Many adolescent boys dream of running away to sea, but Peter Taylor is one of the few who actually did it. With some fast-talking and fictitious references, sixteen-year old Peter found a position crewing on a British tramp steamer from sleepy Wellington to post-war England, via Australia and apartheid South Africa. So began a series of journeys throughout Africa, North and South America, the Caribbean and Europe. Peter crewed with many sailors-rough or cultured, reclusive or outgoing, all with different reasons for choosing a sailor's life, and experienced both comradeship and hardships on the sea. Gun-toting soldiers, terrifying hurricanes, Equatorial initiation ceremonies and the sailor's catch cry of 'a girl in every port' all feature in this true action packed story, told with intelligence and humour.