My life from childhood to being a ship captain through to Michelle
From the early days as Michael, through to my teenage years struggling with my sexuality and then joining the Merchant Navy as a deck cadet. My 12+ years with the Sir William Reardon Smith Shipping Company travelling the world and climbing the career ladder to chief officer, before being medically discharged in 1984 due to my developing breasts. My agonising journey from 1984 to 1991 taking testosterone, until I finally stopped taking the hormone and started buying Progynova (oestrogen) from an online pharmacy. Then starting my first transition from Mike to Michelle between 2006 and 2009 only to be refused due to having had 2 heart attacks. Going back to living as Mike but still taking oestrogen, now on a NHS prescription, until my marriage to Sue broke down for other reasons in 2015.
It includes all the years of Marine Chart Services, from inception in 1986 to becoming a world leader by 1994. Introducing new types of safety inspections, travelling the world teaching chart safety procedures and carrying out safety audits, from Brazil to the Philippines, Singapore to Norway, and even sailing on ships to carry out ‘sail with the ship’ inspections.
Finally, becoming Michelle again in 2016 and the awful mental problems I suffered, including over 40 suicide attempts and 100+ hospital attendencies in just 1 year. To safely overcoming these problems and my onward journey to become the woman I want to be.
From Ship to Shore & A Whole Lot More… is my story to be available on Amazon in mid May 2021 in paperback format.
