Ferrari with Breakfast

Joe Hodgson left school with no ambition and no direction. Even though he was clearly intelligent (he passed the 11+ with no preparation), he lacked support and encouragement. So he joined the army at 17 as an oik in the lowest position with the lowest aspirations. After three years in the army, he realised there must be something more and enrolled at a merchant navy college. Here he flourished, winning academic awards, but the decline of the merchant navy left him no opportunity at sea. He ended up in the fledgling mobile phone industry as an engineer, working silly hours and driving even sillier distances. He quit jobs in frustration, spent time on the dole and then took other jobs which were no better. Finally, a tiny advert in an ex-serviceman’s paper was looking for an Electro Technical Officer on a superyacht in San Diego. He applied, got the job and flew out to a new life. He had found his niche as he moved from ETO to Chief Engineer on an array of luxury superyachts, working for the rich and powerful in the States, Caribbean and Mediterranean. This book tells of Joe’s extraordinary life from a dysfunctional childhood, through his struggle to find a satisfying job to his experiences on thirteen different superyachts, surrounded by luxury and excess, but fulfilled at last.