Rodney Watts
Didn't do well in LC after spending the 2 weeks of Stu-Vac sailing my moth in readiness for the NSW state championships (Don Colville has a lot to answer for). Left the high school gate and joined an insurance company for 6 months before realising it wasn't for me, then joined a company that made mining equipment as a fill in while pondering my future and became very interested in metallurgy, stayed with them a year or so and started a metallurgy degree. Got told to go west young man if you want to be in the mining industry, promptly packed everything I owned into an overnight bag and drove across the Nullarbour (dirt road then) and worked on the mines in Kalgoorlie while doing an associateship at night at the Kalgoorlie School of Mines.
Moved to the south-west of WA and worked with the beach sand miners before moving back to Perth with an engineering consultant. Got back into competitive sailing and sailed with Alan Bond's first challenge for the America's Cup on "Southern Cross" in Newport (Rhode Island not Pittwater). Also sailed in Europe and most Australian ocean races including Sydey Hobart a couple of times. In between all this married first time and had a son, who unfortunately was killed in Thailand about this time last year. Divorced and moved to Leinster, north of Kalgoorlie as process manager for Agnew nickel mines for 4 years then married for second (and last) time moved to Melboure to work for Bechtel for 4 years, then went through change of life and moved to Batemans Bay to run holiday units on the beach. Stuck at that for another 4 years and then had another change of life and moved back to Perth and started my own metallurgical consulting business which I still operate. Have two boys from this marriage, one in second year of engineering at Uni of WA, the other becoming a good musician and at high school.
Now living a very content though quieter life style on a few acres just out of Perth and gradually working myself into semi-retirement. Still healthy and happily married though eyesight failing, grey hair predominant and a terrible fear of growing old