WHEN did my life on canals kick off?.
Not as far back in time as the "Bounty" shown here careened for maintenance near Folkstone. I sailed the Channel many times between 2002 and 2006 on the Kenya Jacaranda and on deliveries.
2008 was my target year for coming in contact with Muddy Brown Water. After 2008 other factors ensured the transition from tidal water to canals became inevitable.
Not as far back in time as the "Bounty" shown here careened for maintenance near Folkstone. I sailed the Channel many times between 2002 and 2006 on the Kenya Jacaranda and on deliveries.
2008 was my target year for coming in contact with Muddy Brown Water. After 2008 other factors ensured the transition from tidal water to canals became inevitable.
My Past Is Devious
Variously, I fit all "boater" categories depending on the humour and the day.
I am a 'sailor come on from the sea', with a lifetime's experience of boats and tides.
Born by the sea in Ireland, I grew up by the sea, lived by it, learned from it. In 2001, I moved to England and immersed myself in voluntary activities involving boats, sailing, training and mentoring young people.
Early in 21c, I was involved with a Brixham Trawler and then with London unit MVS enhancing my knowledge of the Thames Estuary, the Channel, the South coast, doing occasional "deliveries" and
sometimes crewing for my brother
Later, I joined "Canalability" to augment their volunteer shore maintenance team.
Before "Canalability", I knew very little about Muddy Brown Water. Fifty years ago I had skippered a launch along 100 miles of the stunning Grand Canal in Ireland.
Other than that my experience was with dinghies, on the East Coast in the 1960s and in the 1990s on Lough Derg and any water I could get a GP14 into. My brother and I had built that dinghy on the 70s using carpentry skills acquired as teenagers.
My introduction to Muddy Brown Water (and a new form of boating) was kicked off by a chance encounter with a charity which needed volunteers on Tuesdays to pump out wide-beams and get the boat ready for the next users. I came to "Canalability" to do shore maintenance on their fleet between trips.
On other days the charity ran crew familiarisations and formal training for crew under skilled skippers. Unintentionally and before I knew it, I was certified, qualified and 'competent' to crew a massive boat and later to be responsible for twelve 'supplementary crew'.
I loved this time but financial turmoil was brewing in the world around me, a financial pandemic which became known as
The 2008 Financial Collapse ...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
stand up and be counted
You drove me to Muddy Brown Water
Variously, I fit all "boater" categories depending on the humour and the day.
I am a 'sailor come on from the sea', with a lifetime's experience of boats and tides.
Born by the sea in Ireland, I grew up by the sea, lived by it, learned from it. In 2001, I moved to England and immersed myself in voluntary activities involving boats, sailing, training and mentoring young people.
Early in 21c, I was involved with a Brixham Trawler and then with London unit MVS enhancing my knowledge of the Thames Estuary, the Channel, the South coast, doing occasional "deliveries" and
sometimes crewing for my brother
Later, I joined "Canalability" to augment their volunteer shore maintenance team.
Before "Canalability", I knew very little about Muddy Brown Water. Fifty years ago I had skippered a launch along 100 miles of the stunning Grand Canal in Ireland.
Other than that my experience was with dinghies, on the East Coast in the 1960s and in the 1990s on Lough Derg and any water I could get a GP14 into. My brother and I had built that dinghy on the 70s using carpentry skills acquired as teenagers.
My introduction to Muddy Brown Water (and a new form of boating) was kicked off by a chance encounter with a charity which needed volunteers on Tuesdays to pump out wide-beams and get the boat ready for the next users. I came to "Canalability" to do shore maintenance on their fleet between trips.
On other days the charity ran crew familiarisations and formal training for crew under skilled skippers. Unintentionally and before I knew it, I was certified, qualified and 'competent' to crew a massive boat and later to be responsible for twelve 'supplementary crew'.
I loved this time but financial turmoil was brewing in the world around me, a financial pandemic which became known as
The 2008 Financial Collapse ...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
stand up and be counted
You drove me to Muddy Brown Water
