As chronicled in the bestselling book My Old Man and the Sea, the thirst for living an unconventional life led Daniel Hays to sail around Cape Horn with his father in a boat they built themselves. Thinking his wanderlust satisfied, Hays married and settled down, only to find himself restless for adventure once again. On Whale Island tells the story of how he packed up three boatloads of supplies, his wife, stepson, and two dogs and moved to a remote island off the coast of Nova Scotia, fulfilling a lifelong fantasy of escaping from the confines of civilization and living by his wits.

On Whale Island tells three stories. In the foreground, we see Daniel who, not unlike one of Peter Pan's Lost Boys, joyfully lives this permanent boy's life. He generates electricity from solar power, creates a toilet seat from whale vertebra, and greets every storm with enthusiasm. But while Daniel is building windmills and funneling rainwater for showers, his spirited son feels isolated and his wife longs for the life they left behind.

Funny, tender, and filled with the details of an unconventional life, this is the story of how the Hays family lived on Whale Island, and how, finally, they had to leave.

© 2002 by Daniel Hays. Published by arrangement with Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

DANIEL HAYS is coauthor of My Old Man and the Sea, a best-selling memoir that chronicles his trip around Cape Horn with his father. Hays has a master's degree in environmental science, holds a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and has a captain's license for piloting boats up to twenty-five tons.