Who Hath Desired the Sea memoirs of Peter Gerard

Peter Gerard is the nom de plume of Mrs Charles Pears. She has started sailing at an early age, reportedly being entirely self-taught.

The book is in effect a collection of descriptions of cruises she undertook between the two World Wars, starting with dinghies at Torquay, and ending with her own ship, confined to harbour by wartime activities.

Despite my rather uninspiring description of the theme of the book, the language is colourful and the reader gets a good introduction to the sailing life. In addition there are intereting sidelights on the progress in women's rights.