Uncharted Waters

Written in a voice that is charming, witty, and honest, Uncharted Waters shares the stories of a Fortune 500 executive learning to sail, learning to love, learning to fight for the water and life she holds dear. Mary McKSchmidt is an adventurer-a woman who wanders across southern Africa, achieves success in positions typically held by men, hikes, bikes, and camps alone up the eastern coast of Lake Michigan, and joins her fun-loving, equally-adventuresome husband on voyages across the sometimes treacherous, always unpredictable, waters of Lake Michigan. In the presence of this lake, she gains clarity, finds inner strength, and hears the whispered musings of her heart.
When she discovers Lake Michigan and all the Great Lakes are at risk, potentially damaged beyond repair, she replaces her briefcase, calculator, and business suit with a notepad, camera, and foul weather gear and embarks on a new adventure, this time to help create the political will necessary to clean up and protect the lakes. Captivating, heart-warming, and insightful, Uncharted Waters serves as a reminder that while we can live without a lot of things, clean, safe drinking water is not one of them.

Mary McKSchmidt replaces a briefcase, calculator, and business suit with a notepad, camera, and foul weather gear and journeys into unchartered waters to help build the political will necessary to clean up and protect the Great Lakes. A published writer, photographer, and blogger, when not in West Michigan, she may be found wandering the planet, usually by boat, foot, or bicycle.