Ebb Tide

It is 1843, and Captain Sir Nathaniel Drinkwater embarks on the paddle-steamer Vestal for an inspection of lighthouses on the west coast of England. Bowed with age and honours, the old sea-officer has been drawn out of retirement on half-pay to fulfil his public duty. The following day, however, tragedy strikes, and Drinkwater, the punctilious seaman and sympathetic libertarian. Is suddenly confronted with the spectre of his past life: the sins amid follies, valour anti heroics, triumphs and disasters.