Mat swaps working life at sea for engineer's role
HERM'S new engineer Mat Nicholls is no stranger to the island, having lived here for several years.
Mat has been the island boatman, skippering Little Herm, and the cargo boat, The Seahorse, since 2006.
Originally from Cornwall, he has been around the sea his whole life and has worked with boats for much of it.
For the past nine years, he has also acted as relief engineer during the times he was not out on the water.
When the opportunity arose at the end of last year to apply for the engineer's job, Mat was eager to take up the challenge, even if it meant giving up his time out at sea.
Having already worked under two different engineers, he felt he already had a grasp of what the job entailed.
The engineer's job is wide and varied and includes working closely with the rest of the service team, maintaining the island's supply of fuel, electricity and water, maintaining the island buildings, servicing everything from vacuum cleaners to vehicles, cleaning out sewers and much more.
