There are many memories, of course, but one experience that made the “Clansman” was the rescue by the “Clan Macintosh” of a stolen motor cruiser from Knysna.

The two young culprits were taken to Cape Town and the article about the rescue was written by cadet Mark Williams – he went on to work for West of England P&I.

I think it was in the “Clansman” in late 1973 or early 1974. I had a copy but am struggling to find it!

A photo taken at an ice rink in Australia in the autumn of 1968.

It was our first trip to sea and the cadets shown are from left to right:

Mike Barnett; Dave Tracy; Patrick Philpott; Jock Mitchell; and Graham Haig-Brown.

After spending 13 years at sea on passenger vessels, VLCCs, and chemical tankers, I came ashore in 1982 with a Master’s certificate. I then pursued a PhD on human error at UWIST.

In 1986, I joined Warsash Maritime Academy, where I worked for 30 years until 2017. I began as a tanker safety lecturer and later developed training programmes using the Liquid Cargo Simulator (LICOS).

Eventually, I became Head of the School of Management and Postgraduate Studies, where I led the development of leadership courses, postgraduate training for Filipino lecturers, and online MSc programmes. I later served as Associate Director for Research, managing several national and international research projects. Two major projects I led—HORIZON (2009–2012) and PROJECT MARTHA (2013–2017)—focused on seafarer fatigue.

I retired from Warsash in July 2017 and ran my own consultancy on the human element in shipping, particularly in fatigue management, until fully retiring in 2021. I was honoured to receive the MN Medal in 2012 for my services to maritime research and was named the Waterborne Champion of EU Transport Research in 2016 for my work on HORIZON.

These days, I enjoy walking my dog, doing a bit of gardening, and researching my collection of old shipping postcards.

In June 1969 I was promoted and appointed to Rotherwick Castle as 2nd Officer.

In addition to the normal complement of officers we were fortunate to have on board two very capable and likeable cadets in Bryan Settatree and Michael Barnett.

Within days of joining their names had been changed, Bryan became known to all as “Sid” and Mike became “Alf” probably due to the then current popularity of “Alf Garnett”. In any case “Sid and Alf” suited them.

Our trip was a double header and lasted nearly nine months and in all my time at sea I cannot recall a better pair of cadets than these two: always cheerful, always reliable and mainly (sometimes) respectful.

Sid’s name carried on to other ships until he was tragically killed in a car crash, Alf’s career is narrated below.

Chris Isaac