Will started his sea-fareing career, after leaving school, in a Grimsby trawler, to see if he would like living at sea.  After eight months, he gained a full apprenticeship with the New Zealand & Federal Steamship Company, based in London.  For the next seventeen years, he worked his way up from a cadet to Senior 2nd Officer.  He left the sea to look after a sick wife, and later took over the family farm in Tiptree, Essex, where he was born.

He now works with the East Anglian Sea School, helping with the training courses, and does yacht delivery work.