First love? Ugh!, he replied. The word he had just heard tasted to him like cheap novels, like romances, like the tender moments he had often observed on the beach and found silly and mean. It was understandable that the blonde boat boy Jan Himp would never have dreamed of falling in love. But then, during an adventurous sailing trip, it catches him off guard, and in a way he never imagined. Jan and his little breeze, the vivacious shipowner's daughter Kyri Sandvoss, experience the bitter disappointments, but also the joy and exuberance of young love. Hans Leip knew the Elbe well, and his stories of sailing adventures, camaraderie on board, and the Reeperbahn are as unforgettable as his characters: the smuggler Flunki, the bride consumer Hein Kluback, and the sprat innkeeper Guschi Bohnsack. A classic love story.