The tale begins in the winter of 1846, when the Brooklyn leaves New York City for a voyage that will take its passengers twenty-six thousand miles around South America to Honolulu, and to their final destination, San Francisco. On a warm sultry, moonless night, off the coast of Brazil, four teenage passengers fall overboard. Thomas, Elizabeth, Nicole and their Australian sailor friend, Matthew, find themselves stranded in dangerous waters. The Caribbean Sea and South Pacific are the backdrops for this adventure that pits the foursome in desperate contests with pirates, profiteers and scoundrels as they swash-buckle their way to California.