Newly in paperback, this graphic nautical novel tells the story of a big lug and aspiring poet whose idea of the 'sailor's life' is running up huge bar tabs and haunting the docks at night. Unfortunately, fate has other plans for him, and he is shanghaied aboard a clipper bound for Hong Kong. He finds the reality of the sailor's life a little hard to take at first, far rougher than his romantic ideals. However, once he finds his sea legs, he learns to live a Conradian life, writing poetry where he can about pirates, terrible food, unceremonious funerals and foreign ports.