[Jacques Reed]

Hi Phil,
It is a long story how I wound up in Melbourne Australia from the farmlands of PA.
It began with my mother being an Australian who met my dad in Brisbane while he served in the US Army Signal corps in Australia and New Guinea during WW2. She came to the US in 1946 and married my dad. When dad retired in 1972 he brought mom back to Australia to have a few years with her elderly parents as she had only seen them once in 26 years. (it was the days before cheap international travel)
I graduated from Kings Point in 1974 and after only getting one relief job on an American merchant ship sat for 6 months unemployed. Mom and Dad in letters at that time said shipping companies were looking for deck officers in the Australian Merchant Navy (Marine) and sent me job ads from the papers. I packed my sextant and seagoing gear and headed down under in 1975 to see them as I had not seen them for two years also and thought I might have a working holiday for 6 months then go back to the US. A month after arriving I landed a job as Third Officer on a cruise ship sailing out of Hong Kong between the Far East and Australia. I met my future wife, an Australian from Melbourne onboard who was the Ship's Hairdresser on a working holiday also. As they say- the rest is history, and 37 years later I am still here.

Cheers