The Seafaring Women of the Vera B.: 1 (Hearts of Oak)

With the ships captain dead in Melbourne Australia Alice Packard thinks the worst has happened until she learns the crew has deserted her husbands ship in favor of the goldfields. Only one old man Gypsy Deak sticks by her but Gypsy alone cant raise a crew from the depleted population. In desperation Alice turns to the only source of plentiful workers: the women of Melbourne. In a bold move she and Gypsy empty a brothel promising the escaped women a new life. Her all-woman (save one) crew put their backs and hearts into the voyage but Alice finds training her sailors much harder than she expected. Her faith is tested to the limit. With a cargo to sell angry bordello and tavern owners in pursuit pirates to evade and a mysterious stowaway the seafaring women of the Vera B. find their escape in question.