Publisher's Synopsis
The young American captain of a Venezuelan owned mega yacht runs from his homeport in Venezuela to avoid a revolution. Prior to the yacht's departure the Venezuelan Mate is coerced into spying on the yachts owner. There are two women in the crew: the American chef, whose life is her work, a little brandy and unattached sex; and the Venezuelan stewardess, an accommodating single mom supporting her child and her mother with the best job she's ever had. The engineer is an American hoodlum who by accident acquired the experience that got him the job. The very professional steward grew up as a Colombian peasant and at a young age ran from being ridiculed by his family. A Cuban American applicant to the U. S. Marshals Service was recruited to spy on important Venezuelans as the deckhand on the yacht. Problems start when the captain misunderstands instructions from the owner and takes the yacht to a small bay that becomes totally isolated by an earthquake. While the captain and crew nervously await the owner's arrival by helicopter there is a disastrous fire in the engine room. While the crew is dealing with the ciaos of the fire a hurricane blows the yacht aground with tree limbs crashing into the main salon. Most of the crew want to leave but the only place to go is the small fishing village. The captain in his visit to the village learns little other than there is no vehicle, no electricity, no telephone, and it is a two-day walk to the village beyond where the earthquake most likely closed the road. The chef and mate who accompanied him to the village make a connection with the man who turns out to be the most important person in the village. The chef makes a deal with him to store, in his gas-operated freezer, the meat she has to move from her now non-functional freezers on the yacht. Two crewmembers move to the village. The wounded American agent gets a message out via his secret satellite equipment. Eventually two crew members are killed, and the captain's authority collapses to the point that only the Venezuelan mate and stewardess respond to his requests; and the three of them become little more than armed guards keeping the villagers, and cooperating crew members who are living in the village, from coming onboard to steal. Broken, injured and lonely the captain finds solace and romance with the stewardess, and she suggests the solution to his problems.
