Alexey Ilyich's book tells about the sailors of the merchant fleet and the problems that people of his generation had to solve on the fairway of building a communist society. These problems, in part, have already been resolved. But the value of Captain Reutov's stories also lies in the fact that he passionately and convincingly appeals to the reader's mind, forcing him to think, forcing him to see around him everything that still interferes with our movement forward.