Father’s Footsteps: A story from one of our own
THEY say that a love of the sea is genetic, passed down from generation to generation, and the many coastal towns that sport seafaring families certainly suggests this is true.
Southampton – home of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency – is one of those places, and this Father’s Day, we spoke to one of the Communication Team’s own, Imogen Smart, about why she followed in her father Jeremy’s footsteps in joining the agency in 2016.
The internal and digital communications officer said: “It is all a bit of a family affair, we have both been at sea, we both sail and we do that together sometimes – we have the sea in common definitely.”
“I didn’t realise he had such an influence on my career until now, just thinking back to my childhood and the experiences we had,” she said. “When he surveyed the QE2 – I must have been about 12 or 13 – and we went onboard as fake passengers, to take part in the safety drill. I had to ‘get lost’ on the ship and see how long it was until they found me, there were other scenarios as well.
“That was great fun, and I suppose it gave me a great experience of his job and what he did for a living.
“I then did my work experience with the MCA at 16 in the Marine Office in Southampton and I loved it – that was a wide-ranging experience too.
“He did tell us stories growing up as well, and really nurtured a passion for the water – I have no idea if I would ever have discovered the sea and a love for it without my dad.
“And now I work in a role where I tell stories.”
But does that mean you need a parent to awaken a passion for the water?
“Not at all,” Imogen said. “I feel very lucky to be working in such an important job, our aim to improve safety and prevent the loss of life at sea is a very worthy cause. Anyone can want to join and be a part of that. I know there are a lot of people who have found a love for sailing since joining – if they now have kids and take them to experience the water, a passion is born."
We are proud of being a part of people’s personal history and we know Imogen and Jeremy are just the tip of the iceberg of relationships in the MCA, so we want to wish a happy Father’s Day to Jeremy but also to all those other seafaring dads out there, from our surveyors to our coastguards.
Southampton – home of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency – is one of those places, and this Father’s Day, we spoke to one of the Communication Team’s own, Imogen Smart, about why she followed in her father Jeremy’s footsteps in joining the agency in 2016.
The internal and digital communications officer said: “It is all a bit of a family affair, we have both been at sea, we both sail and we do that together sometimes – we have the sea in common definitely.”
“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”Imogen started as a certification officer, before moving on to become assistant Receiver of Wreck and then progressing to her current role. She says that although she may never have worked directly alongside her father, who worked as Head of Enforcement – now known as the Regulatory Compliance Investigation Team – until his retirement in 2018, that did not stop her dad from having a big influence on her career path.
– Jacques Cousteau, co-developer of the Aqua-lung
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| A young Imogen enjoys Christmas with dad Jeremy |
“I didn’t realise he had such an influence on my career until now, just thinking back to my childhood and the experiences we had,” she said. “When he surveyed the QE2 – I must have been about 12 or 13 – and we went onboard as fake passengers, to take part in the safety drill. I had to ‘get lost’ on the ship and see how long it was until they found me, there were other scenarios as well.
“That was great fun, and I suppose it gave me a great experience of his job and what he did for a living.
“I then did my work experience with the MCA at 16 in the Marine Office in Southampton and I loved it – that was a wide-ranging experience too.
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| Imogen (far right) and Jeremy (on her right) share a passion for sailing |
“He did tell us stories growing up as well, and really nurtured a passion for the water – I have no idea if I would ever have discovered the sea and a love for it without my dad.
“And now I work in a role where I tell stories.”
But does that mean you need a parent to awaken a passion for the water?
“Not at all,” Imogen said. “I feel very lucky to be working in such an important job, our aim to improve safety and prevent the loss of life at sea is a very worthy cause. Anyone can want to join and be a part of that. I know there are a lot of people who have found a love for sailing since joining – if they now have kids and take them to experience the water, a passion is born."
We are proud of being a part of people’s personal history and we know Imogen and Jeremy are just the tip of the iceberg of relationships in the MCA, so we want to wish a happy Father’s Day to Jeremy but also to all those other seafaring dads out there, from our surveyors to our coastguards.
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| Happy Father's Day Jeremy! |
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