MARINE expert Chris Marrow, from Wellington, has called on his experiences living in Africa for his first book, The Hoe and the Gun.

The thriller is based on real plots and personalities – and especially his life living and working in Mozambique and Malawi for many years.

The Hoe and the Gun, whose title was inspired by the national flag of Mozambique, was two years in the making. It sees two hitmen chase through remote areas of Mozambique after Falklands War veteran and aid worker Jowan Penrose, who witnessed food aid being stolen. He must escape to get the truth out before his pursuers capture and kill him.

Chris said: “I have led an extraordinary life and the influence of growing up along the north Cornish coast set the scene for my love affair with the sea, and a deep hankering to work and travel across the world. I started as a deck officer on refrigerated cargo ships and then went on to found a new concept of ferry services in the Northern Isles.”

The ex-chief executive of ActionAid International, Roland Hodson, said Chris was the inspiration and driving force behind a humanitarian effort to supply food to hundreds of thousands of people sheltering on off-shore islands in Mozambique in the early 1990s. Mr Hodson added: “People were fleeing for their lives and driven out of villages and their homes in a bloody civil war fought in the country from 1972-92. Chris is a visionary and a tireless individual in making his visions come to life.”

Chris added: “I was spun into action and organised the use of two former military landing craft, one of which I sailed across the Indian Ocean with some of my family. We moved food aid from large ships bringing famine relief to redistribute to island and coastal locations where it was needed. I was in charge of the operation and co-ordinated and coached local people in vital maritime skills. When the war was over, I founded a charity to work with waterborne transport for aid, development and relief, and this took me to numerous remote corners of the world.”

In 1996 Chris undertook the first expedition in 20 years to travel by river from Malawi to the Indian Ocean and back by the Shire and Zambezi rivers. The expedition led to him being asked to do a study into the privatisation of the shipping company on Lake Malawi, and he subsequently took over the company from the Government and ran it as a private enterprise on behalf of Malawian interests.

Chris, who speaks Portuguese and French, went back to Mozambique in the great floods of 2000 and led teams from the RNLI and Fire Service up the River Buzi with a French medical team to carry out medical evaluations.

He added: “I’m now 77 years of age but I still lead a very active life working on economic and marine issues on the Advisory Board of the South West Business Council. I still promote links with Africa, as well as developing new links with China and the Far East.”

Chris is a double world record holder on the Concept 2 Rower for both the small team and large team of over-70s rowing 100km.