Tales from the sea

I am sooo pleased I was in the Royal Navy, I didn't know it at the time but the lessons I learnt from various sailors, and the occasional Captain have served me really well;

"Life gives you nothing for nothing, give it your all, and take what you can when you can". Chief Petty Officer when I left Ark Royal

"you can't polish a turd!". Leading Hand when noticing I had painted over rust.

"We will never quit a battle as it guarantees we lose; but I will make sure pick we pick our battles well. If we lose I picked the wrong one to fight".

Captain Richard Hastilow as we sailed to Bosnian operations in The Adriatic Sea

The most valuable one was the 1st one; 24th June 1991 HMS Raleigh

"If you get through basic training, the rest is a doddle. There is nothing in the fleet or in life that will push you as hard as this will. Don't wait - do it again NOW". CPO Yorkie Broom to me after I had failed my Swimming Test in basic training. I had one more attempt to pass or that was it; out of the Navy - he made me do it again as soon as I failed. You do your swimming test in the 1st week, and then you are passed on to a different instructor.

I passed and I bumped into Yorkie in a pub in Plymouth about 3 years later. He actually remembered and told me that he knew that if i took it straight away I would pass, if I had waited the pressure would have got to a 17 yr old your humble narrator and i might have struggled.

He also told me that another guy in my position he made him wait and he failed, I asked him why he did that and he simply said;

"Some people just won't make the grade - some will given a chance, I gave you a chance".

I still think about that sometimes, and how his decision pushed my life in such a different direction; Successful in the RN, went to Uni, good job, wife, kids, house etc.

Could have been back to Reading with no qualifications.

I won't let him down.