Life has lost its savor for Mr. Pathurst. New York, fame, women, the arts, have all become tedious. Searching for excitement, he books passage on a cargo vessel sailing from Baltimore to Seattle on a route that travels around the treacherous Cape Horn. Pathurst encounters more than he ever expected in rough seas, turbulent storms, and a mutinous crew. His epic struggles aboard the sailing ship Elsinore have given him a new love for life, but will he survive in time to profit from it?