| Annie |
Bailey | Maurice Bailey's mother |
| Bob |
Bailey | Maurice Bailey's brother |
| Charles |
Bailey | Maurice Bailey's father. Aka: Jack |
| Joan |
Bailey | Maurice Bailey's sister |
| Reg |
Bailey | Maurice Bailey's eldest sibling |
| D.G. |
Barr | British consul general |
| Errol |
Barrow | Prime minister of Barbados |
| George |
Best | Football player |
| David |
Bowie | Pop star |
| Erroll |
Bruce | Ex-navy commander; ran a nautical publishing company |
| Alvaro |
Cerezo | Young Spanish filmmaker |
| Maurice |
Charles Bailey | Compositor |
| Suh |
Chong-il | Captain of the Wolmi |
| Maralyn |
Collins-Bailey | Maurice Bailey's wife |
| Roald |
Dahl | Patricia Neal's husband |
| Sally |
Davis | Journalist |
| Francis |
Drake | English sea captain and explorer |
| Colin |
Foskett | June's fiancé |
| Billy |
Graham | American evangelist |
| George |
Greenfield | London literary agent |
| Ted |
Heath | Harold Wilson's predecessor |
| Lee |
Kew-sung | Korean consul general |
| Cliff |
Michelmore | BBC presenter |
| Kim |
Minchan | Chief deck man |
| Patricia |
Neal | Actress |
| Peter |
Scott | Naturalist |
| Pae |
Sok-dong | Ship's engineer |
| Joseph |
Strutt | 19th-century mill owner |
| Margaret |
Thatcher | Education secretary |
| Harold |
Wilson | British prime minister |
| Ada |
| Maralyn Collins-Bailey's aunt |
| Anne |
| Daughter of Nevil and Sheila |
| B. |
| Friend of Maralyn and Maurice Bailey |
| Beda |
| Maralyn and Maurice Bailey's dog |
| Brian |
| Maralyn Collins-Bailey's half-brother |
| Brian |
| Sue's husband |
| Dave |
| Tea house regular |
| David |
| Son of Nevil and Sheila |
| Fred |
| Maralyn Collins-Bailey's uncle |
| Hilary |
| Tea house owner |
| Ivor |
| Journalist |
| Jamie |
| Maurice Bailey's neighbor |
| Jean |
| Dave's wife |
| Jun |
| Ship's cook |
| June |
| Maralyn Collins-Bailey's friend |
| Mary |
| Maralyn Collins-Bailey's mother |
| Mike |
| Annie Bailey's acquaintance from the gym |
| Nevil |
| Ocean crosser |
| Patricia |
| Maralyn Collins-Bailey's half-sister |
| Sheila |
| Nevil's wife |
| Sue |
| Maralyn Collins-Bailey's English neighbor |
| Tony |
| Maralyn Collins-Bailey's old school friend |
| Walter |
| Swiss priest |
| Wayne |
| American sailor |
