Fellini's Ladder

The category five hurricane could have been the end, not only of the most beautiful sailing yacht on the East Coast, but also of Marco Fellini's life goal of climbing up the social ladder to status and respect among the rich and famous. But every time he fell down a ladder he fell upward. He had started as a painter in South Philly, where his career seemed to have ended after the first fall down a ladder. But luck struck. Purchasing a world class yacht (which was actually a wreck that only needed good paint job, so he thought, ) would be the ultimate status symbol. So he ventured into restoring the old schooner, not knowing much about sailing, and sailed right into bankruptcy. But he conquered the heart of a shipwrecked blond Norwegian girl who, luckily, knew a bit about sailing and money. They began a sail around the world, which did not turn out as dreamed. Despite one disaster after another Marco Fellini became famous as a daredevil sailor and he stepped up the social ladder only to fall again, up and down, up and down. But the greater the disaster the more his reputation grew, until he achieved the ultimate fame of, well, that's the end of the story