I have been aware of the Apostleship of the Sea from my earliest childhood.   My father had served in the Royal Marines during much of the 1930’s and 1940’s.

He was a member of the Royal Marine Band Service and spent quite a lot of time at sea before, during and after WWII, serving on the cruisers HMS Devonshire, Enterprise and Sirius.  Although he had left the Marines several years before I was born he talked on many occasions of the Apostleship of the Sea and the warm welcome that he had received at its centres in ports and harbours around the world.

I do have memories, as a young child, of the annual “Sea Sunday” being a very special day within the family and my Dad always saw that a generous donation was put into the special collection at Mass.