John “Jack” Baker III reflects on how he would have kept his distance if he had known more about Early Auden; however, he was new to Morton Hill Academy in Maine, having just moved there from Kansas. Jack’s father, John Baker Jr., is a captain in the Navy; Jack’s grandfather was also a Rear Admiral. However, the first time Jack sees the ocean happens when he first sees Early, where the latter is filling bags of sand and stacking them at the ocean. Jack reflects on how he knew Early couldn’t “sandbag” the ocean, but he did keep Jack from being swept away.

When Jack is nine, his father leaves for the war in the European Theatre. When the war begins winding down, Jack and his mother, Elaine Gallagher Baker, anticipate John’s homecoming, but when he eventually returns, it is for Elaine’s funeral in July. Jack is 13 by then and not used to being around his father. John enrolls Jack in Morton Hill Academy, the nearest boarding school to where John is stationed in Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. As they approach the school, Jack reads the motto etched outside: “Semper Fidelis—’Always Faithful’” (5).

Headmaster Conrady gives father and son a tour before leaving them at the dorm, promising that Jack will be taken care of and will be a “new man” by the time John visits for the Fall Regatta.