Farley Mowat's effort [in The Boat Who Wouldn't Float] is to show that a vessel may have a mind of its own such as to constitute a continuing frustration to its owner. Jocose the statement may be; many sailors will insist that a fabrication of wood, or even steel, into an "artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water", can result in a being with understanding and will which must be cajoled, coaxed, entreated and persuaded before the human in control can get, or get to, what he wants—and sometimes cannot.

Mowat and a partner decided to spend $1000 on a vessel which they could use to make voyages to exotic places and it was agreed that Newfoundland was the one place where such a gem might be found….

The boat, named "Happy Adventure", then took eight years to get off...