Gary Watson

Being born into a naval family, Gary started out life close to the sea and from there began an enduring love of all things to do with the water. His earliest memories are of taking family sampan boat trips to outlying islands while posted in Singapore.

Back in the UK during his teenage years, Gary was dinghy sailing, running the safety boat for the school kayak club and honing his boating skills on the family yacht and power boat. His first summer job involved renting out paddle boats to tourists on the local Cornish beach and crewing the rescue boat. Not a bad life for a kid who loved surfing and being around the water.

Leaving school at 16, Gary was lured away from the sea to the bright lights of London - but not for long. On a trip back to visit family in Cornwall he was asked if he would like to undertake a yacht delivery. From Falmouth in the UK to Lisbon, Portugal, in the middle of winter. It was a baptism of fire to off-shore sailing in which they endured fierce storms through the notorious Bay of Biscay. 

Keen to travel further, Gary donned his back-pack and with £50 in his pocket he flew to Australia. Joining his brother in Sydney, he did what most young lads do on working holiday visas - took jobs that paid just enough to cover the nightly bar tab. He learnt to scuba-dive on the Great Barrier Reef and spent 2 idyllic weeks on a yacht in the Whitsundays.

With such a love of water sports, it was hardly a surprise that when Gary returned to the UK it was to Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, where he set up and ran a new water ski school for 5 years. Here he was also coerced into being cox for one of the local off-shore rowing teams, probably more for the camaraderie and obligatory pint (or 2) that followed every training session than for any innate ability. Over the years, jobs came and went but Gary continued to spend time on the water at every opportunity, undertaking more yacht deliveries and owning various different boats.  

When Gary married in 2001 it was fitting that the ceremony took place on HMS Warrior, an 1860 British war ship located in Portsmouth. He and his new wife, Tonka, had already decided that they would emigrate to New Zealand, arriving in Auckland on a wintry morning in May 2002. Settling on the North Shore they started out in property development, signed up for a year of yacht share so that they could explore the Hauraki Gulf and supported Team New Zealand's efforts to retain the America's Cup. Meanwhile Gary decided it was time to gain some formal marine qualifications, proudly achieving the top recreational level of Ocean Yachtmaster in 2004.

On completion, he immediately signed up for the local Coastguard service in Browns Bay, Auckland. Gary has served on their committee, been a volunteer crew member ever since and is now a Coastguard (SAR - Search and Resuce) Skipper. This allows him to indulge his passion for being on the water, while helping and educating others in safe boating practices. He carries a pager 24-7 in order to respond to emergencies and any other call-outs for vessels or people in distress. Gary also holds the Power Boating Level 2 and Sailing Club Safety Boat Instructors tickets and when time allows continues to undertake the occasional yacht delivery, most recently contracted to bring a 50ft yacht down from Borneo. 

Putting plans to travel around NZ on hold, Gary and his wife snapped up the opportunity to purchased Terminator Boats as a going concern in July 2008. The business already had a successful formula of selling inflatable boats throughout NZ; now Gary and his team hope to develop this even further by increasing the product range over the coming years.  

Gary & Tonka both love living in New Zealand with its temperate climate and fabulous coastline so were delighted to have been granted citizenship in 2007. 

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