Having been denied the chance to participate in the Falkland Islands conflict, Dick Evans resigned his Royal Navy commission from the relative safety of a sleazy waterfront bar in the Chilean port of Valparaiso. In standard service fashion, he was a civilian ­ with money and itchy feet ­ within the short space of two long years!

Six years serious globe-trotting then took in a spell as first officer of a Florida-based luxury yacht, beach and ski-bumming in the USA and three wonderfully sunny seasons cruising the Thames as the captain of ACTIEF, a 100-ton hotel barge.

Dick finally swallowed the anchor in 1988, taking several rewarding posts as both staff journalist and photographer with regional newspaper groups. He also published his guide to the Thames in the Insight Guide to the Waterways of Europe as a freelance writer.

Dick went solo in 1997, with a journalism-based public relations business in his home town of Letchworth, Hertfordshire. He now works from an Apple Mac in the spare bedroom, from where he makes odd trips to the coast to gaze longingly seawards: occasionally indulging in his great passion for sailing and drinking in sleazy waterfront bars!

He recently completed his first novel, Rainy Day Option, which now awaits publication: a short synopsis is available for potential publishers! email to find out more about this project.

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