Set in 1965, six friends, teenagers bored with their life at a boarding school on the Pacific island of Tonga, steal a fishing boat and set off on an adventure. A massive storm destroys their vessel and after eight days of drifting on the open water... show all s, they wash up on a remote, uninhabited island. Marooned there, the boys overcome incredible adversity, largely through team work, ingenuity and resolve. The boys manage to survive for 15 months – eating fish, coconuts, and birds – before being rescued by an Australian sailor whose interest in the island is piqued when he notices unusual burning patches on its green cliffs.