When I grew up in Hull, Yorkshire, during the 1950s and 60s, the city was a major seaport and the home of the largest distant-water fishing fleet in the country if not the world.

As a fifteen-year-old boy it was natural that I wished to chance my luck in this world-famous industry and I left Hull's Trinity House Navigation School and signed on my first trawler as galley boy - without my parents' permission.

I soon progressed to become a deckie learner but already realised that there were easier and safer ways to earn a living. And leaving the treacherous and icy Arctic waters I joined the merchant navy and went in search of more exotic places.

"Changing Course" recalls the lifetime of experiences that followed. From my life as a naive young sailor, to my time working on almost every type of ship imaginable including: tankers; short sea traders; tramps; coasters;ferries; and finally pilot cutters on the Humber operating from Hull, Grimsby and Spurn Point. And finally, how the Seafarers' Education Service, the Open University and some significant individuals assisted me to succesfully navigate down a diverse and unexpected path.