When conservative psychologist Jackson Rhodes and his unlikely friend, flamboyant attorney Nat Arrington, fly to Fort Lauderdale to sail Nat's new sailboat to Pensacola, they anticipate fair winds and following seas--an adventure to regale the cocktail crowd with at the yacht club back home. With radically different personalities, their friendship was forged when they married beautiful women who were lifelong friends. Milly Rhodes tolerates Nat because of her friendship with his wife, Carol. Her dislike for Nat stems from his inherent chauvinism, his condescension toward Carol, and his inability to keep his hands to himself, traits Jackson had failed to observe. A wild night ashore in Key West presents Jackson the side of Nat he had avoided recognizing and an introduction to the hundred mile rule: "What happens a hundred miles from home stays a hundred miles from home." Both wives expect their husbands to hug Florida's west coast, dropping the anchor every night in protected coves--the conservative approach. Jackson, with no prior sailing experience, expects this as well but, after several days of smooth seas and light winds, yields to Nat's argument that a rhumb line course straight across the Gulf of Mexico will not put them in harm's way. At midnight the second day out, an unexpected and severe cold front moves across the Gulf, pushing a powerful squall on its leading edge. Seventy knot gusts and towering seas slam the forty-two foot boat, terrorizing the inexperienced sailors. Struggling to secure a dangling anchor, Nat is flung overboard when a bolt of lightning strikes the mast, leaving Jackson to deal with the raging seas alone. Fear is a dynamic motivator. Faced with extreme conditions, Jackson's physical capabilities are tested, and he confronts psychological issues he has never encountered personally or professionally. In the worst of times, even the best of men stumble. Can one's secrets be forgiven sans confession?