Paul began his seafaring days at the age of one, when he celebrated his birthday aboard the M/V 'Captain William Hobson' on passage from London to Auckland - special note: he was not the Captain on that voyage.

His family settled in Arapuna (NZ) where he played on the water in home-made corrugated iron canoes. A few years later he learned to scuba dive and moved to Auckland after traveling around the world in his late teens.

At 28 he purchased the 53ft steel launch MV Concord, and for the next twenty years chartered this vessel around the Hauraki Gulf and Northern NZ. Paul took thousands of school children to the now world-famous wildlife sanctuary of Tiritiri Matangi Island - much of the work (for the children and other environmental volunteers) was revegitation, track construction and predator control - Paul is very proud of the success of Tiritiri Matangi and is pleased to have been part of its foundation and establishment in the 1980s.

Paul, in conjunction with John Charteris (Science advisor to the University of Waikato), has taken thousands of students out on the water to teach marine and environmental education. Paul is the longest serving charter skipper in the Auckland region with over 40 years in the business.

In 2007 Paul and his partner Chrissy purchased the S/V Southern Cross and have spent two years restoring it to better than original condition. With a magnificent sailing vessel like the S/V Southern Cross at their command, they have spread thier wings to Pacific voyaging.

S/V Southern Cross