This book is a series of essays on various subjects from celestial navigation to wanderings on the many kinds of craft with which he's had experience. Want to read about being plucked from a foundering catamaran by the U.S. Coast Guard after needing a rescue at sea, in winter? Check. Sailing across the ocean on a 30-year-old yawl, or sighting a hippo on an African river? Check and check. It's an entertaining read, and his easygoing style lends itself to dipping into a chapter or two at bedtime.