Hunter is the only survivor of a ship attacked by the pirates, led by the evil Spanish nobleman Lord "Mad Dog" Morgan.
The other members of the delegation are Bruno's trusted friends, Dr. Chris Edge of Oxford, and a young barman from Plymouth named Adrian.
The King rewards the English delegation with the signed peace treaty and a large chest filled with silver coins.
Bruno and his friends chase Morgan's ship with the Arctic Tern, driving it all the way to Heybrook Bay, near Plymouth, England.
Bruno greets them; he invites them to sail on his ship, the Arctic Tern, to scuba-dive with him in the waters around Plymouth for the rest of their holiday.
After a week of diving, Steve, Chris, and Adrian discover a sunken 17th-century pirate's ship, standing upright on the sea floor, with a large treasure chest sitting on its deck.
The next morning, those thirteen meals are always consumed, with a Spanish silver coin left sitting on top of the thirteenth plate.
The Voyage of the Arctic Tern is a work of historical fantasy told in verse form, with an alternate end rhyme scheme.
By his late teens he became part of the team of volunteer divers led by archaeologist Margaret Rule[7] who salvaged the underwater wreck of King Henry VIII's warship, the Mary Rose, in the straits of the Solent, north of the Isle of Wight.
"[6] Many years later, after Montgomery had become a medical doctor and professor,[8] his childhood and personal experiences with the Mary Rose project would serve as inspirations for the plot of The Voyage of the Arctic Tern.
[3] It took him three years to complete the story, writing parts of it in between seeing patients and leading a group of genetic researchers (the same team that eventually discovered the allele of the gene that influences human physical fitness, in 1998).
[10] He has been a Baker Tilly Award winner at the Royal Watercolour Society, and an official painter to the Office de Tourisme of Pézenas.
[2] As a historical fantasy, The Voyage of the Arctic Tern combines real-life phenomena, places, and people with fictional characters or elements.
While the specific location of the main character Bruno's ancient village is not explicitly mentioned, the description of its extremely cold winters, Northern Lights seen in the sky, and bright spring flowers growing on hard ground, matches the description of the climate and environment in the coastal areas of Scandinavia near the Arctic Circle.
"[2] Dr. Montgomery's childhood home of Plymouth and the surrounding waters served as the fictional character Bruno's main haunt.
[12] The "Cap'n Jaspers" seaside food stall mentioned in the story also exists in real life; however it dates back only to the 1970s.
[15] A bit of the Mary Rose wreck's recent history is mentioned in the story, with a brief description of its first salvage attempt in the 19th century by brothers John and Charles Deane.
[3] Other fictional characters such Lord Morgan, Steve Hunter, Chris Edge, and Adrian were loosely based on real people in Dr Montgomery's life.
The UK's The Times called the book a "tour de force" and "a beautifully illustrated, completely accessible and highly atmospheric adventure story."