Not long after Nick was put in charge of the Autosub team, I was planning some handling trials at the Dunstaffnage Marine Lab near Oban. Nick popped his head round my office door and asked 'Would you mind if I came along'. Close to 30 years on, his gentle request 'Would you mind...' makes me smile; after all he was my boss. 

At the end of the trials we achieved what we set out to do plus Nick and the Calanus crew had figured out how to get the 22' beast from the sea on to the rear deck. Dunstaffnage proved to be a very useful base for shake-down trials on the real thing. Including the risky strategy of inviting the Peer Review Group (the great and the good tasked to critique our work) to join us to observe, it and us, working. All went well. The decision paid off handsomely. 

Nick was very instrumental in making autonomous under water vehicles (AUVs) the oceanography tools that the UK can be proud of today. 

It was a privilege to work with him. 

Pete Stevenson (NOC)