Seventeen year old Zander is helping his dad transport an expensive yacht from Seattle to Hawaii for a rich guy named Estevan. Zander's girlfriend, Jenna, and her cat, Mr. Jackson, are along for the journey. All is going well until something unthinkable happens one night in the open ocean. Zander falls asleep on deck under the stars, and someone on board pushes him overboard. Despite his screams, the boat leaves him alone a thousand miles away from any land with nothing but the clothes he has on and a zip-lock bag containing his cell phone and a pack of chewing gum. The night sky lights up in the distance. The yacht is going up in flames. After treading water for most of the night, Zander can struggle no longer. Just as he is about to let himself drown, he hears a faint cry. Jenna? He hears it again. He follows the sound to discover that it is not coming from Jenna but from Mr. Jackson who has climbed on top of a large floating object. It turns out to be a Native American dugout canoe that Estevan had planned to display at his summer home in Hawaii. Zander manages to turn over the capsized canoe and climbs inside with Mr. Jackson.After resting, Zander begins to notice pieces of trash floating around him and recalls learning about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch during his freshman year. He starts pulling in all kinds of trash, including fishing nets, Styrofoam cups, straws, bags, bottles. He realizes there is hope, but will he find what he needs to survive in the trash that has been washed out to sea?