The gift of a heavy wooden sea canoe for his 13th birthday started his sea going career.
His father insisted that he carried out all the maintenance on it himself, and that set a lifelong pattern. It is said that if you look after your boat it will always look after you, but there is more to it, when given the satisfaction of knowing that one’s own efforts make the difference.
Buying a sailing dinghy followed. Then, long distance dinghy cruising with it. That gave a lot of singled handed experience, where he learnt that you had to get it right. Racing started later, sailing for the Army at International Regattas in Jamaica.