The final voyage, a singlehander's farewell to the sea, began well. The yacht was strong and fast, his ocean-going experience vast. With Mark Twain's advice in mind, Sail away . Explore. Dream. Discover, 8,000 miles of adventure lay ahead. And there was plenty - facing scary storms, pausing on an island of lust, being detained by aggressive lawmen, rediscovering intense mid-ocean alienation, falling in love, being poised over an oceanic garden of Eden. Finally the swallowing-the-anchor journey reached home.

A sort of heaven with retirement, marriage and peace its promise. In reality it was Purgatory, offering ambush, injustice, and imprisonment.