Author Event! Karson Brown with Manon Mathews! 48 DAYS TO BARBADOS

Karson Brown joins Manon Mathews to share the true story of 48 harrowing days crossing the Atlantic and the fight to survive.
About this Event

48 Days to Barbados ~ In 1999, 28-year-old Karson Brown and her best friend embarked on a simple journey: they were going to help a woman they'd never met navigate her thirty-four-foot sailboat from Portugal to Ft. Lauderdale. Their three-week adventure crossing the Atlantic quickly became a fight for survival as contaminated water, a dead engine, and depleted provisions during hurricane-season winds threatened their very lives.

In this breathtaking memoir, Brown takes readers on a forty-eight day journey across the ocean where they navigated by the stars, and learned that the greatest challenges weren't the towering waves or electrical storms, but the demons they had brought aboard with them.

Author and artist Karson Brown grew up sailing and living aboard boats in the Pacific Northwest. She turned twenty-one aboard a fishing vessel in the Bering Sea and crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a 34-foot sailboat during hurricane season before turning thirty.

Karson raised her two children along the shores of Vashon Island and is a writer, photographer, artist, and lifelong devotee of water. She is an alumna of Joyce Maynard's Write by the Lake workshop in Guatemala.

Four of Karson's microfiction stories appear across the 2025 and 2026 editions of the 50 Give or Take anthology, published by Vine Leaves Press. Red Fern Press will publish her debut memoir, 48 Days to Barbados, on October 20, 2026.

Karson currently resides on Alki Beach in Seattle, Washington.

Manon Mathews is an actor, comedian, author, and content creator known for her sharp wit, viral characters, and distinct ability to create wildly shareable content through her authentic voice. With over 6 million followers online, she’s performed on stages across the country, appeared on TV and film, and written the book Funny How It Works Out. On stage, Manon brings stories of love, heartbreak, motherhood, and the absurdities of being human to life through spot-on impressions, unforgettable characters, spontaneous dance moves, and even the occasional song delivering a comedy experience that’s as relatable as it is unforgettable. Other than motherhood, what empowers her most is empowering others to access their own freedom, find their voice, and embrace the full spectrum of who they are.