In the vein of Steinbeck's Cannery Row, this novel takes the reader on a wild ride to a community turned upside-down by the social changes of the 1970s. Seen through the eyes of a young man newly fled from his straight-laced Dutch upbringing, the fishing village of Bamfield on Vancouver Island's pristine west coast is the unlikely meeting place of an uneasy mix of fishermen, the Nuu-chah-nulth whaling clan, hippies, drug peddlers, and the scientists and students of the Bamfield Marine Station. Gaz, a marine biologist, begins to live the laidback life of Lotusland in the 70s, becoming a beachcomber and small-time marijuana grower with his two friends, rich kid Blay and Nuu-chah-nulth aristocrat Ben. And not long after, he falls in love with Heidi, a student at the Marine Station. But things go terribly wrong: greedy Blay brings big-city interests into their casual pot business, Ben is murdered, Heidi's affections begin to wane and the local police are on to them.