Picture of Castle Lighthouse presented to retiring captain

His retirement was marked in Guernsey by the gift of a picture of the Castle Lighthouse, presented by duty assistant harbour master Michael Harris.

The Musketier was the most recent in a long line of freight boats that Captain Woodard has helmed.

His career at sea began 54 years ago and he spent 47 of those as a captain. Initially he entered the Royal Navy and served until 1973.

A career in the Merchant Navy and in cargo followed, including a period in the 1980s which saw him own his own ship.

Between 1983 and 1988, he took the ship all over the world, including the Baltic and the Mediterranean Seas.

But for the last 33 years, from his base in Portsmouth, he has made approximately 100 voyages per year between the UK and the Channel Islands, in all clocking up more than 3,000 voyages. In his maritime career he has seen about 6,000 acts of pilotage.

The first boat that he was master of that ran freight between Portsmouth and the Channel Islands was the Owenglas, which was put on charter to Huelin-Renouf in 1988.

In 1990, Commodore decided to operate only roll on/roll off boats, not lift on/lift off, and subsequently sold the Island Commodore and Norman Commodore.

Island Commodore was purchased by Huelin-Renouf who renamed her Dispatch. This was the first of four boats named Dispatch that Captain Woodard helmed.

As the demand for cargo services increased, a larger boat was needed, and so the second Dispatch came into service. She was followed by two more boats named Dispatch.

Captain Woodard saw service with Huelin-Renouf and CI Lines before Ferryspeed picked up the lo-lo freight on Musketier.

Captain Woodard said that pre-Covid, he would try to see as much of the island as he could, within the constraints of a quick turnaround in the port.

A member of the Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club, he is looking forward to visiting the island again in the future.