Where were you born?
I was born in Chatham, Kent a long, long time ago (as the song says!).

Tell us a bit about yourself
I had a career in accountancy and then finance/investment banking in London. I quit all that nonsense to lead a more creative life in Ireland, raising a family. I took a few years to restore our old farmhouse, pretty much from the ground up and I learned the piano. I am now a writer and freelance editor with a global client base spanning four continents.

When did you first sail?
I was a late starter to sailing. It was only when I moved to Ireland that I stepped foot on any boat that didn’t have a car deck (it makes sense, we live on a headland surrounded by the Atlantic). While on holidays in Greece, I did a competent crew course. I then came back and did my day-skipper course out of Kinsale. I liked it so much that we bought a boat, a 37 foot Jeanneau Melody that we’ve pottered about the coast in over the last ten years.

What’s your fondest sailing memory?
My fondest memory has to be sailing from La Coruna to Lisbon crewing for my sailing instructor. One night he left me to do the midnight watch and went down below to sleep. I was about 10 miles off the coast of Portugal on a starry, warm night and about 40 dolphins came to keep me company, all mucking about and showing off.

When did you become a member of GHYC?
I became a member when the children started doing sailing courses in 2013.

What’s your favourite aspect of the Club?  
The best aspect of the club is its proximity to the pub! … sorry … service it provides to local children getting on the water. You see them develop hugely when they’re put in charge of their own destiny with their hand on the tiller.

The Treasurer is a demanding role which, unlike the Club’s sailing activities, is pretty much year round. After the sailing season stops, my work continues with settling accounts, paying suppliers, finalising the books, liaising with auditors, preparing the accounts and companies returns. Then in the New Year it’s making sure we’re good to go with launching the new season courses in February, completing ISA affiliation paperwork, any grant applications, budgeting for the coming year and liaising with other committee members to determine how much we can spend and on what.

I draw on my accountancy and finance background quite heavily. You also need to be very computer literate, comfortable with spreadsheets, payment systems, database handling and so on. It’s not exactly fun, but it is rewarding, and the sense of everything all wrapped up at the end of the year is very satisfying.