Stephen Davies and Elaine Morgan
Stephen Davies was in the Royal Navy and then the Royal Marines before working at the University of Hong Kong as a lecturer. Elaine Morgan joined him there as a librarian before they both started their writing about boating careers.
Years of racing locally and to the Philippines from Hong Kong were followed by a long-distance cruise that took them 50,000 miles. It began with a meander through Southeast Asia and down under to Australia and New Zealand before heading out into the Pacific and then turning down wind for Europe. That long period at least half afloat produced the Red Sea Pilot and two volumes of the Cruising Guide to South East Asia, all published by Imray.
Asia beckoned again after a few years in France, so they sailed back down the Red Sea to Singapore before beginning their second stint in Hong Kong, Stephen as the first director of Hong Kong’s maritime museum and Elaine as an editor for a youth services organization.
Getting back to Britain has been a long, slow process during which Stephen became a maritime historian and is now writing his fifth book about 19th century maritime Asia. After nearly 50 years of life overseas, they now have a pied-à-terre by the River Dee in Chester, built on the plot once occupied by the city's last shipyard.
They're currently working on a new edition of Red Sea Pilot, due for publication in spring 2024.