I have always had an interest and passion for the ocean and machinery or all things mechanical. I most probably get this from my father who served in the South African navy in the 1960’s
Since childhood I have always been comfortable around anything water related. I would marvel at large ships in Cape Town harbour and the Cape Coast as a child, wondering how they functioned, where they were going, etc.
During my early childhood and teenage years, I part took in various forms of sailing and boating. I was shown the ropes on basic rules of the sea by my father, dinghy sailing as a child. Later I raced Dabchick and Mirror class dinghies at club and national regattas.
During my High School years (1987 -1991), I sailed on various sail powered yachts. My father also owned a small yacht, which I looked after mechanically, as I was mechanically minded. Usually this would include emptying the bilge, checking all sea cocks and running the diesel motor.
I have also done overnight sailing trips on yachts in the Table Bay area, this included being at the helm on watch, during the night. This was a very important role, as Table Bay in Cape Town is extremely busy with ship traffic.
As sailing was a recognized sport at my High School, I managed to obtain Half Colours for sailing in 1990. These classes included general topics on navigating by stars, survival at sea, rules of the sea and general sailing topics. There were also several practical sailing sessions on the Head Master’s 42 foot ketch in Table Bay.
It is only natural that due to my mechanical interest and aptitude, combined with love for the ocean and water craft, that I have a strong interest in becoming a marine engineer
To add to my practical engine skills, I also assisted my uncle during my late teen and early twenties, an amateur mechanic, to rebuild several car engines. This included stripping the entire engine to its bare basics. This certainly taught me much about internal combustion engines.
During my later high school and student years, I assisted my cousin, a marine mechanic to repair fishing trawlers in Hout Bay Harbour. I also had a casual job on a working museum mine sweeper, the SAS Pretoria based in Hout Bay, during school and later college breaks. This taught me basic diesel engine and marine engine mechanics/repair.
I obtained my National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering in 1995 from the Cape Technikon, now known as CPUT (Cape Peninsula University of Technology). I went on to obtain my B-Tech Degree in Mechanical Engineering from CPUT as well. The B-Tech degree included a project were I had, together with another student, source parts for and repair a small combustion turbine in the laboratory.
I have over 15 years of land based engineering experience and skills.
My first job as a trainee technician with Wayne (manufacturer of petrol pumps) involved:
Technical drafting for production and service manuals which included wiring diagrams.
I also got my hands dirty: I frequently spent time in the wet bay, testing pumps for flow, volume (calibration) and pumping/leaking issues. This meant taking apart the odd gear pump that didn’t work properly. Also calibrating meter units and correcting them. So there was definitely a degree of fitting involved. I also assisted with cutting thread on the Rigid machine assembling the submersibles, as well as wiring these units.
I also did electrical assembly in the electrical department/station. I spent quite a thorough time on the production floor, assembling dispenser units. This included pipe work, fitting of components and wiring.
After that I went on to become a Supervisor of a drawing/design/engineering office looking after 3 technicians. I was employed to “clean up” this office and successfully did so. I was responsible for day to day production drawings, CNC programming and new product design & development and implementation.
My subsequent experience includes looking after medium sized departments and factories in Auckland, New Zealand, were I have been/am responsible for looking after general maintenance and compliance to local and corporate requirements. This includes compliances and looking after building firefighting equipment, building warrant of fitness, chemical location certificates, classification, control and management of chemicals and their MSDS’s, hazard assessment and management, looking after compressed air plant, including maintenance and certification of air vessels, lifting gear and hoists. I also play a large role in Health and Safety of my current plant, with a current no lost time injury at over 1m hours/ 10 years.
My last land based role I was responsible for compliance and day to day running of a manufacturing facility (total site size approx 8000 sq m). I was also responsible for project management, such as installing and commissioning large machinery. I am responsible for tool making, general maintenance and manage such staff and projects.
My current marine/relevant credentials are:
- Engineer's Ticket, New Zealand, STCW III/1
- STCW 95
- Approved Marine Medical
- Approved Engine Course (MCA)
- Degree in Mechanical Engineering with 15 years experience
- Marine mechanic (1996-1997)
- Work on-board the ex-South African Navy Minesweeper (Pretoria) (1992-1994)