Unhappy with the dullness of small-town England in the 1960s, Rod escapes by going to sea. Aboard ship, he finds his place-at the bottom of the stratified naval hierarchy. At sea he experiences storms that toss large ships around like twigs. Venturing ashore in unfamiliar lands, he runs for his life through a Senegalese village, kisses a man in Australia, is mugged in Tahiti, almost kills the third mate in Sweden and is captured by a woman in Vancouver.