prestigious award for his lifetime's work.

Earl Brighton Simons, the head bosun pilot for Government buoy tender The Dragon , collected a top honour from the Bermuda Water Safety Council yesterday earlier this week.

Fifty-seven-year-old Mr. Simons, from Boaz Island, earned the annual recognition award after 37 years of looking after buoys, towing in boats and steering ships on the right course.

He said: "I'd like to thank Harbour Radio because they have been getting me out there. I always have my radio on to hear what I can do.

"I've been around boats all my life. I've had my own boat 16 years. I built it up myself and named it Cindy Ann after my daughter.'' Mr. Simons can even remember the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Edna in 1952 -- which he counts as one of the scariest experiences of his life.

"My father had a sailboat which he kept in Cavello Bay,'' he recalled.

"During the hurricane it broke loose and during the eye of the storm we ran out to the point, jumped in the water, and swam out and brought it back to the dock.

"But by then, the other side of the hurricane had arrived and we had to stay strapped to the dock until it passed.'' Mark Selley, Chairman of the BWSC, said the 14-member council wanted to reward a member of the community to show that water safety is not just the responsibility of Marine Police or Harbour Radio.