This is a story of love and family loyalty set in the Cold War tensions of 1962. Arie Kornet is a skipper's son and is home on board his father's barge from his boarding school. It is the Christmas holidays and he is already bored, but life is about to take some unnerving twists for Arie when he finds a Russian stowaway hiding his cabin. Suddenly he and his family become involved on a cat and mouse adventure with some very dubious people and Arie's family have to draw on their strength and unity to overcome some very real threats.