Guy Grieve, after years of exploring and adventuring around the world, has been living quietly on the grey-skied Isle of Mull with his wife Juliet and two small sons. For some time though, the wild has been beckoning to him more and more insistently. At last, the lure of freedom and adventure become too much and he and Juliet pack in the school run, re-mortgage the house and buy a yacht. Her name is Forever. G
uy and Juliet plan to pick up Forever from Venezuela, where she's currently moored, gently tour her around the West Indies and then sail back across the Atlantic to Scotland. Guy, who's captaining the expedition, has almost no sailing experience. Undaunted, the young family set forth. As they make their way around the Caribbean and up the east coast of America, there are moments of sublime, once-in-a-lifetime happiness: sailing with dolphins, catching a flounder from the brown waters of a river in North Carolina, and gliding into New York by water, greeted by the Statue of Liberty.
But it's not all plain sailing.
There are moments when the danger that's always lurking beneath the ocean's surface becomes life-threatening, like when the robust little yacht is caught up in one of the most turbulent storms on record, or when a pirate silently boards her one night. Guy and Juliet must discover reserves of courage and endurance that they did not even know they had as they pit themselves against the risks of sea life and the awesome forces of nature to protect what they care about most.
Buccaneering, funny and heart-warming by turns, this true story is about grasping life with both hands and discovering what it really means to be a family.