These are very old posts and Bill Davies was of the very old school and had a lot of time for him . He stayed at sea and achieved what I couldn’t do went for extra master , which most went for to achieve shore employment ,he stayed at sea with it. He may not have appealed to some with his abrupt words , but he had nothing to prove to anyone as regards his knowledge of shipping. I tried to do the same but for different reasons which was shore employment but was beaten by the cost of living and survival in an ever increasing world of cash flow. I doubt if he is still alive today does anyone know. ? JS