sam and maggie are off on their honeymoon to the virgin islands on a sailing catamaran that he has been building for the last three years on the potomac river near washington. after tangling with a bad storm, that knocks out his electronics, thirty miles off of cape hatteris. sam soon has mixed emotions about going on a shakedown cruise of this magnitude with a new boat and a wife who has never been to sea before. he decides to go back in for repairs, but only compounds his troubles when he sails into seventeenth century bath which was the first capital of north carolina and blackbeard's stomping grounds. sam finely takes things in his own hands after blackbeard takes his binoculars, his rolex watch, a bic cigarette lighter. and his stash. sam has a twelve gauge, nine shot, stainless steel shot gun on board his catamaran, which he feels will level the playing field between him and blackbeard, but maggie talks sam into going to see spottwood the governor of virginia and ask him to come down to bath and run blackbeard off. at first the governor turns him down, until lieutenant maynard of the british navy comes along.