It is always a joy when one interviews potential crew members for the Clipper Race and then get to know them well over a period of two years or so while they train and then sail on the race. Joe Caddick is just such a person. A great character and true Scouser he now runs his family business which builds Water Witch vessels that go around harbours collecting rubbish. They have been immensely successful and are used in hundreds of ports round the world. This of course meant that Joe’s circumnavigation in the Clipper Race was a sales tour, and as such obviously gained the attendant financial advantages! The original pollution control workboat was invented by Joe’s father Francis who was a barge operator specialising in the transport of solid waste. Francis developed the Water Witch in the early 1960's to solve the dangerous problem of floating debris, in the Port of Liverpool.
The unique design was an immediate success - now there are Water Witch workboats providing a reliable service world-wide including, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Kuwait, USA, South Africa and throughout Europe. http://www.waterwitch.com/
The photo shows a very smart version of one of Joe’s Water Witch’s in Glasgow harbour pushing its own gash barge. Note Glasgow Clipper in the background.
When the Clipper Race started from Liverpool Joe organised a formation of Water Witch’s to join the steam past.
I took this picture of Joe in Qingdao, China – not a lot of doubt about which football team he supports.
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