Ships and the Sea

I think I have salt water in my blood. One of my distant relatives was the skipper of a sailing trawler out of Brixham, and my father, although never a true seafarer, has passed on his love of the sea. This photo was taken in Tilbury Docks around 1960. Stratheden had been a WW2 Troop Ship and then plied the UK to Australia routes under the P&O flag. Note the period details in the photo: van, RAC sign, ship - and the blazer!



When I was at pushchair age, my parents took me sailing in their wooden dinghy, but after a slightly risky episode they realised the danger and we didn't sail together again until very much later. But the damage was done, I had tasted the salt water.

In 1970 my father heard that the great Dock Strike had stranded a number of big liners in Southampton, so we piled into the car and drove down to the docks, where enterprising local fishermen were running sightseeing cruises. Both the original Queen Mary and Queen Elisabeth liners were there, and they were incredibly impressive.

In 1973 my father bought a wooden Norwegian fishing boat and we worked on her together to convert her into a little cruiser, in which we explored the estuaries of the Essex coast. We had no VHF radio, no chart-plotter, no GPS, no electronic anything except a depth sounder that worked with a rotating flashing light. You had to learn a lot before you ever dared cast off. Now, it is too easy to buy a boat, fill it with electronics and drive off as if it is a car. Here she is, being launched in a small dock at Maldon. You can just see me, aged 15, in flares and (yuk) two-tone shirt. I can see Dad was worrying she might not float...

Many years later, after university, a job and first house were taken care of I bought my own small boat, and I have been messing about in boats ever since. In 2006 I self-published my book "Angling Boats", which thanks to Amazon has been very popular. I have owned my boat "Salar" since 1993, and we are often spotted fishing together off the Isle of Wight.