Writing for his grandchildren at his eightieth birthday Perce describes his boyhood dreaming when spending days and nights cruising New Zealand's Tauranga Harbour in a 10 foot sailing dinghy. He goes on to describe how those dreams came true with many voyages to the islands of the South Pacific, solo around New Zealand, solo return to Australia and as skipper or crew on different boats. Spanning some 70 years of sailing this book gives an unusual appreciation of the fascination of cruising. In this time the centuries-old methods of navigation have been replaced by GPS and Chartplotters. Rigs have changed. Reefing has been revolutionised. Autopilots have been nearly perfected. But people and the sea have stayed the same. Perce makes many observations which will help others who want to get the same joy and understanding from the sea.