While visiting his grandmother on Cape Cod, nine-year-old Thomas encounters a ship's cabin boy from centuries past.

"Disillusioned by the lack of opportunity in the Royal Navy, Lieutenant King opts for a spell with the Honourable East India Company. But, a trip in an Indiaman is anything but the easy option when his captain is revealed to be an old enemy. With the added perils of privateers, storms, and the might of the French Navy, he finds there is just as much excitement in the merchant service, and wonders why he ever chose to cut and run."--Page 4 of cover....

"This voyage is special. It will change everything... One September evening in 1785, the merchant Jonah Hancock hears urgent knocking on his front door. One of his captains is waiting eagerly on the step. He has sold Jonah's ship for what appears to be a mermaid. As gossip spreads through the docks, coffee shops, parlours and brothels, everyone wants to see Mr. Hancock's marvel. Its arrival spins him out of his ordinary existence and through the doors...