Miles Curren
Miles, the novel's protagonist, is the teenage middle son of an abusive, alcoholic abalone fisherman. Following his mother's death and his older brother Joe's estrangement from the family, Miles takes responsibility for helping raise his younger brother Harry while also working on their Dad's boat and shielding Harry from Dad's abuse. Miles finds relief from the stress of his life by surfing with Joe.
Harry Curren
Harry is the youngest of the three brothers. He has blue eyes and blond curls. Because he gets seasick, Harry doesn't have to go out on the boat. Left alone while Miles and Dad fish, Harry befriends George, a kind old man, after he follows George's dog to his remote house. At the end of the novel, Dad punishes Harry for having gone to George's by taking him out on the boat. Harry dies after Dad pushes him into the water and Miles cannot swim Harry to safety.
Dad
Dad is the principal antagonist of the novel, and often abuses his children. An alcoholic, Dad is resentful of his children and the economic strain of having to dive for abalone according to fishery laws. At the end of the novel, in a fit of rage, Dad throws Harry into the water, where he drowns. Immediately afterward, Dad feigns sadness as he discusses Mum's and Uncle Nick's death; this triggers in Miles a memory of the crash, and he recalls how Dad pulled Nick from the vehicle and then murdered him, disposing of his body in the bay. The novel ends with Miles unsure what happened to Dad.
Jeff
Jeff, another antagonist, is an abalone diver who works with Dad. Jeff and Dad drink together at night and Jeff participates in taunting and abusing Miles and Harry. As Miles tries to save Harry from Dad pushing him overboard, Jeff grabs Miles's ankle. Jeff's fate is also left unclear at the end of the novel.
Martin
Martin is an abalone diver. In contrast to Jeff and Dad, Martin treats Miles with kindness and fairness. After Martin breaks his leg when a shark comes on board the boat and thrashes around, Martin warns Miles to watch out for Jeff.
George Fuller
George Fuller is an elderly man at whose house Harry takes refuge. George has difficulty speaking clearly, but he talks about how he knew Harry's mother when she was younger. Harry notices that George is covered in burns, and the narrative implies that his childhood home burned down. At the end of the novel, George reveals to Miles that he found Harry's body on the shore.
Mum
Mum is Miles, Harry, and Joe's mother. She died in a car crash years before the novel's timeline begins. In memory fragments, Miles recalls how her car was run off the road by Dad, who then murdered Uncle Nick because he had been eloping with Mum and the boys.
Aunty Jean
Aunty Jean is Mum's sister and Uncle Nick's widow. She takes Harry to the Regatta in an early scene and weeps when she thinks about how closely Harry resembles Mum. She buys groceries for the boys but is estranged from Dad, who she made buy out Uncle Nick's stake in the fishing boat after he and Mum died.
Joe
Joe is the oldest of the three brothers. After Dad broke Joe's arm when he was thirteen, Joe went to live with the boys' grandfather and became estranged from Dad. Joe restores a sailboat he plans to leave the town with after having to move out of Granddad's house because Aunty Jean wants to sell it. The novel ends with Joe and Miles setting sail together.
Uncle Nick
Uncle Nick is Aunty Jean's dead husband and Dad's ex-business-partner. At the end of the novel, it is revealed that Uncle Nick and Mum had an affair and were eloping together the night Mum crashed her car and Dad murdered Nick. It is also implied that Harry is Uncle Nick's biological son.
