Rolling Seas to Rowling Heights tells the tale of young Tom Rowling’s first six years at sea, 1959–65. 

Tom joined the Westhaven Shipping Company in March 1959 as a sixteen-year-old deck boy on a scow, a small wooden ship that traded around the coast of New Zealand. He progressed through the industry to second mate when he came ashore in December 1965 to start a water taxi business, ferrying holidaymakers from Kaiteriteri into Abel Tasman National Park.

A fascinating account of how a naïve young dreamer from a sheltered rural background copes with the hardships of life at sea in confined spaces with little privacy. A fast learner he finds he loves his chosen profession. The book covers the many ships in which he sailed and his adventures in bars and brothels around the world. From shy young boy to keen, often cheeky, enthusiastic young man.