Liverpool 1860, a time when England was the centre of the mightiest trading empire on the globe. Amidst the harsh realities of Victorian life, a few ruthlessly ambitious men make their way in the world from small beginnings. James Onedin, already a seasoned Captain at the age of twenty-eight, seizes the opportunity afforded by a 25 pound inheritance to break free from the powerful Callon Line and purchase his own ship. Onedin hasn't enough money to purchase the topsail schooner Charlotte Rhodes outright, but the current owner Captain Webster has a daughter Anne--and a mutually beneficial marriage is proposed.