Skippy Dare and his father have high hopes for a new life after they begin living on their new barge, the "Minnie M. Baxter," but it's hard to pull out of the life they have been leading. But Skippy ends up alone on the "Minnie M. Baxter, "Gripping adventures of Skippy pose questions for us -What happened to his father? Who is Big Joe Tully and what is his relation to Skippy? Who is Mugs? Do the people in the Basin have to leave after all? And what do hot dogs have to do with anything?