Young guards lieutenant Andrei Shuvalov and his bosom friend, midshipman of the Naval Corps Thaddeus Bellingshausen, have long dreamed of some serious test in life to prove to themselves and those around them that they are real men. And then in the winter of 1803, fate took a sharp turn. Thaddeus was enlisted as a watch officer on the sloop Nadezhda under the command of Kruzenshtern himself, and Andrei was quite unexpectedly appointed to the trade mission under the leadership of Prince Rezanov on the same ship. And the long-awaited adventures of two friends began!..