What's in a Premise?

I've gone back to square one a few times already on my re-write for Good Hope, and I admit that it's been frustrating. But, after reviewing Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Mass, I realized that my premise was weak. So I've spent a week tweaking and reviewing, and I also submitted the premise to my writer's group for feedback. It sparked some debate among them, but I'm glad that I had at least enough of a story idea to create that much disagreement. I've just finished revising the premise one last time, and however flawed it may be, I'm sticking to it.

Breakout Premise: Randall Grayson, A middle-aged husband and father, finds his life adrift after his own uncaring father, who left home when he was six, dies. His wife Ayla and his children try to understand and support him, but Randall's carefully constructed veneer of accomplishment and success gives way to an almost comic obsession with pirate tales and sailing ships. After he enters a contest to become a crewman on the 1877 square-rigger Elissa on a journey to the Cape of Good Hope, Ayla takes over the family business and Randall finds himself free to leave his comfortable life for the uncertainties of severe weather, the trials of ship life, and the threat of real pirates off the coast of Somalia. He also finds himself amid a crew of men who are on their own journeys: The driven Elliot Rhine, ship captain and former Texas oilman who becomes a father-figure to Randall, and Gene Reynolds, whose sexual orientation is in constant debate, but whose zeal for life is unmistakable. And somewhere, in the fog, a phantom ship and a phantom captain who hunts the Elissa to settle a deadly score. Through his adventures, Randall will find the strength and the courage to face not only the trials of the journey to Good Hope, but also the questions that plague his troubled soul: Does he have what it takes? What does it mean to be a "real man" when so many examples have failed him? Is he destined to follow in the footsteps of his father, and will he ever return from Good Hope?

Currently, I'm working on increasing the stakes of my story with my plot outline which will take me another week. From there, I will write and revise all of my character bios before I tackle the new chapter-by-chapter rewrite. I am beginning to identify with my main character more and more as I see the challenge ahead as being almost a struggle against impossible odds. And while I know that is true, I am more encouraged to move forward than I have been in a long time.
Thanks to all of you for your continued support and comments. Keep them coming!

Gary