The Sixty Miler is a blend of memoir, biography, and maritime history. Author Norma Sim weaves together the life of her husband William with the story of the Birchgrove Park, one of the fleet of coal-carrying ships that sailed between Newcastle and Sydney since the early 1800s. Both man and ship were from Aberdeenshire, both sailed the globe during the 1940s and 1950s, and in 1956 their paths would ultimately cross in tragic circumstances. Interwoven with these storylines are the histories of many other sixty milers that plied the treacherous coasts of New South Wales.