Captain Lionel Wafer and his fellow-pirates – Toad, Brace-and-Bit and Winkle – are no ordinary ruffians. Clinging to the belief that life should be simple, free and unplanned they set off in a converted teashop of a ship, renamed The Sinful Sausage, to sail backwards and forwards over the bounding blue. In no time a dastardly plan has formed in Captain Wafer's mind to kidnap the famous inventor, Humbert Cash-Cash, from his sunshine retreat and purloin his inventions – or at the very least pinch his diamond doorknob. But they land on the wrong island, and that is where their troubles start ...