For a fourteen-year-old boy living in Charleston, South Carolina, the highlight of every day is watching ships pass through the harbor. He gets into a daily schedule of walking through town and heading to the wharf to observe the cargo ships and tugboats. Watching them inspires him to dream of someday owning his boat and sailing freely through the river. The first and most significant impediment to his dream is that he cannot swim. After failing swimming lessons, he lost all hope of convincing his parents to get a rowboat.

Near the boy’s house, a creek flows through a marsh and feeds into the river. The boy gets an idea to float through the swamp and creek at high tide but needs a rowboat. He asks a family friend how much it would cost to build one, which is far too expensive for his meager allowance. When his cousin visits, they watch ships together and come across some old stamps. They collect and take them to a vintage store, but the owner only offers a dollar for the lot. Unable to buy a rowboat, the boy loses all hope until his friend proposes they build one. They gather materials from a scrap lumber pile, and his parents do not protest the project. The boy and his friend take their boat onto the river, and it floats fine except for some leaks, which they can mainly minimize. The boy explores the marsh and creek by himself and goes further daily. He decides to paddle into the river, but that day's current is powerful. He risks being dragged out to sea or into rough waters that would flip the boat. With much difficulty, he can go back up the creek and resolves to try again later with a better plan. From where his rowboat rests in the creek, a tugboat followed by a vast freighter passes just beyond him. The freighter is called the _FINISTERRE, _and he can feel a ripple of water rock his small boat when it passes. When he returns home, he tells his parents he has just been paddling around the marsh.