John and Mary Horner live in Snag Harbor, New York, while John works on a night ferry and Mary works as a secretary for Harvey Davis. The legacy of seafarers in John's family causes him to resent his lowly position of "candy-butcher" on a night ferry, and he dreams of being captain of his own schooner on the high seas. Mary mistakenly believes that John is the first mate on the night ferry, and when an opportunity arises for her to use their savings to purchase a car ferry, she rushes out with John's live-in sister Hattie to ask his permission. Although Hattie sees John at his real job, she promises not to tell Mary, and John is fired for impersonating the first mate for Mary's benefit. While Mary arranges to buy the car ferry through Davis, John, who has not told Mary he has been fired, arranges to buy an old schooner from Nick Socrates. John does not find out he is the owner of the car ferry until after it crashes and is destroyed by fire. Enraged, he signs the house over to Socrates in exchange for the ship and sets sail with his old friend Sam Bowen, who once was a ship's cook, and Hattie's boyfriend Percival Todd, a dumb lifeguard. In the meantime, Mary has signed a contract with a bus company, which will provide a new ferry in exchange for free passage for their buses. Mary christens the ferry the John Horner . The schooner, meanwhile, becomes lost at sea, and a Navy battleship sights them and recognizes the ship as the Barracuda , which had been confiscated from Socrates because he was rum-running. The battleship exchanges fire with the schooner and rescues John and the crew after the ship is destroyed. Brought back to reality, John returns home to find that Davis bought back his home from Socrates. After John and Mary reunite, he becomes the proud captain of his own ferry.