Not long after meeting on a blind date, arranged by Jan’s daughter, she and Bill discover a common interest in water and sailboats. They already have a little powerboat and soon are shopping for a bigger boat and dreaming of distant islands. While friends and other sailors sit on the dock in their ‘spiffy yachting attire’ these two neophytes test their newly learned boating skills. All too soon they announce that they will be ‘sailing off into the sunset’ and do just that. This trip will test their courage, combined sailing skills, and their budding relationship. They will encounter many situations that they have never before faced. Weather will be an ever-present challenge, receiving mail will be next to impossible and simple everyday tasks will require infinite planning. Sometimes decisions will be made on the ‘flip of a coin’ as they plan their next destination.
Bill proves to be an excellent sailor and navigator as they discover the beauty of the Bahamas with its many wrecks and reefs. Jan learns that she must either trust Bill’s judgment or sail the boat herself in stormy weather. Along the way they experience a society of people they never knew existed. This combined with their misadventures, misfortunes, and conquests is the tale told. What happens when they lose a rudder in a seaway in a strange land unfolds to a never-ending saga.