“I grew up at the bottom of Africa in a small town with a big name.” This is the line that starts my book, The Risk in Being Alive. I actually grew up in Pietermaritzburg which was then a fairly small town nestled in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains about 50 miles inland from Durban on South Africa’s east coast. The town has grown into a thriving, bustling, multicultural metropolis and no longer resembles the place where I spent my childhood, but to me it’s still a place where I feel at home even though I have not lived there for over 30 years.

In 1978 I left South Africa to sail across the South Atlantic to Uruguay. I had just completed a mandatory stint in the army and had a dream to sail around the world. My first circumnavigation was in 1981 in the Whitbread Round the World Race. I raced another Whitbread in 1985 and sailed part of a third in 1989. All three experiences were different and they gave me a love for the sea and for adventure. The writer Isak Dineson wrote; “The cure for everything is salt water - sweat tears and the sea.” I believed her.

After more than 200,000 miles offshore I found that sailing had lost it’s thrill. It was time for new challenges. I tried life on land but the daily traffic and jams were no match for the freedom and excitement of the open ocean. I wanted a big challenge and entered the Around Alone, a single-handed race around the world. Unfortunately my efforts came to an abrupt end on the reef that surrounds Bermuda, the entire saga now indelibly recounted in The Risk in Being Alive (rewritten and republished as Grabbing LIfe) and not worth repeating here. The only good thing to come out of it was that it forced me to change careers.

I self-published my first book, Spindrift which gave me the confidence to write more. I found that writing gave me the same enjoyment and freedom I had experienced on the open ocean and knew that my career had made a subtle, yet distinct shift. Hundreds of articles and seven books later (not all published) I am slowly finding my stride.

Surrounded by so much beauty a move into graphic arts was an obvious one. I am self taught, but capable, and have written and produced numerous sponsorship proposals, ezines and websites. It’s a growing passion and one that combines my writing skills with a love of beautiful imagery. It’s where most of my day-to-day living is made, the income giving me the freedom to chase other, more lofty goals.

The same applies to my years spent as a public speaker. In the past two decades I have spoken to hundreds of groups around the world from small yacht clubs in northern Canada, to a large outdoor crowd of 3,500 people in New Zealand. Telling stories and illustrating them with stunning images and video is my way of sharing the joy and fulfillment I have experienced as an adult.

In 2006 I co-founded a brand new global around-the-world yacht race. The easy part was coming up with the idea; the hard part was finding the funding. The beautiful Portuguese city of Portimao finally stepped to the table and the Portimao Global Ocean Race was born. It was a dream come true, but one that quickly turned into a nightmare as my business partner ended up stealing the lot. The entire saga, which is still playing itself out, is recounted in my new memoir, Grabbing the World.

I addition to reclaiming my race (now rebranded the Portugal Ocean Race) I am working on two new projects. The first, along with my old mate Vlad Murnikov, is an effort to build the world’s fastest monohull and with it smash some existing speed records. The project is called SpeedDream.

It has been a fantasy of mine to bring the thrill and excitement of the Volvo Ocean Race to the big screen; the real BIG screen as in IMAX. Along with friend and partner Gary Swain and a very talented team of filmmakers and producers we are working on securing the funding for Riding Liquid Mountains - an IMAX movie about the Volvo Ocean Race.

In the fall of 2010 a brand new electronic book publishing business will launch. With the world changing at a rapid rate, courseforadventure.com will be there on the cutting edge bringing the best old and new sailing narratives to a global audience using the wonders of modern technology and a comprehensive social media marketing strategy. The goal is to redefine how people, sailors and adventurers especially, receive and use books and articles on sailing.

Finally, and I know it's a cliché, being a parent is the toughest and most rewarding job in the world. My children continue to bring wonder to my life and I am eternally grateful to them because having wonder really is one of the true gifts of life.

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