Rascal and Me

About the Book

This is the remarkable story of a successful businessmans 7,661-mile solo circumnavigation of the eastern United States and Canada in a 31-foot outboard boat.  It is a story of risk and adventure and special people and places.  Above all, it is about engaging lifes challenges and living life to its fullest.

Phil Phillips is an entrepreneur who, upon reaching his fifties, felt that something was missing in his life.  He was a successful lawyer who found the practice of law uninspiring.  So he left it, founded Phillips & Company, which he still owns, a development firm for suburban office parks in the Jacksonville, Florida area.

 Walking on the beach one day near his home, he realized that his bountiful life had grown stale.  He was not lost, just stuck.  The electricity had been turned off.  He felt no animating passion, and passionlessness was an unnatural state for him.  He longed to take risks again, to confront obstacles and face danger.  He thought of ventures that would yield these results but at this stage of life, he had become a discerning man, more drawn to pleasure than to pain.  So he imposed certain criteria on his options.

No longer a believer in needless exertion or personal discomfort, he ruled out any activity likely to result in excessive perspiration.  No pain, no gain is somebody elses motto, not Phils.  His years as soldier and student had given him quite enough experience with deprivation.  Sleeping uncomfortably, especially on hard ground, eating bad food, or eating any food without decent wine would not be part of Phils plan.  Clearly these self-imposed limitations restricted available choices, for it is the rare adventure that is accompanied by comfortable sleep, good food, and agreeable wine.

As he continued his walk along the beach, lost in thought, a boat passed, its wake etching a sharp white line in the aquamarine ocean, and it came to Phil suddenly:  I'll take a long trip by boat, somewhere.  Phil had been around boats since his boyhood in Pensacola, and he was a competent, if  rusty, seaman.  He realized he could travel by boat to places hed never seen.

Thus was born the idea of this remarkable adventure:  a voyage from Jacksonville to Jacksonville, circumnavigating the Great Circle Route, a passage by rivers, sounds, bays, gulfs, lakes, locks, canals, and open sea that encircles the entire eastern third of the United States and parts of southeastern Canada.

This book is the story of that voyage, a journey that more than satisfied Phils appetite for risk and danger.  The book will appeal to at least five audiences:  First to those men and women who take pleasure from human dramas born of extreme personal peril.  Second, to those restless souls who feel their lives lack excitement and challenge.  Third, to those who enjoy sea stories with their mix of fate and its hazards, struggle and misfortune, fear and survival.  Fourth, to travelers by land or sea, who will venture into areas Phil visited along the Great Circle Route.  These travelers will find useful material on things to see, places to stay and a few memorable watering holes.  Finally, to any mariner who contemplates a similar circumnavigation, this book should be of significant assistance.

About the Author

Phil Phillips was born in Pensacola, at the far west end of Florida’s panhandle. He holds B.S. and law degrees from Florida State University, and an MBA from the University of Miami. He is the owner of Phillips & Company, a privately held developer of suburban office parks.