“My Dad got me into it,” says Craig, “He was in the Australian Merchant Navy and worked as a shipbuilder.”
Growing up with stories of the high seas, and being constantly around boatyards, vessels and sailors, it was only natural that when he came to choosing a vocation, he followed in the footsteps of dear old Dad.
“My Dad got me an apprenticeship working at the Cockatoo Dockyard in Sydney and it all started from there really.”
After being employed as an apprentice shipwright for four years, and working on all sorts of boats and submarines at one of Australia's biggest shipyards, Craig decided to seek his fortune in Europe.
“I went to the UK and worked around the Mediterranean for various ship companies. After that, a friend suggested that I come to Phuket, and I did so in 1989.”
Upon his arrival, Craig started work for Aman Resorts, whose yacht division is still one of the largest resort-owned and-operated fleets in Southeast Asia.
He ran some of the group's yacht charters and made sure everything on board was “tip top”, from the mechanics, engineering, performance and even food and beverage. In this role, he sometimes worked out of Aman's Philippines and Indonesian properties, going back and forth to Phuket.
“As my children were getting older [now 9 and 16 years old], I decided to stop travelling around so much and knew they needed a more permanent base for their schooling.”
So ten years ago, he returned to Phuket full time, and seven years ago opened up Max Marine Asia – Thailand's only Sunseeker brokerage, as well as authorised dealer for Bayliner, Stingray RIBS and Austhai CATS.
“We are the number one suppliers of luxury performance power boats,” Craig says as he gestures towards a selection of boats that will be available to peruse during this weekend’s (21-24 March) 10th anniversary Phuket International Boat Show (PIMEX) show, held at Royal Phuket Marina.
“Sunseeker is like the Bentley of boats. We will have some great ones on show this weekend.”That list includes the Manhattan 53, Manhattan 63 and the Manhattan 73 (pictured).
“We will be expecting customers from Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong, and a lot of regulars. There will also be many expat residents, who spend half of the year here and half in Europe.”
Craig welcomes window shoppers, those who just drop by to look at the vessels. “Even that is great for us, so that they can see and compare how great our boats are side by side with the others.”
He expects a great turnout to PIMEX this year, despite a belief that the state of the marine industry – much like any other in Phuket – is slowly changing.
“It goes up and down, the sales of the small boats are dwindling of late, but the bigger boats are selling well, especially with the Russian market which is obviously causing quite a 'splash' in the industry.”
Although Max spends much of his working life in an office these days, he says he still enjoys being out on the waves when he can, and believes there are few things finer than sailing the Andaman sea.
He also feels that sailing in and around Phuket does not have to be restricted to just the wealthy. “Anybody can go out in a little rib, take a picnic and go exploring the wonderful islands that Phuket has to offer.”
Meanwhile, if you’d like to see the finest boats that Sunseeker has to offer, visit the PIMEX boat show this weekend. For more information about Max Marine Asia, visit maxmarine.asia