Prolific

Newsletter

OYT South bulletin 15th October 2021

In this Bulletin
Sections which have changed since last time marked *


* Sea staff needed next week 18-22 Oct
 For the usual Covid-related reasons, we have space for one more watchleader, trainee watchleader or bosun on next week’s voyage 18-22 October, starting and finishing Southampton, with crew from a Pupil Referral Unit – can anyone help? All your sea staff paperwork needs to be up-to-date and you would need a negative Covid test today and another just before joining the boat. Email webmaster1@oytsouth.org if you are available.

Back to index


* Refit news and plans
Prolific’s winter refit starts on 4th November. For those who haven't been involved before, this means several months of servicing, repairs, cleaning, modifications, sanding, painting and much more - and we need plenty of help!

This is a big refit as we need to have Prolific’s five-year survey. The boat has to come out of the water and there is a huge amount to do.

We are still looking for one or two more people for our core refit team – please do share this with anyone who is not working, on a gap year, or otherwise available for up to four months this winter. It will be a fun, friendly team and it offers free accommodation and food over the winter as well as lots of useful experience.

However, as well as the full-time team, we need plenty of casual volunteers coming for a few days spread over the winter, or a short block of time, or even just one day. We normally need helpers on weekdays but for those of you who aren’t available during the week, we are planning some volunteer weekends, including:

5-7 November (getting as much gear as possible off before the boat is lifted out of the water)
3-5 December
21-23 Jan
… and more to be decided.

We’re always pleased to see people with maintenance and technical skills but there are plenty of jobs for people with no experience – whether it’s as simple as helping to move things between the boat and the store, or an opportunity to learn something new. We can find a suitable task for anyone who is enthusiastic, reliable and prepared to muck in.

We can't have people sleeping on board during refit but – with huge thanks to Fred Cole for organising it - the core team has a rented house and other volunteers can always ask us about accommodation - it just depends what space we have available at the time.

Refit volunteers should generally be aged 18+ but it may occasionally be possible to include 16- and 17-year-olds who have sailed with us and earned bosun recommendations - it depends what jobs are being done, who is around and what supervision is available.

Volunteer sea staff please note: if we get multiple applications to sail on popular voyages next summer, then people who have helped at refit (or raised funds, or brought us new bookings, or supported us in other ways) may well get priority over people who haven't been involved over the winter!

To keep everyone safe, we’re looking at asking refit helpers to do take Covid tests (the free lateral flow version) before coming on board, as we have been doing with everyone on voyages this season.

Please email refit@oytsouth.org to book yourself in to help.

Back to index


* Refit house furniture needed
As mentioned above, our staff and the core team volunteers have a rented house during refit (thanks to Fred Cole) but it is unfurnished. If anyone is looking to get rid of any furniture or has access to anything we might use for November to March – including fridge / freezer, washing machine, sofa, table and more - please email refit@oytsouth.org.

Back to index


Core refit team needed
We are looking for a core team of volunteers to come and help us this winter from November to March. This is something we've been doing since at least 2002: a small full-time team offers continuity alongside all the other volunteers who come for odd days or weekends. We provide free food and accommodation for the core team as well as great experience in boat maintenance and a chance to make a real difference to a good cause while enjoying a sociable winter in the team. Many previous core team members are still great friends of the charity - some still sailing with us, others using the experience to help develop their careers. If you want to follow in the footsteps of Jake, Oran and Ian from the last full-time core team, and all the others who have gone before them, please see here for details and how to apply.

Core team

Back to index


* Georgia leaving present – please give generously!
One of the most enthusiastic and capable core team refit volunteers we have ever had is Georgia Watson, who did so well in the role that she was invited to become one of the staff team on board. However, she is now coming to the end of her final season as OYT South’s Staff Cadet. She’ll be helping Holly and Josh get the refit off to a good start over the next few months but after that she will be moving on – though she has promised to stay involved as a volunteer. We are hugely grateful for all that Georgia has done for the charity as our Staff Cadet, and it’s been amazing to watch her progress as she worked through her qualifications. So we’d like to send her off with a really nice leaving present – please contribute if you can!

Back to index


First mates next season - and beyond - job advertisement
One of the longer-term consequences of Covid for the charity has been an interruption in sea staff training and progression: this season we have had three first mates moving up to skipper and others wishing to take a break or retire; but at the same time our second mates lost a season and a half of sailing and most needed to consolidate their 2M skills this year – which means we haven’t had opportunities for new 1Ms to be trained and assessed.

OYT South is committed to using volunteer first mates in the long term. But for the moment we believe we do not have enough volunteer first mates to cover a full season, and we are therefore now advertising a job for a seasonal first mate for 2022.

We will still be using volunteer 1Ms on every voyage possible, in order to retain their involvement and keep up their skills and enthusiasm, and in the meantime we will be having a major push to get our most experienced 2Ms through training and qualifications, so that we can return to a full list of volunteer first mates. We’ll be looking for the seasonal first mate to support the training of other sea staff, and we are also putting together a group of our most experienced 2Ms for extra support, mentoring and training, plus practical help for those still needing to complete RYA qualifications.

So we are now recruiting for a seasonal first mate from January to November next year, and there is a job advertisement here. Please do spread the word to anyone who might be interested and suitable: we are looking for someone who is at least a commercially endorsed RYA Yachtmaster with experience on larger sailing vessels as well as the ability to work well with young people and volunteers, and the personality to be a great addition to the team.

We did something similar when Prolific was new to the charity, recruiting a Sailing Support Officer, and in successive seasons we brought in Peta and Holly, both of whom went on to skipper Prolific. We are now looking for someone who will be just as much of an asset to the team as a seasonal first mate as Peta and Holly were in the SSO role!

Back to index


* OYT South AGM – online – Thursday 9th December
OYT South’s AGM will take place on the evening of Thursday 9th December, on Zoom – all welcome! There will be a very short formal meeting followed by a review of the year from our Chief Executive Mark Todd. After that people can stay online and chat. Would anyone like to volunteer to run a quiz or another fun event?

More details in due course, but for now, please save the date!

Don’t forget that only members can vote or propose or second a motion at the AGM (though non-members are welcome to attend) – if you want to become a member or renew your membership, please contact the office. The official AGM mailing with agenda, minutes, accounts and Trustee election details will be sent out to members in the next couple of weeks.

Back to index


* Sea staff needed for day sail – Tuesday 2nd November
On Tuesday 2nd November we are going to run a day sail for our major sponsors, MDL, and we need one more qualified Prolific watchleader or a bosun. Email webmaster1@oytsouth.org if you can help.

Back to index


* February training weekend
We still haven’t decided whether to run a normal face-to-face shorebased training weekend next February, with a dinner on the Saturday night as usual, or whether it will need to be another largely online event. However, there are certain things that must be done face-to-face and one of those is the RYA first aid course. Everyone who did an online extension last winter needs to renew as that was only valid for one year, and then there will be all the other people due their three-yearly update this winter, and new volunteers doing the qualification for the first time. So Tony Salmon will be running a course on Saturday 26th February in Gosport, with an option for a second course on Sunday 27th February if we have enough people. Email caroline.white@oytsouth.org if you are interested.

We will also look at running other things on the same weekend – please email caroline.white@oytsouth.org with any thoughts on other courses you would like us to run!

Back to index


* Voyage news
This week’s voyage began on Sunday with a crew from Bay House School, Gosport (coincidentally the school attended by Josh, our engineer), funded through Portsmouth Harbour Marine.

They sailed to Poole on Monday, in weather that really doesn’t look like October:

They did man overboard recovery drills in the Solent; and once they passed the Needles, the wind filled in and they were able to sail.

A 14-year-old crew member took charge of the pilotage into Poole and they enjoyed showers, shore leave and games before bed.

On Tuesday they set off for an ambitious passage all the way round the south of the Isle of Wight. They hoisted the sails but initially there was no wind and they motored in glorious sunshine, listening to music and practising their knots on deck. However, around St Catherine’s Point they got some wind and were able to sail the rest of the way to Chichester.

They spent the night at a beautiful anchorage in Chichester Harbour with a very peaceful sunset and a glorious sunrise:

The weather continued to be very kind and watchleader Glyn commented that he hadn’t expected to find himself on a beach in shorts and a t-shirt in October!

They also did some beach cleaning and sadly found this rubbish in just five minutes on a 50-metre stretch of beach:

On Wednesday they sailed to Cowes, passing some vast container ships, and had shore leave, dinner and games. They also came across one of our watchleaders, Will Parker, who was doing his Day Skipper course.

The crew did some passage planning yesterday morning; group leader Alex drove Prolific off her berth; and the young people took charge of getting the boat back to Ocean Village where the voyage ended after 105 nautical miles. All eight young people earned RYA Start Yachting certificates. An extra voyage certificate was also issued – Alex’s wife Helen made a big contribution to the voyage on FaceTime, helping him cook an amazing curry, so got a certificate for her galley duties!

You can see the full voyage track here.

Big thanks to sea staff Andy Viney, Ben “Sparky” Whinnett, Martin Bayfield, Glyn Collins, many congratulations to Sandy Garrity for passing his third mate’s assessment, and special thanks to Willoughby Matthews and Annette Potter from our office team who both joined the voyage at very short notice when other sea staff had to drop out!

Back to index


* Sail training changes lives – update to JP’s story
Many of you will remember JP, who has featured in this newsletter before, having first sailed with us aged 13 when he was facing huge struggles due to severe dyslexia, but who credits the sailing experience for turning things round for him and setting him on the path to a successful adult life – as you can see in this video. He now runs his own fuel distribution business – including supplying oil for Prolific’s engine. HGV and fuel tanker drivers have obviously been much in the news lately – which prompted JP’s local paper to run this feature on him! It’s fantastic to see how far he has come, and wonderful that he remains a friend to OYT South who is still happy to talk about how sail training changed his life.

Back to index


2022 voyage programme
We are just finalising bookings for the last few people who had places cancelled last year or this year and then we’ll be able to accept new individual bookings.

There should be extra voyages added to this list later, once all our group bookings are finalised, but the following voyages are all open to individual bookings for young people now

15-19 April, Southampton, 4 nights, £425
9-15 July, Poole to Brixham tbc, 6 nights, £625
23-27 July, Brixham tbc, 4 nights, £425
17-23 Aug, Brixham tbc, 6 nights, £625
24-29 Aug, Brixham to Poole tbc, 5 nights, £525
30 Aug – 4 Sept, Poole to Southampton tbc, 5 nights, £525
21-25 Oct, Southampton, 4 nights, £410 (voyage starts later on Friday so people can join after schools break up for half term)

If you are interested in any of these dates. email webmaster1@oytsouth.org stating the age of the person who will be sailing. Our voyages can be open to people aged 11-25 but in practice we aim to divide people into compatible groups and not have 11-year-olds and 25-year-olds sailing together. If you are around the middle of the age range, any voyage on the list could work, but for younger or older people we will advise if your chosen date looks appropriate or not – sometimes it is hard to be sure until we have a reasonable number of enquiries.

If none of these dates are suitable, then we MAY also open up one or more of the following to individual bookings, depending on the levels of demand for individual mixed voyages versus group voyages. So do let us know if you would be interested in a place on any of these voyages once the decision is made:

2-8 July, Southampton to Poole, 6 nights, £625
10-16 Aug, Falmouth to Brixham tbc, 6 nights, £625.

People who are aged 18-25 can apply for places on youth voyages but would also be eligible for adult voyages (18+ with no upper age limit). We have adult weekends scheduled as follows:

1-3 April, Southampton, 2 nights, £215
7-9 Oct, Southampton, 2 nights, £215
There will also be a longer adult week – date to be decided once more youth groups have chosen their dates. Again, email webmaster1@oytsouth.org if you are interested in an adult berth.

Please don’t contact us yet about sea staff bookings – we’ll ask for volunteer bids from late November or December.

Back to index


2022 voyage programme – OPEN for group bookings
We are just finalising bookings for the last few groups which had places cancelled last year or this year, as well as for our regular clients; but if anyone else is looking for a group booking (12-15 crew, including young people and any accompanying adults), please email webmaster1@oytsouth.org a.s.a.p. and we can discuss available dates.

Back to index


Vessel tracking
Don’t forget you can always have a look and see where Prolific is sailing.

Just for the moment we can’t welcome visitors on board due to Covid protocols but if you discover that Prolific is in a harbour somewhere near you, please go and say hello from a safe distance. And sometimes you may be just what we need if you have local information or a bit of time to spare to help with something, or a car for running a quick errand!

Big thanks to the Graham High Charity who sponsor our vessel tracking.

Back to index


Chris Ellis Award – win £££s off the price of your next voyage!
Now open for 2021 entries.

If you enjoy a voyage with OYT South and want to come again (and are aged 11-25), please think about entering for this award. You can win up to £500 off the price of another voyage, by sending in an account of a voyage you have already done with us. It can be a logbook, diary, story, pictures, video - anything which gives the judges an idea of why you had a good time and would like to come again. The prize is judged at the end of each season and the award can be spent on a voyage the following year. Entries should be emailed to webmaster1@oytsouth.org or posted to the office. See here for more details of this award, which was set up in memory of the charity's founder. You can also see some previous winning entries.

There were no 2020 winners because we were unable to sail, so it would be great to see an excellent crop of entries for 2021!

Back to index


Financial appeal
We need a regular flow of funds to cover at least three major areas: bursaries for young people who could not otherwise afford to sail; vessel maintenance and equipment; and staff salaries - please help, or pass on our details to anyone you come across who might make a grant, large or small.

See here for how to make a donation - you can contribute by cheque, phone or PayPal, but please do something if you possibly can. Don't forget that if you complete and return a Gift Aid form (pdf) we can claim back tax on your donation.

Back to index


Painting of Prolific – prints available to buy!
Our friend, Gosport-based marine artist Colin Baxter, has prints taken from an original painting of Prolific available for you to buy.

Painting

The unframed prints will measure 370mm x 230mm plus border. They will be numbered and signed, and will cost £45 if you can pick yours up in Gosport, and £50 if you need it posted (they will probably come rolled in a cardboard tube). Order here:

Postage / collection options

Anyone outside the UK wanting to order a copy, please email us.

Back to index


Raise funds for OYT South if you're shopping online!
"What a fool I was!" says Mark Todd.

"For ages I've seen in the bulletin that Easyfundraising is a good way to raise money for charity, but I never got round to doing anything about it, and when Caz told me how easy it was, I didn't listen.

I thought it might be a hassle, or that I'd have to remember to do something when I bought stuff online, or that it probably wasn't really worthwhile.

This week I finally got round to it and it turns out it's a REALLY EASY way to raise money for the charity I care about ... and I definitely should have done it sooner.

It takes a minute or two to sign up; you can do it on a desktop, tablet and/or phone, and you can install a widget that flags up when a donation is available. Once that's done, imagine you're looking to buy - say - a rainbow unicorn: just put "rainbow unicorn" in your usual search box, and the list of results shows you which sites come with donations, and how much. It's up to you what to pick and whether to accept the donation from the site, but a huge choice of sites will offer a donation - and it doesn't cost you a penny.

I don't know why I didn't do it sooner ... but if there's anyone else who has been like me and just not got round to it, PLEASE click the link now and sign up!"

Easyfundraising

OYT South is also registered with Amazon Smile which makes donations to us when people shop - Amazon will donate 0.5% of the net purchase price on eligible purchases. If you ever shop with Amazon, do have a look - once you pick Ocean Youth Trust South as your chosen charity and start using https://smile.amazon.co.uk, you don't need to do anything further, and all your other Amazon account settings remain unchanged.

Back to index


OYT South social media – please get involved
One of the simplest ways you can help us while we can’t sail is to keep looking at our social media pages and share, retweet or like as many posts as possible. This all helps to make sure other people hear about us too – and the more we can keep alive the interest in our charitable work, the more people might help us now or start to think about sailing with us in future. Maybe you’ve got a community group, a local page, even a street WhatsApp where members might like to know that you are involved with a charity that could be of interest to them?

We are on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/oytsouth - please do give us a Like! If you were friends with John Laing on our old page (https://www.facebook.com/johnlaingsailing please do move to the new page now.

We are also on Twitter @oytsouth so please follow us!

And Instagram @oyt_south

And LinkedIn Ocean Youth Trust South

Please note that OYT South has a policy that our adult staff and volunteers should not make or accept individual online friend requests with crew members aged under 18, or vulnerable adults. Crew members can use the sites to stay in touch with the boat and with each other, but not with individual staff and volunteers.

Back to index


Branded clothing
OYT South branded clothing available - please see here. You can buy hoodies (in a wide range of colours), fleeces, short- and long-sleeved t-shirts, baseball caps, beanie hats, polo shirts and more, all with OYT South's logo!

Back to index


Raise And Sail - website for anyone looking to raise money to come sailing
Raise And Sail is a section of this website full of ideas, information and support for young people who would like to raise money in order to come sailing with us. Huge thanks to Fiona Keen and Emma Burrows for putting Raise And Sail together. We hope you will find it useful - let us know how you get on as we can add success stories and new ideas to the site in due course.

Back to index


New readers' welcome and introduction
If you have recently registered your interest in OYT South, welcome to our newsletter, which is sent out almost every week, normally on a Friday, and is also copied onto the website.

If you have just started receiving this newsletter by email, it is because we believe you have signed up and consented to receive it - perhaps by emailing us to ask for it, completing a form on our website, or adding your email address to the book on board where people can sign up to receive news, as well as leaving comments. If this was a mistake or you simply decide you want to stop receiving the newsletter, just press “reply” to the email and write UNSUBSCRIBE at the top, or email webmaster1@oytsouth.org asking to unsubscribe.

Each week the newsletter includes a wide range of news from the boat and from the charity, including details of voyages available for young people; adult voyages; opportunities for adult volunteers both ashore and afloat, and much more. We find that while some people read the bulletin almost every week, many others dip in and out, and read it when it's convenient - which is why some items are repeated. New items are marked with an asterisk * so that if you did read it last week, you can see which sections you can safely skip.

Please feel free to join in any OYT South activities - nothing here is restricted to long-standing members or people who already know one another. New people are always very welcome!

If you need an introduction to the work of OYT South, you should find a lot of useful information on our website. But essentially, we are a registered charity (no. 1079959) which exists to offer adventure under sail as a personal development opportunity for young people aged 12-25, from the widest possible range of backgrounds. A high proportion of our young crew members are disadvantaged or deserving in some way: many of these sail in groups organised by other charities, youth clubs, special schools and so on, and will fill the bulk of our term-time voyages. But those from more fortunate backgrounds are also welcome to sail, either in groups or by coming as individuals on a mixed voyage. Every year we run a variety of shorter local voyages plus longer adventure trips - sometimes including Tall Ships races during the summer holidays. If you are aged 12-25 and hoping to sail as a crew member, take a look here - and this section is also useful for adults who are thinking of organising a voyage for a young person. Adults planning to organise a full group voyage should also see here. Adults who want to sail themselves should see here.

We have a professional staff skipper and engineer, but our watch leaders are normally all volunteers, who combine sailing skills with an interest in working with young people. You can find more information here - how the system works, how to join, and profiles of existing staff and volunteers.  

To volunteer for OYT South ashore, please see here. To help with the vessel's annual refit, see here.

It is a very expensive business maintaining a boat, running an office and employing staff. If you want to help us, please become a member of OYT South. Or see here for information on making a donation.

If you have any questions, please do email - or contact the office.

Back to index


Receiving this newsletter by email
Many thanks to all those who have given consent to receiving this newsletter by email. If you are not currently getting it by email and would like to, please just click here Newsletter Subscribe and press "send", or email webmaster1@oytsouth.org.

Back to index






“To be honest I never wanted to come, but I'm glad I did because I have learnt and seen so much!" Charlotte