I retired as Deputy Head in the Institute of Marine Studies, University of Plymouth, in 2003 and from voluntary work with the RNLI in 2011. The topic area of my Fellowship was Safety of Life at Sea.

I travelled to North America to observe and discuss the safety equipment and training given to seafarers with particular reference to abandoning ship. As a lecturer in seamanship, I was acutely aware that although vessels were equipped with life rafts, no training was given as to how they should be deployed and how they should be used to give full protection to survivors. My interest in the subject area has remained and as a recreational sailor, ship's officer, consultant and lifeboat operations manager it has featured strongly in my professional and voluntary activities.

Allied to my Fellowship studies and as a member of a group of colleagues in Plymouth who had attended a course at the RAF School of Combat Survival, we were able to develop the training given to air crew for civilian use in surface craft. This work was later presented at an international conference and adopted by the International Maritime Organisation as part of seafarer training throughout the world.