Tony Anderson died after a short illness and was cremated at a well attended funeral at Morriston (Swansea) Crematorium last November.

Tony did pre-sea training at HMS Conway and attended the Old Conways Association 50th anniversary re-union only last summer. He served his cadetship with Furness Withy.

After obtaining his Masters Certificate of Competency (Foreign Going) at Cardiff, Tony served as Mate/relief Master on the research vessels of the Natural Environment Research Council based in Barry. He also served as Master with Crescent and Metcalfe Shipping Lines and managed to fit in a spell as Coastguard Watch Officer at Swansea MRCC.

Tony rounded off his career by joining ABP as an Assistant Dock Master at Swansea and subsequently qualified as a pilot for Swansea and Port Talbot where he served from 1984 until retirement in 1996.

Tony was a keen supporter of the RNLI and served as deputy launching authority for the Mumbles lifeboat. He also sang with the Cambrian Choir and was an active member of Pennard Golf Club.

Gordon Harries (Swansea and Port Talbot)

Captain Derek  Ivor Parsons 1923 –2010

Derek Parsons was born on 27^th April, 1923 and at the outbreak of war, was accepted as a cadet by the Department of Navigation,  University College, Southampton where he had to endure the nightly air-raids on Southampton Docks. Upon completion of his pre sea training Derek joined the Canadian Pacific Line.

His first ship was the  Prome which he joined in March 1941, making one trip to Rangoon before the ship went to the Clyde to be stripped out and made ready for war.  He joined the Empire Union in September 1941, sailing in the Atlantic Convoys and braving enemy fire on a number of occasions. Although he never talked about it, we know that the Empire Union was eventually sunk by an enemy torpedo on 27^th December 1942.  This convoy, ONS 154, was described by Henry Revely in his book The Convoy That Nearly Died.  After four days afloat in an open lifeboat in the freezing North Atlantic, he and his companions were eventually rescued by the RS Toward and taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia.  He then served on the Empire Yukon between 1943 and 1944.

In 1944 he joined the P&O Company sailing mainly to the Far East.  With the war coming to an end this was a much happier time and he remained with P&O until 1952 when he obtained his Master’s Certificate. during his time with P&O Derek served on the Strathnaver,  Chitral, Strathaird, Carthage, Somali and the Corfu.

He recalled the Strathnaver as being a particularly happy ship on board of which he met his wife to be, a Wren Officer, Nina Wilkin, when she was on her way to a posting in Ceylon. They were married in 1947 and spent the first few years of their married life seeing each other for a day or two at a time at various British ports when Derek was allowed shore leave.  Upon gaining his Master’s Certificate he became a Trinity House Southampton Pilot and they were able to settle down in the Isle of Wight with their two daughters, Wendy and Michelle.

In 1961, on account of Nina’s poor health, Derek declined to move from the Isle of Wight to Southampton as Trinity House requested.   When Trinity House refused to renew his licence, a court case ensued which resulted in a victory for Isle of Wight pilots who did not wish to relocate to Southampton.  Derek then rose to become the Chief Inward Pilot and Pilot of Choice for the United States Line – the United States being the fastest liner in the world at the time.

Holidays, since childhood, were always in Cornwall where he eventually bought an apartment in a Victorian fort overlooking Plymouth Sound where he could gaze out to sea and keep an eye on the shipping.  In 2006, the onset of Parkinson’s disease and a bad fall necessitated nursing home care but he was determined to end his days on Cornish soil and died peacefully on 30^th October 2010 with his daughters at his side.

Wendy Cole

Lewis M Smith

23/10/1916 – 16/11/ 2010

Lewis Smith was born in Aberdeen in 1916 and at the age of 15 he signed on at Leith Nautical College.

After college he joined the Christian Salvesen & Co. shipping company as a deck cadet and he stayed with the company until 1955 when he left to join the Forth Pilotage Service.

Although he rarely talked about his wartime experiences, Lewis served continuously throughout the war, obtaining his 1st Mate’s Certificate in 1941 and his Master’s Foreign Going Certificate in 1943. He was serving on board the SS Glen Tilt, moored at Carron’s Wharf in the London docks during the blitz when the warehouses were set alight by incendiary bombs. The ship’s crew assisted the firefighters to extinguish the fires and their actions, which helped to prevent the fires from spreading, were commended by Carron & Co. Ltd.

Lewis later received another commendation certificate for Meritorious Service whilst serving on the SS Empire Norse. In 1942, this vessel became separated from its convoy when the rudder and stern frame were lost in hurricane force winds during a westbound North Atlantic passage. Skilful seamanship and navigation resulted in the ship eventually arriving safely in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where, following discharge of the cargo, it was towed to Boston for repairs.

In 1942, during a stay in hospital for a hernia operation, Lewis met his wife to be, Margaret Anne, and they married in 1945.

After the war, Lewis served with the company’s whaling fleet based in South Georgia and on the North Sea trade. It was on this latter trade that Lewis was promoted Master of the M.V. Marna trading between Leith & Bergen where he served until joining the Forth Pilotage Service.

MV Marna

Lewis was a natural pilot and it was with reluctance that he retired in 1981 on his 65th birthday. Two events of particular interest during his pilotage career were piloting the Royal Yacht Britannia with the Queen on board during her round Britain tour and piloting the Mauritania to the breakers yard in Fife.

Following retirement, Lewis was able to fully enjoy family life and will be sorely missed by his wife, Anne Margaret and fondly remembered by his three daughters and son along with his nine grand children and three great grand children.

Malcolm Rose ( Forth pilot: retired) Additional information from Lewis’ daughter, Anne-Louise.

Friends and former colleagues gathered at the “Pilots’ Church” – St. Stephen’s in South Shields – to say farewell to John (Jack) Marshall. Jack was born and raised amongst the river community on the “Lawe”  in South Shields into a long-established Tyne pilot family, and was destined to become at least the sixth generation of Marshalls to pilot on the Tyne. Leaving school, he began a five-year apprenticeship with the Tyne Pilotage Authority in 1945 as a Pilots’ Assistant, serving on the Tyne’s last cruising cutter Helm.

In 1950, he joined Walvis Bay as third mate to get his required sea-time; which took him to Australia and to Vietnam with munitions for the French Indochina war.  After four years ‘foreign’, Jack moved into coastal trading on east coast colliers, then with Tyne Tees Shipping on their near-continent run and the ‘tattie’ run to Jersey, where he had family.  He returned to the Tyne and was licensed as a 3^rd Class Pilot in 1959 progressing to 1^st Class in 1963 and retired in September 1988.

Jack married Margaret in 1955 and they had two children, John and Denise.  Family life was very important, and every opportunity was taken to get away with their caravan.

Margaret and Jack enjoyed many overseas holidays, although initially, Jack could not see the point of going abroad as he had ‘Been everywhere’!  A proud family man, he would regale his grandchildren and great grandchildren with stories from his time at sea, especially, ‘Rolling up the pavements in Wallaroo’!

Declining health did not dampen his optimism and sense of humour but in 2009, Jack suffered a double tragedy when both his wife of 55 years and his son died within one month.

His sudden death upon returning home from an enjoyable holiday in Spain with his daughter and son-in-law has been a great loss to his family, to whom we extend our condolences; and to his friends and colleagues by whom he will be sadly missed.

JD Marshall: Tyne (Retired)

George Knox, a Forth Pilot, was born on 15th November 1931, and brought up in Limekilns, Fife.

His charitable nature was demonstrated at an early age. When he had his appendix out at the age of 10 he wanted to thank the hospital in his own way, so he duly took down the panels of the garden fence, made them into toy ships and got his cousins to sell them making a grand total of £400.

George went to sea aged 16 with Currie Line of Leith and moved to United Baltic Corporation in 1954. He passed his Master’s Certificate in 1956, one of the youngest to do so. He was appointed Master of the “Baltic Trader” in 1959 at the age of 27.

George was licensed as a Forth Pilot in 1970 and he took early retirement in 1989 having served nineteen years as a pilot and six years on the board of the Forth Pilotage Authority.

He took the initiative in establishing a liaison with Shell Expro when they were building their Marine Terminal at Braefoot Bay in Fife, which led to a constructive and co­operative relationship between the Pilots and the Terminal management.

George was widowed in 2004 after fifty years of marriage. Thereafter he lived alone in his flat in Leith enjoying visits from his son and daughter and six grandchildren.

He learned in July that he was suffering from a terminal illness, and died on 1st September in St Columba’s Hospice overlooking the Firth of Forth.

Malcolm Rose (Forth Retd.

William Hedley Young  (Bill) came from a seafaring and piloting family and it was always his plan to follow in those family footsteps. He became apprenticed to the Tees Pilot Service in 1932 and in 1935 went to sea, serving as a quartermaster with B&I and Brocklebanks. In 1938 he obtained his Mates Home Trade Passenger certificate in Hull and he was Quartermaster aboard the S.S. Malabar when, in October 1939, it was sunk in the Western Approaches by U34.  Picked up by the destroyer H.M.S. Grafton he was landed at Plymouth 36 hours later.  In 1940 was called back to the Tees to become a skipper on the pilot cutters. In June 1940 he was involved in the rescue of survivors from the French corvette “La Bastiase” which was mined whilst on trials in Tees Bay. The Master and the Pilot were among those lost. Only 16 were saved out of a total of 80. In January 1942 Bill was able to exhibit his seamanship skills when he went to the aid of the “Empire Bay” which had been bombed at anchor off Hartlepool whilst awaiting a southbound convoy. Weather conditions were very bad and the Tees and Hartlepool Examination Vessel, the only other craft in the vicinity, was unable to launch boats. The “Empire Bay” was located with difficulty in the dark and found to be sinking by the stern and listing heavily. Despite flailing boat falls, broken lifeboats and other obstructions, he was eventually able to rescue all 15 crew members.    Bill obtained his 4^th. Class pilot’s licence in 1943 and he immediately became involved in all aspects of the service. He became a long serving member of the Pilots Committee, chaired the Examination Committee and was a regular Tees representative at Conference.  Finally he was appointed to the board of the Tees Pilotage Authority. He was also a close friend, confidant and supporter of  Tees Pilot Dan Tate, who was a prominent member of the UKPA and a prime mover of the Pilots’ National Pension Fund. A great one with words he was a prolific and often controversial contributor to the press on many topics.

His boat handling skills seemed easily to transfer to ship handling.  One could say his piloting was carried out with great élan and dead slow was never his favourite speed. This caused many a Master and trainee Pilot to experience white knuckles until they came to realise he really could safely manoeuvre ships in his unique style.

A lovely anecdote worth repeating was when he had the privilege of piloting the Royal Yacht Britannia into the Tees with the Queen aboard. On the way up the river the cheers and waves of the dockers atop the unloaders at the ore terminal attracted Bill’s attention. He walked to the bridge wing and waved in return. An officer quickly advised him that the Bridge did not acknowledge the adulation of the populace- that was left to the Queen on the promenade deck. Bill, suitably chastened, retired to the wheelhouse!

Maybe it was a desire to pilot even faster that inspired him to take up flying. He obtained his other pilot’s licence and, for several years, had a share in a Miles Messenger and the stories of his escapades are legion. Bill kept himself extremely fit and, even on the day of his retirement in 1980, there were few younger colleagues who were more nimble on a ladder. He had no desire to retire at 65 and expressed envy that pilots now have the opportunity to continue beyond that age. He was always modest about his achievements but he did claim that his greatest was discovering and marrying his wife Joan, a view which many of his friends would agree with. They were together for 67 years, Joan having passed away in 2007, an event from which Bill never recovered. After a short illness he died at the grand old age of 95. A great colleague, a great character and a great friend.

Gary Salter

SS Glitra (1952) From MN Nostalgia website courtesy A. J. Barratt

In 1963 Iain became licensed as a Leith pilot where he served until retirement in 1988 when his 65th birthday conveniently coincided with the enactment of the 1987 Pilotage Act. Iain suffered a double personal tragedy in 2005 when his younger son died and shortly afterwards his childhood sweetheart and wife of 60 years also passed away. He is survived by his eldest son and two grand children.

Malcolm M. Rose : Forth pilot (retired 1993)

Trevor was born on Teesside and educated at  Sir William Turner’s School, Coatham, Redcar, a school of which he was very proud. In 1947, he was apprenticed to the Tees Pilotage Service and for the next three and half years served as a Boat Hand on the Cruising Pilot Cutter B.O.Davies.  In 1951, he went away to sea and was placed by the Authority with The Blue Funnel Line, serving in the Dardanus, Dolius and Bellerophon.  He obtained his Second Mate’s Ticket in 1953 at South Shields Marine College.  Whilst waiting for a Pilot’s Licence on the Tees he went back to sea, first with Cairn Line in the Cairnavon and then with Constantines in the Edenwood, Gartwood and Southwood.  At last, the call came and in 1957, a Fourth Class Licence was granted.  Rising through the ranks, he became a First Class Pilot in 1963  and a very successful career of thirty-seven years ensued.  One which he enjoyed enormously and ended when he retired  aged 64 in 1994. So much for the bare statistics but what an interesting man lay behind them. In the 1970’s he led the way and with several of his colleagues chartered yachts on the west coast of Scotland for a number of years.  They liked to think of themselves as the scourge of the Hebrides.  Trevor also had a Private Pilot’s Licence for light aircraft and there are many anecdotes that could be told of that activity, some of them quite hair-raising.  He gave twenty-seven years to the Redcar Lifeboat Station, twenty-one of those as Chairman of the Management Committee receiving a Silver Badge in recognition.  He wrote two books, the first about his time as an Apprentice and the second about his time as a Pilot.  Apart from being a good read the books illustrate quite clearly that Trevor was a shrewd observer, that he had a way with words, a keen sense of humour and the ability to capture a situation with a sketch.  His passion was classical music, but he also enjoyed his cars, travel, football on T.V. and John Wayne films. His family was all-important.  He married Kathleen in 1960 and three children, Robert, Louise and Susan followed.  They, together with their families including the  grandchildren, are giving Kathleen a huge amount of support in her and their loss. He will also be sadly missed by the colleagues he worked with and among his many, many friends.

John Johnston.  (Retired Tees Bay Pilot)

It was with great sadness that the Belfast Pilots learnt of the “passing west” of their retired colleague and friend Andy Brines.

Andy went to sea as an apprentice in 1946 working his way up to master in 1956. He joined Belfast Pilots as tradition would have it and drove the pilot cutter for some years. He first started piloting in 1963 and retired in 1993 with ill health. The 1987 act was probably one of his low points in his life. His removal from self-employment into employment was never smooth and it took its toll on him in many ways. Andy was a fighter and never gave up trying to restore the rightful position for pilots in Belfast. I can remember his joy when he heard that we had gone back into self-employment in December 2006. As well as being a pilot, Andy ran a successful boat yard in Carrickfergus and was an active member of the local sailing club. Unknown to me, I was to work briefly with the man who once worked on my small yachts, and was an elder of my club, when I was a young lad.

The service to celebrate his life was held in St. Nicholas’s church Carrickfergus, on a cold December morning, in front of a congregation who could probably have a place in the Guinness book of records for a record on combined sea service. His passage from the church, passing under the church spire, which has acted as a safe leading mark for Carrickfergus Harbour for hundreds of years, was undertaken by 4 serving pilots of the Belfast Lough Pilotage Services Ltd. each one of us being proud to have known him, and honoured to take him to his final resting place. Andy was always a joker, and he was, even after death, still about to play one last joke on us all. At the grave yard, his coffin took some persuasion to enter the hole in the ground. Was he playing with us, or should we have buried him on Belfast Lough?

It is to his wife Elizabeth, and sons Andrew Jnr & Michael, and the family circle to whom we offer our deepest sympathy.

Brian Wilson

BLPS Ltd.

Eulogy

Given by Captain Keith Cederholm

Tuesday 12^th January 2010.

1030

Centre Chapel Landican

In Memory of

CAPTAIN MICHAEL JAMES PENGELLY

30^th September 1949 – 1^st January 2010

Eldest son of Captain and Mrs. Ron Pengelly

(Ron and Hilda)

Husband of Lynne

Father of Caraline and Ross

Grandfather to Joshua

Brother of David

And

My Best Mate

Mike was born in Swansea on 30^th September 1949. His dad Ron was a merchant navy officer and they lived on the Wirral; however when dad was away mum Hilda would go and stay with her family in Swansea. As a result Mike spent a lot of time in Swansea and would go to the Vetch and watch the Swans. He was, all of his life, a “closet” Swansea fan and his proudest moment was when they played Liverpool at Anfield in the FA Cup 3^rd round in 1962. Swansea won 2 – 1 (Ronnie Moran missed a penalty for Liverpool) He has all of the newspaper cuttings and would describe every kick of the game to anyone that was prepared to listen.

He went to school in Bebington and the New Ferry Secondary School where in his third year the career’s master spoke to his class one day and suggested they should all talk to their parents that night regarding the jobs they should be looking towards.  Mike went home and after tea asked his parents :

“What is the best job in the world?”

To which without hesitation his father replied;

“You want to be a Liverpool Pilot.”

So the seed was planted!

About the same time Ron and Hilda moved with the boys to West Kirby and by coincidence my father and Ron where colleagues in the MD & HB. My father told me they had moved in nearby and I should go and introduce myself as they had a son about my age:

SO WAS BORN A LIFELONG FRIENDSHIP

Mike and I were just ordinary lads who passed our time doing things lads do! Along the way Mike had developed an allegiance with Tranmere Rovers (and didn’t very often mention “The Swans!”) So when we teamed up I was duly inducted into the “Cow Shed” at Prenton Park, where we spent many a Friday evening and latterly our sons did likewise; although by then we all had to sit down and behave ourselves. Throughout the rest of our time at school we became bigger and bigger friends because we both shared a common burning ambition:

You see my father had given me exactly the same advice Ron had given to Mike – “Be a Liverpool Pilot!”

Time advanced, Mike joined the service and was appointed to No3 Pilot Cutter, as Mike was a year older than me it was to be another 12 months before I was finally appointed as a boathand to No1. Due to a technical hitch (No1 ran aground the morning I was due to join) so it was off to No3. I arrived on board to be greeted by Mike Smart with the words “You’re Twiggy’s mate aren’t you?”

“Who on earth is Twiggy I thought?”

Then he appeared in the mess room, it was Mike!

Can you imagine anything less like Twiggy?

It was a chequered career Captain Smith marked on our files that we were not to sail on the same cutter together (we fancied ourselves as union convenors)

One thing a lot of people here will not know is that at one stage early in his career Mike almost made a decision which would have changed everything. He actually resigned from the service. However the senior lad on No3 was John Curry (who was also the senior apprentice in the service at that time) dragged Mike up to the office and managed to get Mike to apologise and withdraw the resignation and for Captain Smith to actually overlook the whole thing –So was saved what turned out to be a magnificent career. Thank you John Curry.

Throughout our leave periods we upheld the best traditions of boathands by continuing our nautical life at West Kirby Sailing Club and the Cabin Club, at only one of those establishments did you have to keep moving or else get stuck to the carpet. When not at the aforementioned venues Mike’s pride and joy was his Triumph Spitfire with its great big fat “Go Faster Wheels!” The wheels certainly did their bit as one day on the New Ferry by Pass with the roof down, he was stopped by a motorcycle patrol and booked for doing 50 in a 30. As the officer handed over the ticket he asked Mike what is the uniform (we had just left the boat) Mike replied “We are apprentice Pilots” to which the officer retorted “Be thankful I haven’t done you for low flying then!”

On another occasion when we had forsaken the Cabin Club for “Leighton Court” it was 3AM on sailing day morning and those hot wheels did it again. Straight through a hedge and onto a beautifully manicured lawn.

Panic ensued,

find a phone box,

call dad.

“Dad, bring two of my old wheels to Heswall quick.” Dad arrives in an extraordinarily pleasant frame of mind. Change wheels (still on lawn) throw damaged ones in dad’s boot. Rush home get changed. Onto 0630 train at West Kirby and join the boat as if nothing has happened.

Not long after this Mike met Lynne at I believe “Leighton Court” their romance grew and eventually they became engaged and of course my mate had other things on his mind so I was relegated to having to give them one night per week on their own!

As things did not go entirely to plan in the Pilot Service we apprentices did not get our licences at the end of our time due to major downturn of trade in the Port. So instead we were asked to follow a sea going career and wait for our letter! Mike joined Booth Line as 3^rd officer and after a couple of trips he gained his 2^nd Mate ticket and was promoted to second officer. About 6 months later whilst I was now looking for a berth, I received a phone call from the Marine Superintendent, who, on Mike’s recommendation, was appointing me as 3^rd officer on Dominic, where Mike was currently serving as second officer. That goes down as the fastest interview I ever had!

What a privileged experience for both of us that turned out to be. We visited places that most people – even today – only ever read about in National Geographic!

Macapa, Salinopolis (pronounced“Salinas”), Belem, Obidos, Itacoatiara, Manaus, Iquitos,

…. Mount Gay….

THE AMAZON RIVER…………….. WHAT AN EXPERIENCE

We even saw the pink dolphins and no that is not as a result of the “Mount Gay!”

SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT MIKE

At the end of that long voyage we returned home in the summer of 1975 when we were both due to start at Byrom Street for tickets in September and Mike and Lynne were to be married in the Christmas break. They did me the honour of asking me to be best man at their marriage. However on 11^th August 1975 prior to college and the forthcoming nuptials it became very apparent that sports cars, Mike and Me just did not go together, when Mike went head first through the windscreen of my MGB when we were involved in a rather nasty smash.

Once we had been patched up at Clatterbridge Lynne came to collect us, back home there was a reading of the riot act when Lynne announced that if those scars ruined her wedding photos then I was for the high jump, or words to that effect!!

Mike passed his 1^st Mate in the spring and returned to sea with United Arab Shipping Company and his career developed. In due course Mike and Lynne were blessed with the arrival of Caraline, their first child. I was honoured to be chosen as her Godfather. Of course I could not mention the birth of Caraline without saying that we wet her head magnificently, in fact, at one stage we probably would have drowned her! As I walked home afterwards I somehow managed to take the knee out of a brand new pair of trousers. Upon reconvening the following day we reconsidered the efforts of the previous evening and decided that on reflection we had better give it another go as Caraline’s head was in fact probably only slightly damp. So a proper job was done and at the end of the evening Mike was so worried about my second new pair of trousers that he loaned me the car to drive home as I wasn’t safe to walk.

It was in the formative years of the breathalyser!

In the natural order of things along came Ross, sadly I was away at sea so Ross did not receive quite the same welcome and Burton’s profits took a dive.

Mike went on to gain his Master Foreign Going certificate and was promoted to Chief Officer. One day he told me he had been offered a position as Pilot in Bahrain and was to start his training in the near future, so off he went; with Lynne and the children to follow on once he was qualified. That duly came and he was at last together full time with his family. That was to prove a bitter sweet time for them as shortly afterwards Lynne’s father Dick passed away and Lynne was unable to return home. By a coincidence Davy Jones a good friend happened to be in Bahrain on a ship so was able to offer a friendly face and words of comfort at that difficult time.

After some time in Bahrain it was time to move on and he accepted an appointment as Pilot in Dar es Salaam. During the time there they made a trip home and came to see us in Boston where I was a Pilot. They brought with them videos of their safari to the Serengeti with close up shots of Lions and Leopards and Elephant and the like. My wife Barbara was enthralled and was able to take them to her school the following day keeping her class transfixed all day.

And so to 1991. Home from globetrotting, finally to live the dream. He was there, he had received his letter!

He was now a Liverpool Pilot.

During his progression to first class pilot his esteem amongst his colleagues and the Masters of the ships he piloted, grew. This led to him being elected a director of Liverpool Pilot Services Limited, a role in which he excelled, discharging his duties as a Pilot and as a representative with great passion. Couple that with the ability to always see the funny side and raise spirits when gloom was all around; I think I can say with certainty that that his colleagues regard Mike as Fine Pilot and as a Top Man. Sadly in 2004 he suffered health problems which led to his untimely retirement. It was not, however, all doom and gloom as in 2006 Ross and Nicki presented Mike and Lynne with their first grandchild, Joshua – Mike loved that little boy so much. In late 2008 came the diagnosis that was to prove to be the beginning of the end, even now there were joyous times. Caraline and Raemonn were married in February 2009 and Mike was able to walk his daughter down the aisle. Shortly afterwards he underwent major surgery going through a torrid time where against the odds he pulled through and for a good part of the rest of last year seemed to be making progress. Unfortunately towards the end of the year he took a turn for the worse and eventually was admitted to St John’s Hospice on 29^th December. On New Year’s Eve I spent 3 hours sitting with Mike and his Mum and Dad at his bedside and we talked a lot about the past, Mike acknowledged things along the way and I like to think that he drew comfort from those words. At this point I need to mention the wonderful act of kindness from Tom Tebay who on New Year’s Day drove through all the ice and snow so that he could meet Ross as he docked in Aberdeen and hopefully get him home in time to say goodbye to his father. Alas it was not to be as Mike turned it in at 2145 on New Year’s Day.

Tom, you are to be applauded for a wonderful gesture.

Finally, on behalf Lynne, Caraline, Ross, Ron and Hilda, thank you all for this magnificent turnout and invite you to join the family at West Kirby Sailing Club for refreshments.

At the end of today I think we then need to give the family space and time to grieve and come to terms in their own way, with this truly tragic loss.

Thank you

Keith Cederholm