After the author's adventures crewing from Zihuantanejo, Mexico to Costa Rica for her friend Jack, she was back in the Northwest. Her land-sickness- the inability to walk on solid ground without looking drunk-had subsided, but her desire to be back on the ocean was stronger than ever. Looking for a crewing job, she unexpectedly connected with Cap, an experienced sailor who needed help because of a disability.
The first year's ultimate goal was to sail south to Margarita Island, Venezuela and back to Baltimore, Maryland. Detailed in this book is the travel from Baltimore to the Virgin Islands, where the pair experienced intense storms, equipment breakdowns, and unreliable weather forecasts. But the rewards were great: the opportunity for the author to again explore and photograph the world beneath the surface, to explore a famous shipwreck, and to increase her self-confidence and sailing skills under Cap's tutelage. Cap's gourmet cooking was an added bonus.