Phil Shepard, a high school history teacher from Kokomo, Indiana, his son Dave, and five fellow seminary students expect the vacation of their lifetime. They are going to sail overnight from Miami to the Bahamas for spring break. They don't make it. Their boat hits a floating container in the dark and sinks. Dave and friends set off in a rubber dinghy, hoping the Coast Guard will find them. Meanwhile Paul, in his one man life raft, investigates the sound of a nearby engine that he hopes will rescue them. Instead he encounters natural and human threats, international intrigue, unexpected...