I used to dance competitively during 1973 to 1975 and I loved it. My sister Cyndy dragged me along to her dance school one day because a girl there was looking for a partner. Well, I went along and I became pretty good at it and won many competitions including an Australasian title, in 1974 I think. I also did medal classes and achieved a Gold Star in New Vogue. It was a big commitment with my mum transporting me all around Melbourne (well, Victoria really), several times a week. I had to wear dinner suits and paten leather shoes, and the competitions and medal classes cost money of course. Mum and dad never complained, and mum always said to me "For as long as you keep enjoying it, we will keep doing it". I tried to apply the same philosophy with my children and their sports and interests.

I had to give dancing away though in 1976 when I moved to Swan Hill, as the only dance instructor in town told my mum that I could teach him a thing or two. I tried to get back into dancing on a few occasions thereafter - in Brisbane, in Melbourne and in Cagayan de Oro, but it just didn't happen. About the closest I got was only a year or two ago when I learned a bit of line dancing with some ladies at the Swan Hill RSL - really enjoyed that. Oh, I also did a bit of Rock n Roll in Swan Hill too and that was good fun. I would just love to get back into some sort of competitive dancing, but I haven't discovered any opportunities yet. It has been a 'long time between drinks' as they say.

with partner Pam Johnson 1973

with partner Lauren McDonald 1975

with partner Lauren McDonald 1975

My first overseas deployment in HMAS SWAN in 1981 - I visited about 30 overseas ports in seven months and had a great time. Professionally, I had a great teacher with John (JJ) Nash. He and my commanding officer, Max Sulman, gave me just the best grounding in English anyone could hope for (I was Max Sulman's personal Writer - his secretary's assistant, for about 9 months) - nice bloke. Nice blokes really - he and John Nash.

Actually, one of the funniest things to have happened to me was in 1982 while in Hawaii. Along with JJ Nash, and two of my other co-workers Johnno (Pete Johnson) and Bill Tannock, I was caught climbing the fence between Pearl Naval Base and Hickham Airforce Base. You see to go from one to the other is a rather long taxi ride, but if you just climb the fence, they're real close. Well, we had been shopping at the Hickham PX and then got caught literally ‘mid-fence’. The MPs confiscated our ID cards and drove us back to our ship (saved a taxi fare I guess). The next day, our ID Cards were given to the QM in an envelope addressed ‘Commanding Officer HMAS SWAN’, and promptly delivered by the Bosun's Mate to the Ship’s Office. Inside the envelope was a letter explaining how we had been bad boys, and our ID Cards. Of course JJ (being the Commanding Officer's Secretary) just opened up the envelope, read the letter, threw it in the bin and dealt out the ID cards. “It's nice being the Secretary” he said, and of course this had nothing to do with the Captain.

I learned more from JJ and Max Sulman in 18 months or so, than I did my entire life at school. There is an excellent work ethic in the Navy built on camaraderie, teamwork and trust. I enjoyed my time in SWAN and the Navy generally.

Shanghai, China 1981

with Paul and Nev in Japan 1981

Able Seaman Writer Ken Smith 1981

My sailing days. My dad used to own an Yvonne Catamaran and my uncle a TS16, and we used to sail them in Port Philip Bay in Victoria. I was only young at the time, and was really only used as ballast, but I must have learned something (thanks to my uncle, I now know what a 'pissinta' is). Later, when I was about 13, my brother Geoff bought me a sabot (sail 244). It was a bit rough, but we fixed it up and repainted it - chocolate brown from memory - hmmmmmm. Anyway, I used to sail it in Lake Boga. I scared the shit out of my younger brother and my friend Dale Bonney one day (and myself too for that matter), when we were a fair way out and the weather picked up. We got hit by a front and bottled the sabot. Sabots are a bit hard to right as the older ones like mine only have buoyancy in the very front end. This was my first taste of bad weather, as my dad wouldn't allow me to go out if the weather was not looking good. Fortunately for us though, the Yacht Club had been monitoring us, and had already dispatched a tow boat as the weather became bad, so they were on the scene very quickly, and dragged us into their boat and then set about recovering the sabot. I can still remember being huddled up, shivering under the nose plate of the rescue boat - it was so nice - I was actually alive! I didn't take the sabot out much after that.

When I joined the Navy, it was a requirement of all recruits to become certified to sail bosun's dingy's. Of course not everyone had sailed before, so when I put my hand up as having sailed before, I was given two other non-sailors to 'look after'. Shit!! Well, I didn't kill them, and we all got our certificates, so I guess I must have remembered enough about sailing. The same happened in 1984, when I joined the Naval College, except this time, I was introduced to the much quicker and much more flightier boat, the Tasar. I did a bit of yacht sailing with my brother Geoff on his Bonito, and also used to crew in some SAGS and WAGS in Cairns in 1986-1987, but didn't get back into a Tasar until I arrived in Brisbane in 1989.

I teamed up with Pete Caldwell in Brisbane. Pete was an avid Tasar sailor and very competitive. We did some State titles in Yepoon and Moreton Bay, and an Anzac Challenge at Jervis Bay. I also did a bit of helming at Brisbane, but I was really too light - I was much better suited as crew. We sailed together for a couple of years, then I moved to Canberra.

When I got to Canberra, I teamed up with another excellent Tasar sailor, Martin Linsley. We did regular races on Lake Burley Griffin, and also traveled for races in Newcastle, Sydney and we even did a World Championship in Brixham UK in 1996. We did very well at Brixham (actually we would have done better if I didn't make a mistake calling one tack .. but that's another story). I think the best race we had at Brixham was when we crossed the start line on port tack. It was amazing. When on port tack, you must give way to boats on starboard tack, so speed and timing are critical. Generally speaking if you go behind a boat (give way), you are behind them in position, if you pass ahead, you are in front. Well, we tacked on the starter's gun and crossed the entire fleet seeking the fresher and breezier wind off to the far right of the course. It was a nerve racking 10 or so minutes calling 'ahead', 'behind' as we passed (sometimes) within inches of about 120 boats on opposite tack. When we cleared the fleet, and were nicely lined up on the top mark, we tacked. Other boats had seen us and followed suit, but they were too late. We had all the clear wind and a direct line to the mark. We hit the top mark first - it was exhilarating. I don't think we actually won that race, but we did kill them off the start.

There was another interesting start we had - I think Martin would probably prefer to forget this one, but it was funny. We were doing a Police Challenge Teams Event (three boats against three boats) at Rushcutter's Bay, and we capsised on the start line. God knows what happened - I was probably sitting to leeward at the wrong time - it happened so quick - very embarrassing, but we got up very quickly and I think, our team actually won that race with a 1,4,5 position.

The births of my two children - Callum in 1991, and Madeline in 1995. Both wonderful moments in life that I recall frequently. I remember Debra crying tears of joy when Madeline was born - it was one of the happiest times of my life.

Madeline and Ken 1995

Callum and Ken 1991

Callum and Madeline Canberra

Teaching computerised accounting at Canberra Institute of Technology 2000 to 2002. I don't mean to blow my own trumpet, but many students seemed genuinely happy with the courses I ran. It gave me a lot of personal satisfaction to know I was helping the local business community.

Along with my very good friend Mick Moon, I had previously also implemented an accounting, payroll and point of sale system throughout Navy. We rolled out about 30 installations in 1994 and 1995, trained everyone up, put a support structure in place and then wrote the manual. I recall one of my West Australian students saying to me that the course I conducted was the best one he had done while he had been in the Navy. Comments like this mean a lot. I don't know if I could be a teacher for a living, but I certainly enjoyed teaching.

Farming in Traveston 2003-2005 - While finances were a bit tight, and my marriage at the time was not progressing well, I achieved enormous satisfaction and happiness living and working on my farm at Traveston. Our 'tree-change' allowed me to live a lifestyle more consistent with my beliefs, and I sometimes felt like I was on the verge of finding happiness. I sometimes wonder how this could have been given that my marriage failed while at Traveston, but the truth is, it probably really failed many years before that. I just wasn't able to rescue it at Traveston.

Many residents in Traveston appreciated my efforts in assisting in the formulation of the Traveston Residents' Association, and some even suggested they would like to see me run as a local shire councilor. I think Traveston residents were as close as they ever have been in history when I was living there, and I think that was a good thing. There were many locals who championed the interest in the association, and the resultant community benefits. Of course, my wife at the time Debra, played a big part, as did Jeff and Judith Lambert, Ben and Belinda Croton, and there were others. I loved the community involvement in Traveston, and I met some really nice people there too.

Putting the Irrigation in Traveston, 2003

30 acres of absolute enjoyment Traveston 2003

Ken on his Tractor Traveston 2003

My first meeting with Rhea in Cagayan de Oro on 22 June 2007. She was as pretty as an angel (just a few more pimples . . ha, ha, ha), and we got along really well. How lucky can a man get?

Our very first day together 22 June 2007

Ken and Rhea at the Lapasan Fiesta August 2007

Our Civil Wedding Day 10 September 2007