V.E.B. Nicholson & Sons

I swallowed the anchor after meeting and marrying one of the charterer's daughters in 1957. The question then arose as how to earn a living to support a family. Rodney married (1956) Julie after she had circumnavigated the world in Irving Johnson's brigantine 'Yankee'.

I had not saved much money over the years, as my brother and I had never
been paid on a regular basis for we wanted to build a family business with
a firm foundation.

We donated our former hobbies to the business. Rodney had been a keen
radio and electronic enthusiast while my hobby had been photography. With
Rodney's expertise we were able to keep in radio contact with our yachts
and with mine I photographed yachts for advertising purposes.

I built a dark room in the Pay Office, fresh water was scarce, so I washed prints in an orange-box floating in the sea. This washed chemicals from the photos in twice the time, and it only needed a slight rinse to rid the salt.

For a short time after marriage, I worked in the St. John's town office of
the charter business. I did the accounts and trial balances and things like that! All very boring after a swash-buckling life at sea, but it did not last long.

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