mostly clear & 15°c
Blogs
If you know him, he needs no introduction. If you have never heard of Straw, then please allow us to introduce a man who lives and breathes Rockley, and has done so for nearly 50 years.
Some people pass through Rockley; here for a summer, a season, or a stint between. Then there is Straw - he doesn’t just work at Rockely. He is Rockley.
Depending on who you ask (or when you ask him), Straw has been part of the furniture for either 47 or 48 years. He’s not entirely sure, and frankly nobody’s counting anymore. It’s not about numbers. It’s about a lasting impact and legacy.
He’s the chap who has taught generations from the same family to sail. The one you see fixing rudders with one hand and talking down the radio with the other. He’s been around long enough to witness Topper fleets grow, buildings go up, students become staff and then parents – and then their children become staff!
With Rockley’s own big birthday quickly approaching in 2026 (50 years!), it’s only right that we corner straw and take a trip down memory lane!
Straw believes his first Rockley moment was an RYA Level 1 sailing course in a Wayfarer, booked on a whim. “I came down, did the Level 1, then just never really left,” he grins. “I had long blonde hair and no clue what I was doing!”
He came back the following season to do an intermediate course - there wasn’t one running. Undeterred, “they chucked me on the advanced course instead.
That led to a place on the Youth Opportunities Programme, where he spent six months cleaning classrooms, shifting boats, and doing whatever odd jobs needed doing. It was meant to be temporary.
“I didn’t plan it as a career. It just… sort of happened. I stayed on, started helping with the Topper fleet. Taught a few bits. Then more. And eventually I was leading it.”
Luckily for us, and everyone else who has either been taught by Straw, or worked alongside him, Straw did stick around! And it's quite right that he has a reputation of being one of the most experienced, and best loved expert within the industry!
Back then, Rockley didn’t look much like it does today. In fact, much of it barely stood up.
“There were caravans on the beach,” Straw remembers. “The main building had just been converted, it was rough. The decking was concrete slabs. The slipways were made of rotting timber. There was a real mix of boats and a real mix of chaos.”
“We had eight 420s, 45 Oppies, 15 Wayfarers… plus a bunch of Fireballs. The Topper fleet was mostly old ones, all faded and dented. We spent most winters just repairing them, sanding and glassing.
“Jim (Gordon) would order a new fleet, and then hand us the boats and say, ‘Write the manual.’ They didn’t come with instructions. You just had to work it out.”
“I once got stopped by an RYA inspector and was told, ‘That rudder you’ve got there is from a West Wight Scow.’ And it was — we had loads of odd bits. You had to make it work.”
And Straw did. Over and over.
“I didn’t even really know how to sail when I started. But I got stuck in. Got a ticket. Kept going.”
Straw didn’t just work at Rockley, he lived there. There are of course countless memories and stories that can and can’t be told. For those who experienced the ‘good ole’ days alongside Straw, where health and Safety wasn’t what it is these days, you're probably giggling at the memories right now!
“I lived in the old student caravans. They were lined up at the front. I was even house daddy one summer. Absolute chaos!
“One morning, Jamie Slatter tried to tow my caravan away, with me still in it. I was in bed, trousers off, and suddenly the whole thing started rocking and bouncing. I looked out the window, and we were moving.
“I managed to stop him just before we got to the main road.”
A perfect mix of madness and timing, and pure Rockley.
Straw's fondest memories often involve a boatload of kids, a ridiculous plan, and an afternoon full of mud.
“We’d take the Oppie fleet over to Long Island. Have mud fights through the trees. One end of the fleet against the other. Just slinging it everywhere. We’d come back covered, head to toe. I’m not sure we’d get away with it now.”
Total carnage and unforgettable. He laughs, a lot, not from nostalgia, but from genuine joy.
Some stories sound made up. This one? Absolutely true.
“There was an end-of-season party. We’d had a few. I went into town in a garter belt, lab coat, and yellow wellies. Classic.
“Bumped into some bikers. Police got called. Next thing I knew, I was in the cells. Peter (Gordon) had to come and get me the next morning.”
Was there a lesson? Possibly. Would he do it again? Definitely!
Ask anyone who's worked a season or two at Rockley, and they’ll tell you the same thing: Straw probably taught them, or trained their trainer. Or at least fixed their boat at some point.
“I’ve taught so many people. Students come back and say, ‘You taught me in ’91,’ and now they’ve got kids doing the same courses.
“Some of them became instructors, and some of them stayed here. Others went off to the Navy, into teaching, into chartering. A lot of them have made careers out of it.”
He still thrives on running instructor courses and has this unique ability to connect with a cross section of students – from the very young, to adults.
“I’ve done hundreds. You get people who think they can’t do it - a bit shy, not confident. And by the end of the week, they’re buzzing. That’s the best bit.”
“A lot has changed,” he admits. “There’s more paperwork now and everything’s more formal - risk assessments and session plans. Back then we’d just say, ‘It’s blowing a 5. Let’s go.’”
But he’s not grumbling. He gets it. Times change, but the core of Rockley - the learning, the community, the joy of being on the water – that remains the same and part of the reason why he’s stuck around for so long.
“You still get those perfect days. The kids are smiling, the instructors are on it, the boats don’t break, or if they do, we fix ’em. That’s when it feels like the old days again.”
And the bad days?
“Well… if things go smoothly all the time, you get suspicious.”
“You don’t do this job for the money,” he says. “But the quality of life? That’s what it’s all about.”
Even after all this time, Straw isn’t just showing up, he’s still laughing, still teaching, still rocking up in the yard before anyone else.
“I get to be outside and I still get to teach. What’s not to like?”
So how long will he stay?
“No idea,” he shrugs. “I’ll keep going until I fall over. Then someone can roll me down the hill!”
Here’s to 47 (or 48?) years of Straw - the beating heart of Rockley, the keeper of chaos, the ultimate charmer.
We’re lucky to have him.