Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2008 | Page 36

life

OUT & ABOUT

Wight water
riding
Roz Whistance meets Tim Griffin, who is living his
dream – and wouldn’t want to do it anywhere else

If the Isle of Wight could have its
own Prime Minister, Tim Griffin
would be the man for the job. He
is passionate about the Island, its
beauty, the unruffled attitude of
its residents, and the fact it allows
him to live as he wishes. Actually,
Prime Minister might be a little
too political a post for a man
who lives on and by the water,
instructing fellow enthusiasts in
driving ribs, jet-skis and the like.
Ambassador for the Island, then.
Oh, let’s just settle for King.
Not that he will thank me for
the suggestion. When we meet,
outside the Lifeboat Inn in East
Cowes which overlooks the
marina on which his ribs are
moored, he is very anxious that I
do not portray him as the font of
all knowledge. “I’m not, there are
other people doing the same thing
who know just as much as me,” he
insists – before talking Sense (and

36

the capital S is intended) for the
next hour. Sense about safety, and
sense about the benefits, not to say
privilege, of living on the Island.
“Where else could you do this, sit
in the sun and chat surrounded by
all this beauty, without it costing
you a fortune? You walk down a
lovely country lane, you wander to
the beach – costs you nothing but
you’re a millionaire!”
Tim is an Islander, but not
one blinkered by the Island’s
parameters. He has lived
elsewhere, Cyprus even, but has
always returned: “Where would
you rather be?” he asks. He met
his wife Jane when he was a
beach lifeguard, though to pay
the bills when his son Jamie was
born he spent 14 years as a prison
officer – which must have been
purgatory for one so addicted to
the outdoors. Now Jamie works
with him, and Jane “supports me

in everything I do. I’m lucky.”
Tim is living his dream. With
his partner, Scot Gardener, he
runs Griffin Marine Services,
which teaches skills, techniques
and safety to do with every aspect
of water, from motorboats and
jet-skis to safety on sailing boats.
They run diver boat handling
courses, and have set up a beach

lifeguard academy.
Clients can develop their skills
from a basic level upwards, Tim
explains: “We have training
syllabuses for people who’ve
bought a motorboat but who have
absolutely no knowledge, right up
to instructor courses. And you can
go through all the stages of that
knowledge. We are recognised by

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