Perpetually broke skipper Bill Johansen docks his small craft in San Pedro, agitating ship's store owner "Pop" Cavendish and his daughter Marge, who is fond of Bill, even though he has owed them money for years. Pop tries to have Bill's boat attached, but cannot because Bill has registered the boat in the name of his daughter Virginia, whom he has not seen since infancy. Meanwhile, refrigerator boat-owner John Kelly intimidates local fishermen into accepting only five cents a pound for tuna. Marge thinks Bill is just the man to fight Kelly, but Bill would rather fish for swordfish with his friend, Pico Rodriguez. On the same day that Bill loses his swordfish money to saloon girl Mamie, twelve-year-old Virginia, whose mother is dead, arrives from Gloucester, Massachusetts with her aunt, Letty Breckenridge. Virginia asks to stay with Bill, even though Letty thinks he is an unfit father. Bill likes Virginia, but doesn't want the responsibility of a child, so he convinces Marge to let her live on shore with her. Virginia and the kindhearted Marge then decide to start to "work" on Bill. On Sunday, Bill goes to church with them, but later shows up drunk for supper. Virginia then talks to Bill and tells him about the death of her maternal grandfather, a well-known Gloucester captain, and Bill decides to get a job. Bill and Pico sail on Joe Petillo's tuna boat, and a month later, Bill happily returns to find that Virginia and Marge have fixed his ramshackle boat. When Bill goes to collect his pay, however, he gets much less than expected and Petillo suspects that Kelly has been improperly weighing the catch. Bill then confronts Kelly's man Dixon, who offers Bill $150 to keep his "big mouth" shut. Bill is happy to take the money until Virginia proudly leads the other men to see his confrontation and Bill must refuse the money and fight Dixon to save face. Now a hero, Bill gets drunk in celebration and wakes up just before the sinking of his boat, which secretly had its seacocks opened by Kelly's men. As he and Pico are working to raise the boat, Virginia sees that their "dream" schooner is on the auction block and offers the highest bid at a fraction of the boat's actual worth. Bill uses his fishing money for a deposit and has ten days to pay off the $2,500 balance. Bill, who wants to sail with Pico to the South Seas, sweet-talks Marge into giving him the money by intimating that he might be interested in getting married. Although Bill almost loses the money to Mamie again, Marge jealousy fights her and throws him out of the saloon. The next day, Petillo and other fishermen suggest that they help finance Bill so that he can turn the schooner into a refrigerator boat. Bill pretends to love the idea, but secretly accepts bribe money from Kelly not to compete and has South Seas provisions delivered that night. When Virginia sees what is happening, she is disillusioned and calls Aunt Letty to take her home. When Marge finds out, she tells Bill, and he decides to go through with Petillo's idea. Pop, Pico and stowaway Marge then sail with Bill, who gives Kelly his money back. The voyage goes smoothly until one night, when Kelly and his men sneak aboard and open the seacocks to sink the boat. Bill's "crew" successfully fight Kelly and soon dock in San Pedro after successfully navigating a bad storm. Virginia is happily waiting and Bill and the suddenly bashful Marge marry.
