Although the spectacular tales are told about the ships that sail the high seas, there is romance also in the little tugs that serve the waterfront. Filmed in Montréal harbour, this is the story of a now-retired tugboat, the Sir Hugh Allan. It is told by the captain himself and given musical counterpoint in a song composed about a tug. The film goes back almost half a century to include many scenes and anecdotes of what the St. Lawrence traffic used to be like.