Q: Why was the Queen of Bermuda a particular favourite?

P: Having grown up in Bermuda during the 1950s, and living in Paget, I saw the Queen of Bermuda almost every time she was in port, and she was very much a part of my life. My entire interest in ships and shipping really stemmed from this one ship.

Q: Were you always fascinated with this vessel?

C: Absolutely! One of the world's most beautiful and most famous liners was berthed in Hamilton every week! During the 50s and 60s many great liners called at Bermuda. Only a few were in the same league as our own Queen. My personal favourite liner is the Nieuw Amsterdam of 1938, but the Queen of Bermuda comes a very close second.

Q: What was it like being a passenger on the Queen?

P: I only made a few trips on the ship, most before the age of ten. The one I remember most vividly was in early September, 1962 to New York when we caught the edge of a hurricane and the ship pitched and rolled for hours, and we were late arriving in New York. However, I also had some very smooth trips, and remember the wonderful steward service on the deck, where tea, coffee and hot soup were served several times a day, but I was too young to really take it all in.

Q: Noting that you emigrated to Australia in 1965, were you saddened to know that the Queen was leaving forever in 1966 and you would not be here to witness the departure?

P: It is always sad when a great liner reaches the end of her career, and to me Bermuda has never been quite the same without the Queen of Bermuda arriving each week. However, by the time she left she had been rebuilt, and glamour had largely gone, but it was a sad time. In some ways I am glad I did not see her go, as I have so many memories of her with three funnels at No. 1 wharf.

Q: Where were you the day the Queen of Bermuda sailed away forever, and what are your memories of watching her leave port?

C: I was in my second year at the old Technical Institute when she sailed on her final voyage. I cannot remember if school had closed early, or I had permission to go, but I made it into town in time to watch the departure from Albouys Point. The day before I had gone on board for a final visit. It was all over too quickly. One minute she was there, her anchor cable clanking over the windlass gypsy as she heaved herself away from No.1. Within a few minutes, her triple chime whistles sounded a farewell salute, and she was gone. There were not too many dry eyes about the place.

Q: What gave you the idea to write this book together? How did you decide who wrote what, given that you would have had two different styles of writing to "knit" together?

C:The first time I met Piers the topic of this Queen of Bermuda book came up. I had written a short booklet on this vessel back in 1985. Piers had already written several books, so rather than attempt two separate efforts we decided to combine our research and use my original text as the basis for the new book. The original text was largely reworked so as to knit easily with the new material.

Q: Was this written in your "spare" time, or did it become an almost full-time project, given that you are also a busy marine artist?

C: No, it was not a full-time project. It was worked on over several years. In fact, research continues, there is always more material available.

Q: Where did you have to go to research for this book? Did you come home to Bermuda to do some of it.?

P: I had done some research on the subject from books I had in Australia, but started in earnest in 1993 when I returned to Bermuda to work for the Bermuda Sun as a columnist. In my spare time I spent many hours going through old newspapers on microfilm in Hamilton Library, and old copies of The Bermudian.

Q: Was the research complicated and conflicting, or fairly straightforward, albeit painstaking? Did it dovetail or conflict with some of Mr. Card's research when you finally got together? If so, how were the discrepancies reconciled?

P: Research is always time-consuming, frequently complicated, and often frustrating especially when finding details of a particular subject or event proves elusive. It is impossible to rely purely on other people's memories, as I have found too often they are either wrong or not as accurate as they should be. When Stephen and I decided to combine our efforts into one, it was primarily because the areas each of us had concentrated our research on was different. Stephen has a huge amount of material covering the war years and the post-war years, while I had started at the beginning of Furness Bermuda Line, 1919, and worked my way through to the end of the 1930s. Also, Stephen had concentrated only on the Queen of Bermuda while I had been seeking material on all the Furness Bermuda Line ships, so in many ways it was an ideal collaboration.

Q: Was it hard to whittle down the photographs you chose from what I am sure were many, many pictures? What was your criteria for the final choices?

P: Locating photographs was a lengthy business, and choosing which to omit did present some problems, but overall I think we have assembled a very good cross section of material that should satisfy everyone. Our criteria were basically to include as many pictures as possible.

Q:The large, fold-out drawing done by Enrico Repeto is superb. Who is he and how did you find him?

C: Enrico, a retired Chief Officer from Italia Lines, is a friend of mine in Genoa. Now retired, he enjoys making detailed drawings of famous liners. He worked on the Queen of Bermuda drawing for six months. The original is over two metres long! I met Enrico when I was painting in Italy for Costa Crociere back in 1996. He has since made a new drawing of the Queen showing all the modifications, single funnel, etc. after the 1962 refit.

Q: What's next? Another book on Bermuda ships/shipping?

C: I am now working on a book of paintings for the new Queen Mary 2, hopefully due out in December. In addition, I am researching material for a small book on the history of the classic cruise ship Saga Rose, formerly the Sagafjord. Piers has plans for a book about cruise ships to Bermuda. We would also like to collaborate again on a photo essay on the Queen and Ocean Monarch just to use some of the additional material which we have and couldn't include.

P: I have been working on a couple of ideas for future books on Bermuda passenger ships, and may try to get another one published in a few years' time. At the moment I have just finished a book for the Australian market detailing the history of overseas troop ship voyages by Australian soldiers to the Sudan Campaign of 1885, the Boer War, the First World War, the Second World War, Korea and the Vietnam War. This will be published here later this year, and I am already more than half way through my next book for the Australian market, which is also about passenger liners, while at the same time I am hoping to put together another book on Australian paddleboats by the end of next year. After that I may decide to do another book on Bermuda ships.

Q: Your writing clearly covers a broad range of shipping. Is there any one type that is a favourite, or is your interest in shipping general?

P: My main interest for a long time was passenger liners, but I have always kept an eye on the other types of shipping. In the early 1980s I became aware of the Australian paddleboats and have since developed a strong interest in them. I am now regarded as one of the leading authorities on the subject in Australia, not that that means much as there are not many people doing research and writing on the subject, though the book I wrote sold exceedingly well.

Q: A professional banker, what made you switch to writing shipping-related books?

P: I started working in banks in 1963 in London, and continued this when I migrated to Australia. However, I left banking for the travel industry in 1970, and only went back to banking in 1994, but am now no longer working. I wrote my first book on ships in the 1970s, but it was really a hobby rather than an income earner, though the royalties did come in useful.

Q: You are a Master Mariner who has become a marine artist? Tell me a little bit about your twin careers.

C: I went to sea as a cadet with Denholm Ship Management Ltd. in 1970. I sat for my Master Mariner (Foreign Going) Certificate of Competency in 1981. In 1982 I was promoted to Master with Uiterwyk Line on their MS Pyramids U. Later that year I returned to Bermuda and became Harbour Master with the Department of Marine and Ports Services. In early 1984 I decided to return to sea but became sidetracked and took up painting instead - ships, of course! Since 1991 I have been painting almost full-time for Holland America Line. This work is ongoing, but in addition I am working on a series of thirty oil paintings of historic Cunard liners for the new Queen Mary 2 which will be entering service at the end of this year.

Q: You both live in Australia? Do you live near one another/see each other often?

C: Australia is a big place! Piers is a `Westie" - lives west of The Harbour Bridge. I'm in Randwick, near Bondi Beach. I suppose we might meet up three or four times a year, but frequently chat on the telephone.

Q: Have you both settled for good in Australia? Any thoughts on returning home to Bermuda?

C:I'd like to spend more time in Bermuda. For the moment, my wife and I are very happy here. Sydney is a fun and exciting place to be.

P: I have lived in Australia since 1965 and am well settled in here. I returned to Bermuda in 199 to work for the Bermuda Sun, but was glad to return to Australia. I am afraid I find Bermuda very small in both in size and thinking these days, and while I probably will return from time to time to see family members, I cannot see myself ever settling there again.