Sam's Tall ship adventure (From Dorset Society)

Sam's Tall ship adventure

6:00am Monday 1st March 2010

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I’M usually pretty good with heights and water, but the combination of the two gave me a rush I’d never experienced before as I traversed the yard of the main sail – 80ft in the air.

I was attached to a safety wire by a harness – but the freedom of movement I still retained, and the wind blowing across my body made for a brilliant sensation.

And when I looked down…wow!

I had joined the crew of Stavros S Niarchos, owned and run by the Tall Ships Youth Trust, for a day’s voyage.

We would be sailing, from Southampton across the Solent aboard the squarerigged ship, 200ft from bow to stern and keel to crow’s nest, which operates year round all over the world.

But this was to be no jolly.

As soon as I’d embarked I became white four, meaning I would be crewmember four of white watch for the rest of the trip.

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Factfile

• Apart from providing adults with the opportunity of a lifetime, the main purpose of the Youth Trust’s day sails and longer trips is to help fund voyages for young people aged 16- 25.

• The Tall Ships Youth Trust provides life changing opportunities for young people who may be experiencing difficult times to sail as part of the ship’s voyage crew at a heavily subsidised rate.

• Stavros S Niarchos returns to Southampton on Sunday, April 11 and is available for day sails on Friday April 30 and Saturday May 1.

• For more information call 023 9283 2055 or click related link below.

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But whether red, white or blue watch, you had better get used to seeing the faces of the rest of your watch as, on longer voyages at least, you’ll be eating, working and even sleeping with them.

We were kitted up and offered bacon sandwiches. Then we spent a couple of hours swotting up on safety and essential sailing skills before setting out.

Recently Stavros had been to Portsmouth, Ipswich, Glasgow, Swansea… even Cadiz and Tenerife.

While at sea we were given the opportunity to put our training into practice by climbing the rigging to hoist the main sails, or by staying on deck and pulling the ropes to lower the sails into position.

White watch was assigned to haul the heaviest and hardest ropes. “Two! Six! Heeeave!” bellowed an unforgiving voice of authority as eight people pulled in unison.

Hard work? You bet it was. But it was also incredibly rewarding when we looked up at the sails – now completely open and billowed out with sea air – as we began to cruise at a decent rate of knots.

Fortunately, it was a beautiful sunny day, and once all the hard work had been done there was time to explore the ship, or relax and take in the marvellous views. The friendly crew – a mix of trained volunteers and salaried employees of the Youth Trust – were more than happy to chat about their experiences of sailing around the world and answer any questions.

During this quiet period, lunch was served in three sittings. We sat and ate in the mess with our watches, exactly as we would if this were a longer voyage to the Azores or Canaries.

In fact, had this been a longer voyage, the watches would have been expected to help prepare the food in the galley.

After lunch all watches worked together to trim the sails, turning the ship around and starting our return journey back towards the docks.

As the docks came into sight, it was time to gradually lower and stow away the sails.

I was given the choice between climbing the rigging and shimmying across the yard, or braving the bowsprit, a 12ft wooden pole extended from the front of the ship, used to stow away the front sails.

I opted for the latter and gingerly a crewmate and I edged our way out on to the bowsprit, known ominously as the widowmaker among the sailing fraternity, such was the danger associated with tackling it in stormy seas.

After a bit of a struggle the front sails were successfully stowed, and I returned to the deck having completed my last task as a member of that day’s crew.

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