- Jim at the Ionian Regatta on Rapaz
Many cruisers will remember Jim for his detailed website JimB Sail – A Cruising Guide for European Coastlines (http://www.jimbsail.info/) which he dedicated his time to once he hung up his oilskins.
Jim served for 24 years with The Royal Air Force as an Aeronautical Engineer & Test Pilot.
On leaving the RAF in 1978 he established a sailing holiday business – Falcon/Sovereign Sailing which is now known as Neilson.
Sixteen years later he retired and spent eight years cruising the coastlines of Europe from Scotland to Turkey aboard his Oyster 406 “Rapaz”, for the last four years he was joined by his wife Caroline, before settling ashore in Southampton but spending the summers in the SW Peloponnese. Jim and Caroline shared their greatest and happiest years together on Rapaz. Jim was in his element and heaven.
Jim was a very active member of the Cruising Association and for the last 13 years sailed vicariously through creating and maintaining his website JimB Sail, helping skippers enjoy cruising in Europe.
His daughter Kim Mason has posted on JimB Sail; “This website was my Dad’s major project over the past 8 years – we even wrote a song about it for his 80th birthday to the tune of “Sloop John B” (Sloop Jim B)…. Dad taught himself how to build websites, write html, then finally to learn and manage Drupal, from the age of 75-82″.
Jim helped Noonsite enormously over the years and was rather a Greece expert on all matters cruising being based there. He never failed to help out with getting to the bottom of things and always had time to share information with a fellow cruiser.
Jim’s aim was ‘to pass on knowledge and experience before he dropped off the edge’ (his own words). He will be greatly missed.
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