Personal History:
Merchant Navy Deck Officer, then worked in shipping & freight forwarding in the Middle East, Africa, Bermuda & U.S.A. before running my own freight forwarding company in London.
Took early retirement in 1996. Sailed single-handed to West Indies 1996. Spent 1997 in Antigua converting Greya to junk-rig (building new masts, fabricating steel partners, fibre glassing half bulkheads/mast steps & rigging new sails).
In 1998 sailed up & down Leeward & Windward Islands learning the new rig & “tweaking” it.
1999 sailed up to Bermuda, then to Newport, R.I.
Summer cruising East Coast U.S.A. before sailing back to Antigua.
2000 sailing the Caribbean.
2001 sailed Antigua – St Martin – Bermuda – Cork, all single-handed.
2004 sailed Crosshaven towards Azores, got 200 miles north of Horta, ran into the Azores High, becalmed for a week, then sailed back to Crosshaven, distance 2400 miles, 29 days, port of departure Crosshaven; port of arrival Crosshaven! Singlehanded.
Current Age: 58

Vessel History:
Paul Johnson one-off design (Venus) 32 ft x 11 ft 4 inch x 6 ft, 10 tons.
Hull & deck built by Robin Feloy in Totnes, Devon 1992-3.
Then I trucked the hull to Combes Boatyard, Bosham (now sadly closed) for fitting out & rigging as gaff ketch. Launched in 1994.
During my transatlantic in 1996 I found the gaff ketch rig too much of a handful alone. I had read Annie Hill’s book Voyaging on a Small Income & everything she said about the junk-rig seemed to make sense, so I decided to convert Greya to Junk-rig.