I have lived aboard our narrowboat Sola Gratia, with my wife, Tracey, since March 2014. Our current boat is the second one of the same name. As continuous cruisers, we have covered a fair proportion of the network, although nowhere near as much as we had hoped by now.

For many years I was an active Parish Councillor for the village of Sompting where we lived, and was chairman for several years. I was also a School Governor. Tracey joined me on the Parish Council and together we were instrumental in setting up the annual Sompting Festival, which we ran for many years.

With a background originally in retail, I then spent many years working in accounts, before setting up my own computer business at the end of 1999. Latterly, I worked as a manager in the operations department of a bus company, including finally achieving a long standing ambition of getting a PCV licence (which I still hold). I decided to retire when made redundant at the end of 2013 so we could sell up bricks and mortar, buy a boat and move aboard.

In 2018 we got the opportunity to take over a floating business (The Doggie Boat). We thoroughly enjoy this, as it gives us a great opportunity to chat to people on the towpath about life on the canals.

My hearing has never been particularly good, and is slowly deteriorating. In February 2020, when Tracey was between Guide Dogs, we got ourselves a little rescue dog, Ozzie. We noticed his alerting tendencies, and are now in the process of training him to be a hearing assistance dog for me.

I look after the AWA’s website and social media presence.