Emerging from the South American wilderness after adventures related in The Incredible Voyage, Tristan Jones finally makes it home to Britain to find his vessel, the tiny, nearly indestructible Sea Dart, impounded by customs officials because he cannot pay the import tax. In his quest for the means to liberate his boat, he takes any work he can get:stoking the boilers at Harrod's, regaling TV talk show viewers with wild stories, and in New York skippering one-day around the lighthouse cruises.