• Australian Democrats (until 2003) till
• Abbotsford 12 Foot Flying Squadron, on the Parramatta River - sailed 12 foot skiffs 1986-88, also sailed Sabots and Flying 11s before that.
• In the past I was involved with various churches & Christian groups around Sydney, including:
  • St Michael's and All Angels Anglican Church & youth group, Newport, NSW. (Sydney).
  • Southern Cross Independent Baptist church, Engadine and Harvest Independent Baptist Church, Narrabeen.
  • St Matthias (Phillip Jensen's church)
  • The Australian Navigators|
• Back when I still believed in stuff (and was moving a lot, living in different parts of Sydney):
  • St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church & youth group in Newport. 1988-89.
  • Southern Cross Bapist Church, Engadine, 1989-91. They taught me to really read the Bible. I took their advice, and started asking questions - they were probably glad to see me go.
  • Harvest Baptist Church, Narrabeen. 1991-2. Had a lot of respect for Col, the pastor. Again, he was probably relieved when I left.
  • The Navigators at Sydney University, 1992-97. "Putting the sin back into cynicism." Lots of big talk... wasn't all hot air, and there was a real sense of community, but it left me a bit burnt-out as well.
  • Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, present. (Just kidding.)
  • I once dreamed of a collaborative site where people would share ideas, and the focus was on facts rather than opinion. It was to be called Roots of Change and I registered rootsofchange.net.au in 1998 or 1999. However, I didn't know how to make a collaborative website, and the idea was put on the backburner, until I learnt about Wikipedia. Appropedia, and to an extent Wikipedia, is the realization of this dream.

Places of Education (all in Sydney, Australia):

• Santa Maria Del Monte (K-3)
• St Patrick's College Strathfield (years 4-8).
• Pittwater High School (years 9-12). I enjoyed school much more here (in spite of being quickly given the role of school nerd), doing some debating and being in two school musicals. Was known as Harvey for a while after a couple of singing lines in Bye Bye Birdie. Also enjoyed living in the seaide suburb of Mona Vale.
• University of Sydney - Bachelor of Chemical Engineering, 1989-1992. First year was the worst. Second year was the worst too. Third year was even worse and from there it went into a decline.
• University of New South Wales - Master of Engineering Science (Water), part-time, 1994-97. Much more interesting. Thesis research carried out in Surabaya, East Java (= Jawa Timur), Indonesia.

Other stuff to help web searches to find this page

• Christopher Watkins, Christopher James Watkins.
• In the real world I have been known variously as: Harvey (Yr 9, after playing that character in Bye Bye Birdie... I wonder why they picked me to play a nerd?) Merf, Shadow. Many others names I can't recall.
• In the online world I have used the name Kropotkin, Singkong (Indonesian for cassava/manioc), then Singkong2005, but have settled on Chriswaterguy as a name that describes me, and is likely to stay unique.
• Schools:
• Recreation:
  • The Abbotsford 12ft Flying Squadron, sailing sabots, Flying 11s and two years in the amazing 12ft skiffs.