Me - in 120 Seconds
I’m a 67-year-old white male Brit.
I call myself a writer, although I didn’t excel academically and seemed destined for a lifetime of blue-collar work. In my youth, I felt restless. I started working as a vehicle bodybuilder, repairing damaged buses, but the union rules and workplace culture drove me mad. So I left and joined the Royal Navy to work as a survival equipment and training specialist.
After three years, I moved to South Africa to pack parachutes. I stayed for two years and got seriously into motor rallying. I worked part time for the Fiat team and drove my own car, doing well in the national championship. When I returned to the UK, rallying remained my passion. I worked as a mechanic in a specialist garage and built my own rally cars in the evenings.
Then a big accident left me broke and disillusioned, so I bought an 18-foot sailboat and made it my home. For three years, I sailed along the south coast of the UK and worked as crew for a yacht delivery skipper. We sailed from Falmouth to Tenerife and many other places. Wanting more, I set off in my boat to Spain but got caught in a storm in the Bay of Biscay, nearly drowned, and lost my boat.
For the next two decades, life seemed ordinary. I got married and welcomed a beautiful daughter into the world. But then another storm hit. In 1991, skyrocketing mortgage rates cost us our home, and the family business crumbled. My marriage followed suit, ending in divorce. I sought solace in a new relationship, only to be shattered by betrayal. My world unraveled, leaving me to grapple with depression in the confines of a caravan. Isolated and despondent, I reached a breaking point and attempted to end my life, but fate had other plans.
Eventually, I found the strength to rebuild my life. I rented a flat and set my sights on the sea once more. In the heart of England, I embarked on an ambitious project: constructing a 38-foot ocean-going catamaran in a barn. It was an eight-year endeavour, all while juggling a demanding corporate job in construction. Amidst this whirlwind, I entered a new serious relationship. When the boat was finally ready, we made the bold decision to set sail together.
We spent nearly five years living aboard and sailing. We crossed the Bay of Biscay to Spain, laying the ghost of my previous failed voyage. Then we sailed on to Portugal and into the Mediterranean, sharing many amazing experiences together. We eventually stopped in Cartagena, Spain, living on the boat for several years before family issues and Brexit forced us to sell.
We returned to the UK and moved into a fifth-wheel caravan in Cornwall. We managed a big road trip around Scotland before Covid-19 brought us back to Cornwall again. An opportunity arose to buy a small park home nearby, which we took. We’ve now lived here for three years while looking after family and doing the best we can.
Over the past years, I’ve written and self-published three books about my life and sailing adventures.
I’m also a regular writer on Medium and on Substack.
Right now I’m working to build a pension-boosting income stream through my online writing efforts.
I want to go sailing again. I want to own another little boat. I need some more foolishness in my twilight years.