A FAMILY AFFAIR

Having been brought up in St. Ives in the far west of Cornwall, boats were a significant part of my childhood, along with rugby and church! Although a printer by trade, my dad shared a fishing boat with his father and other members of our extended family. The boat was called The Four Boys in reference to me, my younger brother Phil and two other first cousins. Dad had a strong association with the local Lifeboat and Phil had his own small fishing boat in the harbour during his teenage years, so it’s fair to say I grew up spending more than my fair share of time around boats, despite never feeling I was cut out for a life on the water.

At the age of 19, my career took me away from St Ives and boats disappeared from my life. I got married to Debbie, had two wonderful children, Verity and Reuben, and we now live in North Devon.