David is fourteen when his beloved uncle dies.  David inherits his sailboat, The Frog.  When David goes to visit the boat a short time later, he didn't intend to take it out, but impulsively he decides to take a nighttime sail without checking anything for safety.  He sets out with few supplies and only his uncle's ashes to keep him company.

By the next morning David hasn't seen land in a very long time and he decides to make his way back to shore.  Instead of a tranquil journey home, he is slammed by a giant storm that knocks him out and dislocates his shoulder.  David now finds himself fighting to stay alive, to learn to read the ocean, to try to stay calm and trust himself as he works to pilot The Frog back to land.

Paulsen is a master of survival stories, and he does a good job of teaching the reader what would actually be involved in staying alive at sea in a very bad situation.  He also does a good job of illustrating David's mental state and working through how David would be able to come to terms with the death of his uncle while he goes through this ocean ordeal.