Historian and small-boat lover James Charles Roy had a classic Novie small boat in need of repair, so he traveled to Nova Scotia, from where such craft come, in search of an expert's help. He found help, all right; but in the course of that task he fell in love with another wooden boat abandoned in a shed. His tale of saving that boat takes him to docks and boatyards, retirement homes and kitchen tables all across mainland Nova Scotia.