12 yr old Charlotte Pace and Jack Thomas find a letter from the 1700's that tells of a treasure chest of gold buried by the pirate Blackbeard while evading the British on Daufuskie Island, South Carolina. They seek to search for the gold along with 14 yr old Moses LeConte using Moses' sailboat. The letter is in fact a treasure map detailing the location of the chest. The three kids embark on a quest to find the treasure while battling drug smugglers and a severe tropical storm in a sailboat. It is a tale reminiscent of the exploits of the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and the Goonies.