Somewhere on the west coast of Ireland Reefer, a dissolute, mildly aristocratic ex-IRA man gives a lift to Teresa, a woman with a shady past. Reefer takes her in, allowing her to share the boat he lives in with Spider and Badger, who also acts as deckhands when the trawler operates as a ferry between the mainland and the islands. Spider and Badger also have pasts: Spider is on the run from the British. 

A relationship gradually develops between all four shipmates although in particular between the gruff Reefer and the gentle Model, whose pregnancy develops as the story continues.