Little Ship of Fools

The dramatic and hilarious story of risk and survival, as well as the importance of our connections to the planet, on a human-powered journey across the ocean

It was to be an expedition like no other—a run across the Atlantic from Morocco to Barbados aboard an experimental rowboat. There would be no support vessel, no stored water, no sails or motor. The boat's crew of sixteen included several veterans of U.S. college rowing, a number of triathletes, a woman who had rowed both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and a scrawny sexagenarian looking for a last great challenge—our chronicler, Charles Wilkins.

When he joined the expedition, Wilkins had never swung an oar in earnest. Accompanied by a devoted crew of misadventurers, Wilkins takes the reader along for seven weeks of rationed food, extreme sleep deprivation, and life-threatening seas—as well as sharks, whales, and an ever-disintegrating boat. Little Ship of Fools is a rich and fascinating story of courage, community, the importance of risk in our lives, and the resilience and depth of the human spirit.

Charles Wilkins is the award-winning author of several books of non-fiction, including Paddle to the Amazon, with Don Starkell, In the Land of Long Fingernails, and The Circus at the Edge of the Earth. He divides his time between Thunder Bay and Muskoka, Ontario.

"Rarely have I been so drop-jaw riveted by a book, so won over by a writer's chops and heart, so happy to be dry." -Mary Roach, author of Stiff and Gulp

"Charlie Wilkins, wet or dry, is the best travel writer in the country." -Joe Fiorito, Toronto Star

"Infused with wit, charm, and a sense of wonder, the playful but epic tale stands as a testament to the human spirit stripped bare by the power of nature." -Booklist

"An inspiring read and a great adventure tale." -The Library Journal