Jakob Störr is a sea captain accustomed to a simple and disciplined life, spent between long crossings on the merchant ship Aquitania and brief stops in taverns frequented by traveling companions and women of dubious morality. During a voyage, struck by the “sailor’s disease”, he decides on the advice of his friend Kodor to get married. A chance bet leads him to ask Lizzy, the first woman who enters a café, to marry him. This event radically changes his life.

Having moved to Paris with Lizzy, Störr finds himself in difficulty with marital and city life. He is brusque and solitary; she is lively, unpredictable and sociable. Their relationship is marked by tension, misunderstandings and the captain’s obsessive jealousy. This jealousy, fueled by vague and premeditated clues, begins to corrode his tranquility and professionalism, leading to a serious navigation accident.

The spiral of obsessions culminates with Lizzy leaving him, unable to tolerate the situation. Years later, returning to the sea and reflecting on his life, Störr realizes that his search for truth was actually an attempt to live fully. He finally understands that Lizzy has never truly left his heart.