Geoff Bowker joined the Royal Navy aged 18 in 1979 and served for 35 years in the Fleet Air Arm, leaving as a Commander, before going on to serve with the Reserves until 2023.
He said: “There’s a belief that if you want to do well after leaving service, you need to go into an industry like defence, and for many people that works well. We all have different circumstances and responsibilities and that plays a major part in our decision.
“I happen to believe that there is as much potential to be reached, and as much money to be made by following a vocational pathway.
“I never had any intention of going into the business or defence world.
“In the years before my retirement, I’d started looking at my options. I was interested in yacht and small craft surveying and I did two courses and attained two diplomas.
“I’d been aware of the Boat Building Academy at Lyme Regis because I live in Dorset and as I’ve had a lifelong passion for woodworking, I used some of the Armed Forces resettlement package to attend a one-week Traditional Boatbuilding taster course there.
“This ignited a real spark, and I knew I had to do the ‘big one’ – the BBA flagship 40-week Boat Building, Maintenance and Support course.
“You can also use Enhanced Learning Credits for this, which can make a considerable dent in the course fees.
“I left the Navy in the summer, spent two weeks at home, went on holiday and obviously started to annoy my wife, because she said: why don’t you go and do something? So, I phoned the BBA and managed to get a place on the 40-week courses starting in September 2014.
“The course was a steep learning curve, but after 35 years in the military I was used to having a demanding job and found the challenges for my body and my brain and were immensely enjoyable.
“The days are long. It was graft! There’s no way around that. But it’s like drinking from a hosepipe in that there is just so much content, you just do it, and you learn. I think ex-military personnel are ideal candidates for this course in that we have skills, we turn up on time, we’re conscientious, hard-working and we have initiative.
“I’m not lying when I say that when the course ended, I didn’t want to leave. I genuinely loved it there.
“I graduated in summer 2015, with a City and Guilds 2463 Level 3 Diploma in Marine Construction, Systems Engineering and Maintenance, as well as the industry wide recognised BBA Certificate, and within a year I had my own workshop and was busy working on boats.
“Some of the people I studied with went on to work for major boat yards, others went on to something completely different. But I know all of us felt we had benefited hugely from being on the course.
“Since setting up on my own I have been involved in some really interesting projects. My first job was to make a wooden ensign staff for a yacht kept in Sardinia. I also spent a short time working for the Atlantic Challenge charity on one of the Bantry Bag gigs that are used for international youth seamanship competitions.
“I’ve now had 50 boats in my workshop.
“Three years ago, when the BBA asked me to go back and assist on a course I jumped at the chance. I found myself helping on the same one-week course which had tempted me into the BBA. I still visit and help out and I don’t think I ever want to fully let go of the place, it’s that important to me.
“You’ll also find me in a wetsuit in Lyme Harbour on most of the course launch days – I’m pretty well known for that!
“So, what for the future? Thankfully there is a fairly steady stream of work, and it is rare that I have had any gaps in jobs.
“Looking back, the BBA course was an extraordinary, life-changing experience for me and one I would highly recommend to any service leaver with a passion for working with their hands.”
GEOFF’S WORK
