Strange purple clouds, sea monsters and nightmares: Maurice wasn't expecting any of it when he and his family set sail for Madagascar. The fourteen-year-old, together with his little brother, Patrick, and photojournalist parents, listen to the stories of the eccentric Captain Frake on a voyage that grows ever stranger. As they head into the Mozambique Channel, known for its choppy waters and terrifying legends, the line between reality and folklore blurs, and Maurice must discover where the truth ends and the myths begin, before it's too late.