Eleven-year-old Carter Benson, his nine-year-old sister Jane, and their new step-siblings, Vanessa and Benjamin (Buzz) Diaz, are on a sailing trip aboard the Lucky Star with Carter and Jane’s Uncle Dexter (Dex) and his first mate, Joe. Their parents are on their honeymoon in Hawaii and sent their children sailing in the hope that they’d bond. At sea for four days already, the boat sails rapidly through the Pacific as Carter is hoisted up to the top of the mast to change a navigation bulb. He finds the experience thrilling, but it’s over too quickly. Dex instructs Carter to find Buzz (whom Carter refuses to refer to as his brother) and take him below deck. Carter wants to steer, but his uncle insists that the storm is too strong.

Carter finds 11-year-old Buzz vomiting over the side of the boat and urges him to come below deck, where 13-year-old Vanessa is on the computer looking at weather signals and Jane is waking up from a nap. Vanessa sees the boys as complete opposites despite their being the same age: Carter is unaffected by the risks of the sea, while Buzz is terrified; Carter is somewhat defiant, while Buzz is more passive.