Patron
I was born and grew up in North Devon. I left school at 16 and sailed as a deck apprentice on British merchant ships. I didn't like it much, and resented the structured, almost militaristic hierarchy. I got a basic navigational qualification, and in 1977 saw an item on the news about a ship, the Sir William Hardy, which became the Rainbow Warrior.
We sailed in early 1978 and the first trip was to Iceland and an anti-whaling campaign. One day off Iceland, Nick the captain came to me and said "I'm going home tomorrow". "Oh" I said "that's nice for you. Who's coming to replace you?" "You are" was the answer, and so I became a Greenpeace Captain.
I've worked with Greenpeace, off and on, over the intervening years and have taken part in campaigns and protests from Antarctica to the Amazon in most of the world's oceans and seas, and involving issues such as over-fishing, forest destruction, toxic dumping and pollution, whaling, nuclear transports (and dumping), climate change and war.
Now's the time for "ordinary" people to find the way out of this mess. Politicians and other "leaders" have shown they won't and can't tackle it. Individuals already have taken the initiative and together we can find a way. This is why I want to support the Lifeline in any way I can - to link people all over the planet together. Show what is happening and encourage each other. Inspire each other. We have to. No one else will.