Pointhouse — Createspace

It is 1907 and a wealthy American, Per Simonsen, commissions the eminent Scottish naval architect George L Watson to design a luxurious steam yacht, SY Varuna, for fast ocean voyages and elegant display on both sides of the Atlantic. Pointhouse, a small shipyard on the Clyde owned by the Inglis family, wins the contract and a young engineer, John Robert Thompson, is tasked with designing powerful state-of-the-art engines for the yacht. He is later promoted to be the chief engineer on board, which proves to be a life-changing experience. Whilst sharing the yacht owner's millionaire lifestyle he is drawn into an increasingly close relationship with Simonsen's daughter, Annike, which puts his career at considerable risk. During a number of cruises to the most fashionable resorts on the coasts of America and Europe, Simonsen enhances his family's already high social standing by entertaining year-round on a lavish scale whilst planning an industrial venture in Europe to escalate his business status internationally. The ever-increasing decadence of life on board draws the young engineer into situations that strain both his loyalty to his employer and his responsibilities to the yacht. As he struggles to work out how best to resolve his personal dilemma, a series of misadventures threatens the safety of everyone on board and leads to his work on the yacht coming to a sudden and unespected end. It will take another generation before the true legacy of the steam yacht is revealed.