"A fed-up publisher heads, via trawler, from Florida to Maine. It's fun going along for the ride." —People

At forty, Mary South had a beautiful home, good friends, and a successful career in book publishing. But she couldn't help feeling that she was missing something intangible but essential. So she decided to go looking for it . . . at sea. Six months later she had quit her job, sold the house, and was living aboard a forty-foot, thirty-ton steel trawler she rechristened Bossanova. Despite her total lack of experience, South set out on her maiden voyage—a fifteen-hundred-mile odyssey from Florida to Maine—with her one-man, two-dog crew. But what began as the fulfillment of an idle wish became a crash course in navigating the complicated byways of the self.

"Even if your idea of the open waters is a swim-up bar at the Ritz-Carlton, South's uncluttered style and hopeful prose is charming enough to make you happy to simply float peacefully along in its wake." —Salon.com

"Engaging and lovable . . . Find a nice high chair and stand on it, applauding the existence of a writer and person like Mary South." —George Saunders, #1 New York Times–bestselling author

"Mary South's gutsy decision to follow her heart is truly inspiring. I admire her courageous spirit and the fortitude she exhibits in pursuing her own happiness." —Linda Greenlaw, New York Times–bestselling author

"This small but well-observed memoir is a worthwhile read for anyone stuck in the workaday rut." —Publishers Weekly