Pour yourself a drink and walk the gangplank into the adventures of George Jackson, a retired naval officer and master mariner. Engrossing, irreverent, and full of life, I Didn't Make Admiral is a collection of stories told with love, self-awareness, honesty, and a great sense of humour.

George comes of age on the West Coast of Canada in the 1940s, finds his English rose while serving with the British Navy, introduces their children to the freedom of the ocean and islands, and does another 27,000 nautical miles under sail in his later years. With light, lively prose, this memoir gives you a taste of the navy and family life during the twentieth century set against the backdrop of privilege, poverty, and social position.

Whether he was sailing over the waves in a ship or beneath them in a submarine, George's lifelong affair with the sea and deep appreciation of family, friends and country come through on every page.

George never did make Admiral-but along the journey he learned that was never really the point.