For some people, the thought of living on a boat is enough to send shivers down their spine. Even if it is travelling through some of the exotic parts of the world with the sun shining all day. But for Emma Bamford, it is all she has ever wanted to do. The last time that she tried it though it didn’t quite work out, however, she has high hopes for this trip with Guy, even though she hardly knows him at all. Whilst they get on fairly well, it is not a relationship that is destined to last. So she heads back to London to pick up some of her media contacts to get a job and an income once again, she re-enters the relentless and non-stop world of the news desk once again.

But the call of the sea is too much to resist and she heads over to the states to help deliver a boat from America to the Caribbean with another couple. It is a tough journey as they struggle with the weather and have a few run-ins with the authorities with visa issues. Back in London, she is promoted to editor, more work for less money, but in the end, it becomes overwhelming and she is forced to make a choice in what she wants to do, for her health as much as her sanity.

I quite enjoyed this book, Bamford writes with honesty about working for a newspaper and the immense pressures that they are all under to deliver the constant 24 / 7 stream of news that people now expect and how she found her work life balance. But this is primarily about two boat journeys across two very different parts of the world and the freedom that she feels when holding the tiller with the wind in her hair. Should have read Casting Off first, but I will get to it one day. ( )