Competitive sailboat racing team John Sebren, 16, and his 14 year old sister Jessie set out to sail a 41-foot ketch owned by their father's charter company from the Dominican Republic to the Virgin Islands. The teens are smart and highly competitive, and in planning their adventure, they anticipate every eventuality except one -- piracy. A disgruntled former charter company employee learns of their plans and recruits two thugs to assist in kidnapping the kids. Knowing the sailboat cannot outdistance the power boat in pursuit, John and Jessie pull every trick to outsmart them, even sailing directly into a vicious storm in the middle of the night, only to be caught after all. Though unarmed, the teens are not what the pirates expect. In the words on one of them, "These ain't no ordinary kids."