made as to the narrative, the stories—to everything! Why do we do it? Because we can’t not do it. That’s as philosophical as I can get today....

 I’m about to share chapter two of The Great Sea Ahead . And I’m gonna be honest, this one was hard to write and it’s even harder to share. It moves into parts of my life in college that I hid at the time. Moments where I learned to mask instead of ask for help. I’m making this video because a friend asked me the other day what it feels like to share something that you’ve worked so hard on for so...

Last week, I published the first chapter of my memoir , The Great Sea Ahead. If you’re more into audio books, now you can enjoy it as read by Morgan Free—ok, I read it. A note on this chapter: They say start your story with the cat already in the tree, and write him down to safety. Well, it took me about 27 trees until I landed on this one. Because you have to ask yourself: * How high up is he in...