Trustees

Trustee Chairman - james (jim) Dines

Born the son of a naval officer, Jim has traditional vessels in his blood, sailing aboard them with family and friends from very early on, and serving as a barge Mate at the age of 12. He left school at 15, and after a summer sailing the North Sea on a large gaff cutter as Mate, he joined the Merchant Navy as an engineer officer apprentice. Over the following 15 years at sea, he worked his way through the ranks, before being seconded to the Defence Procurement Agency as a design consultant on the build of two new fleet tankers for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. After 3 years working ashore on that project, and 18 years in the RFA, he left to set up as a marine engineer in his home town of Maldon in Essex.

Alongside his professional career at sea, Jim has continued to sail smacks and barges on leave, and recovered the 1914 East Coast Sailing Smack 'My Alice' (CK348) from a mud berth in Peldon Creek. After a 10 year restoration project, with the smack back to her original layout and rig and with no engine, Jim skippered My Alice to prove herself a successful racing smack and powerful sailing workboat.

Immersed in maritime life, he and his wife Catherine now run a suite of related traditional marine businesses in Maldon, all from the co-operatively owned Downs Road Boatyard where Jim grew up. The yard, and Heritage Marine Ltd., are home to their traditional yacht brokerage 'M J Lewis and Son', and rigging company 'TS Rigging Ltd.', which was awarded the contract for the complete restoration and installation of the masts, spars and rigging on the clipper ship 'Cutty Sark' in 2009. In addition to his involvement in the many restoration and build projects in the yard, Jim also co-owns and operates the brigantine 'Lady of Avenel' to offer both sail training and adventure sailing in UK and European waters. All of these experiences over the years have made Jim acutely aware of the need for a recognised training scheme in traditional maritime skills, and the formation of the Heritage Marine Foundation is helping to make this a reality, as well as to preserve the vessels that are such a valuable part of our shared heritage.

Trustee - Dr lucy woodall

Lucy is a Marine Conservation Biologist with a passion for the aquatic world. She is an expert in diverse areas such as seahorses and marine litter, and uses her skills to research the impacts of human activities on the marine environment. The ocean is an important part of her life; she was Bosun with the Jubilee Sailing Trust and worked with the Cutty Sark rigging conservation project that was based at TS Rigging before returning to academia. She has sailed as a volunteer with many sail training organisations, holds MCA Yachtmaster and continues to race traditional vessels. Lucy is currently Principle Scientist with the Nekton Foundation, and is based at Oxford University. This summer she managed Nekton’s first deep-sea scientific expedition involving two ships and a range of scientific equipment and personnel. She also contributed to the STEM education programme that was developed for this expedition and works with the communication team to provide excellent interpretation of scientific findings.

Trustee - nick dowden

A master mariner with a maritime career spanning 20 years. Originally sailing deep sea and onboard a variety of merchant vessels, Nick was bitten by the sail training bug in the early 2000's and has since sailed in a professional capacity on a variety of square riggers, Thames barges and gaffers. After moving ashore to teach at one of the UK's leading nautical colleges he has turned his hand to marine surveying and consultancy and currently holds a position as Specialist Investigator for Maritime New Zealand where he continues to build on his experience gained at sea and his core professional standards on safety, training and a passion for the future of the industry.