Newsletter
OYT South bulletin 9th July 2021
In this Bulletin
Sections which have changed since last time marked *
- * Voyage news!
- * Sea staff vacancies – bids needed NOW!
- * Vessel tracking
- * Chris Ellis Award– win £££s off the price of your next voyage!
- * Update on plans for the season
- * Making memories with the Ocean Youth Club– Kim’s story
- Core refit team needed
- Financial appeal
- Painting of Prolific - prints available to buy!
- Passports – be prepared
- Raise funds for OYT South if you're shopping online!
- OYT South social media - please get involved
- Branded clothing
- Raise And Sail - website for anyone looking to raise money to come sailing
- New readers’ welcome and introduction
- Receiving this newsletter by email
* Voyage news!
Prolific is sailing with young people again, after a gap of 603 days!
We are starting the season cautiously, with smaller groups to allow for some distancing on board, and extensive pre-voyage Covid screening. But we are sailing at last! HUGE thanks to all the people whose support helped us to get to this position.
The first voyage of the season was a group of sixth-formers from Ardingly College. They sailed to Poole and then the next morning the young people took charge of pilotage out of the harbour:
Tom Knight spotted them and sent in some photos:
They had a day cruising the Dorset coast, ending with an anchorage in Swanage Bay in the sunshine and a chance to test our new deck beanbags:
The next day was decidedly damp but enthusiasm levels were high and they got the sails up and headed for Cowes.
They should have returned to Southampton that evening as the voyage ended at 10am next day, but everyone was having such a good time that they volunteered to get up at 6am in order to have a short sail on the last morning:
They were back in our home port of Ocean Village by 9am. Skipper Holly said: “The whole crew were a delight to have on board – polite, keen, intelligent. The school group make a fantastic friendship group who all supported each other, and there was a lovely atmosphere on board throughout.” They all earned their RYA Start Yachting certificates. Huge thanks to sea staff Holly, Vince, Georgia, Andy Gissing, Patrick Kelly and Chloe Portrey.
The second voyage of the year was for young people living in children’s homes in Hampshire, with two of their support workers. After basic briefings when the crew arrived on Thursday afternoon, they set off that evening and did winch drills and other exercises under way in Southampton Water, with a fantastic dinner of spaghetti and meatballs cooked by bosun Vince. They picked up a mooring buy outside Yarmouth to spend the night, and next day headed out of the Solent, sailing to Swanage in light winds, with man overboard recovery drills on the way. They anchored in Swanage bay and had rides in the dinghy before settling down to a film night on board: Pirates of the Caribbean. Next morning they had a chance to go ashore in Swanage and one of the boys bought an ammonite:
That afternoon they went for a sail and practised some manoeuvres as well as giving everyone a chance to climb out on the bowsprit, before anchoring in Studland for the night. The following day was a chance to learn about navigation, with everyone involved in piloting the vessel into Poole Harbour:
They had hoped to get onto their end-voyage berth that night but in the weather conditions at the time, this wasn’t possible; but the wind was due to moderate and allow a safer berth next morning, so they headed back out again for another anchorage, ahead of a very early start and a return to Poole next day for the end of the voyage.
There was some outstanding cooking on this voyage, including naan breads from scratch:
There were also plenty of games:
All the group earned their RYA Start Yachting qualifications. And we had some great feedback from the children’s homes. One wrote:
“I wanted to say a huge thank you to you and your team on behalf of our young resident who has had the most amazing time and has not stopped talking about the trip since we collected her. She has grown in confidence and has told us about all of the challenges that she faced during the voyage, and how she was encouraged and supported to achieve every challenge presented to her. She is really keen to get involved again and be part of another voyage if this is ever a possibility. She has been talking so positively about this experience I feel it has been the highlight of the year for her so far. She has spoken so highly of your team on board and how helpful, friendly and kind all the crew were to her for which I am grateful as she was initially very anxious. Please pass on all of our thanks to the team and if any other opportunities present themselves then please do let us know.”
Another wrote: “Can I please thank you on behalf of the two boys who have not long returned from their trip on board Prolific. They have had the most amazing time and have managed to learn a great deal over the last five days. Feedback from my staff member suggests that the group got on really well and they were kept very busy!! Can you send our thanks to the crew on board for giving them a once in a lifetime experience.”
Big thanks to sea staff Holly, Vince, Lee, Annant - and Patrick who sums up here what it feels like to have OYT South back in action once more:
We crewed up again on Tuesday with a second group from Ardingly College, younger than the previous group. It was very windy so they didn’t set off on the first night but instead completed all their briefings in harbour, with lots of keen and attentive people. They also enjoyed another of Vince’s special dinners!
On Wednesday they set off with a passage plan that involved looking at the wind and sea state outside the harbour before deciding whether to go to Swanage or continue to Weymouth. In the end they did make it to Weymouth in the windiest conditions of the year so far – with a lot of resilience on deck and heroics in the galley. Holly said it was a fantastic sail, but with many sails up and down so that there were a lot of sleepy people by the time they anchored.
Yesterday they started with the tide in much calmer conditions and did drills on the way as well as getting people out on the bowsprit or chilling on the deck beanbags.
They anchored in Tor Bay last night. Big thanks to sea staff Holly, Lee, Vince, Tom Knight, Cathy Ayres and group leader Tim Sayers.
We also picked up a couple of hitchhikers:
* Sea staff vacancies – bids needed NOW
We have started the season with small groups of sea staff but we want to increase the numbers as soon as it is safe to do so. If any more sea staff are looking to sail this year, or would like more voyages than you have already booked, please look at the voyage programme and email us with a list of the voyage numbers you could do (bearing in mind that sea staff almost always need to join the boat the afternoon before the voyage start listed on the programme), and also explaining whether you are bidding for just one or two voyages or whether you would like as many as we can give you.
We are initially looking for bids from people whose DBS clearance, references and qualifications are all up to date in our records. This is because the staff team is under considerable pressure at the moment and we’re just going to have to prioritise people who can be slotted in with no work required! However, if you can sort out any outstanding qualifications quickly and easily, then by all means send in your bids. If you are unsure whether you can are up to date or not, Jo (joclark@oytsouth.org) will be able to tell you.
* 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.
* 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!
* Update on plans for the season
We are obviously closely following the government’s announcements on lifting restrictions, although it tends to take a while after any headline news before all the small print is published and we have updated guidance from our governing bodies. However, we will continue to have a responsibility for the safety of all who sail with us and at a time of peak infections among our target market of unvaccinated under-18s, we may not rush straight back to operating at maximum capacity. We will continue to keep under review the issue of how many people we can safely manage per voyage.
We have long waiting lists for places on summer voyages for young people but please note our Crew Covid Guidance which includes details of pre-voyage screening as well as procedures to be followed if anyone shows symptoms while on board. The pre-voyage screening includes a requirement for two negative Covid tests: one 3-4 days before the voyage, and the second immediately before travelling to the boat. If anyone chooses to join the waiting list and keep up regular testing (which can be the rapid home tests which many young people will be used to doing for school or college) then you could be eligible if we have any last-minute vacancies which might arise from someone else having a positive test result just before their voyage.
* Making memories with the Ocean Youth Club – Kim’s story
Big thanks to Fiona Pankhurst for encouraging her friend Kim Shakespeare to write down her memories of sailing with the Ocean Youth Club as a teenager – never forgotten after forty-five years! Thanks also to Kim for this account:
“Oh go on, pleeezzzze, it’ll be fun,” she said, tossing her thick blonde fringe to one side. My best friend Julie had always taken part in weekend dinghy sailing since she could shout “LEE HO!” and the thought of having the chance to board a 72ft ketch piqued her excitement to the point of harassing me for days until I succumbed to her nagging. I was just fifteen and spent most of my spare time racing to and from dance classes on a Saturday morning and then feverishly packing for a few nights on the family’s motor cruiser, moored on the River Thames. I knew very little about the actual logistics or science of sailing and my only experience was negotiating the local dinghy club, who defiantly tacked back and forth across our path on the river and gave the odd dirty look before shouting “CUT YOUR WASH!” However, here I was sitting in an office at Hillingdon Civic Centre being offered a £60 grant by a pinstriped suited chap and told to “have fun and make some memories”. I dutifully skipped out holding a cheque, wearing my Chelsea Girl flares and sporting a “Purdy” (Avengers girl) haircut and suddenly thought “geez what have I got myself into?”
Little did I know this hastily planned trip would become an event that I would never forget - and not always for the reasons you may think. It was 1977, the year of the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations and, as part of marking this special occasion, the Ocean Youth Club were offering a week-long trip for young novice sailors to sail from Gosport on the Solent, across the channel to St Malo in France.
Now, I considered myself to be a practical teenage girl and packed enough spare clothes for all weather conditions, minimum hair care products and just the basics of fashionable ‘ahoy there!’ outfits. However, as I stepped down into the already laden Avon dinghy, I knew I was in for a massive learning curve as the hems of my Oxford Bags slowly absorbed the water sploshing about in the bottom of the inflatable. Julie and I huddled close and perched ourselves on the bouncy rubber edge and stared up at our fellow sailors ... all of them male and all looking about eighteen years of age!
Seeing Sir Thomas Sopwith in the distance was awe inspiring, her hull glinting in the July evening sunshine, looming longer and higher than any craft I’d set foot on. As we scrambled up the boarding ladder, making sure not to swing around precariously in front of the lads, the authoritative voice of the skipper beckoned us to board quickly. His first mate ushered us down into our bunks and as I threw my rucksack towards the foot end of the top bunk, I imagined trying to haul myself up into bed that night without kicking Julie’s head as she lay underneath me!
It seemed to take an eternity to get everyone settled and the safety talks were delivered with little humour - I was beginning to feel a little out of my depth. The first of many cups of wishy-washy tea was handed round and life jackets and oilskins were given out to try on. At five foot two, everything was huge on me and I hastily knotted the elastic braces of my custard yellow salopettes so I could see my blue and white deck shoes, and rolled up the sleeves of the jacket until I looked like I was wearing mini rubber rings around my wrists. It was at this point I looked up at my crew mates, all of whom were looking equally ridiculous and all laughing behind their high zipped collars. One very tall lad looked as though he was hanging by his braces and might never have had children in the future. It wasn’t until I informed him he had the buckles pulled too tight and we adjusted them, that his voice returned to a normal grunt.
This outfit was to become my friend and foe and on numerous occasions I appreciated its protection from the never-ending sea spray and being able to sit on the dewy deck in the mornings without a second thought. In addition, it was liberating to eat soup whilst in transit and to scoop up missed mouthfuls that the wind enjoyed slopping off your spoon. In contrast, it became my enemy, with the lining smelling musty and damp, sticking to every crease of my body. Taking it off to use the ‘heads’ was near-impossible, especially when the yacht was at an angle and pounding a wave every few seconds. It was okay for the lads but us girls needed more access. I eventually learned to niftily pull my undergarments to one side, tuck my ankles round the pan and hold myself down on the seat long enough to benefit from the ordeal. Needless to say I often refused hot drinks until I my four-hour shift was nearing the end and I could pee in peace!
On the first haul we were informed that we would all be expected to take night shifts, which for me basically involved sleeping in my wet gear then when shaken out of my pit sitting towards the bow and looking out for other vessels or debris. Julie and I had some very in-depth conversations throughout those shifts: it’s strange how the rhythmical slapping of the waves and a hot chocolate drink encouraged candidness of conversation. I’m not quite sure how significant this job was but it seemed plausible and I was happy to play my part. Other, more experienced youths set about winching in sheets and taking direction from those at the wheel.
Preparing main meals for each shift was also deemed shareable by all and although I occasionally cooked at home, I hadn’t the faintest idea how to ration for so many hungry people. However, we worked in pairs and it gave us an opportunity to really get to know each other. One afternoon, we were half-way through tucking into a hearty beef stew and the order of “ready about” was given to all the crew. Imagine my surprise and just a tad of disgust when our portions were snatched off us and scraped back into the casserole pot to await us upon return. Lesson learned? Eat quickly!
Sailing in extreme conditions was exhilarating, if a little scary at times. I followed the rules and consistently attached my safety harness as I moved around the boat. If you’ve experienced any form of boating you will understand the number of bruises you acquire and aboard this vessel there were no exceptions and during one particular leg of the journey we were at such an angle I could barely keep my position. I eventually managed to wedge my feet against the gunwale but was gradually losing my footing each time the sail snatched. I remember looking towards the crew and trying to catch their attention - but realising that I had to find my own way of securing myself. Pulling myself up onto the centre I grabbed hold of a wooden shuttered box that held spare gas bottles and hugged it as hard as I could until we changed direction. In retrospect, I probably wasn’t in any real danger but for me this was testament to the confidence and trust I had in myself to deal with the challenge. All I know, is that my arms ached heavily that night and on calmer legs of the journey, I sat on that box looking out at the horizon with renewed defiance.
I was very lucky in that I never suffered from sea sickness and secretly took great delight in watching ashen-faced boys lifting their heads from the rails with necklaces of that morning's breakfast adorning their sou’westers. There were always opportunities for what we call nowadays “banter” to take place, taking the mickey out of each other and building a rapport with the older generation. I also realised I had something to offer, be it practical support or a sense of humour: you were made to feel important and valued. During long trips, when the water was calm and flat, we were put to task cleaning the yacht. Scrubbing the decks was a favourite as it gave the lads a chance to show off their prowess, lifting canvas buckets of water out of the sea and swilling it everywhere. I preferred polishing the brass but could never understand why I was asked to focus on fittings that never looked that dirty. Methinks this was just a ploy to keep us busy, but hey, I was making a contribution and that’s what counted. I remember being asked if I wanted to climb up the mast to unravel a line, I don’t think there was much wrong with it to be honest and even suspected the first mate secretly shinned up it and created a few knots, but up I went. Once I accepted how much it swayed I felt okay - and concentrating on the task helped you remain focused. I don’t think I could do it now.
We finally approached St Malo and we anchored offshore for the night. An evening in port was arranged at a local French restaurant and I eagerly dragged out the one and only feminine top from the bottom of my bag. We all traipsed down ‘la rue’ and squashed ourselves down a bench at the longest table we could find before trying to recall key phrases from our up and coming French exams – and pretending to like the vino. As the youngest members of the crew, us ladies were both treated as adults but still cared for as adolescents, no strings, no awkward moments, just camaraderie and fun.
I apologise to those of you dyed-in-the-wool sailors who might have wished for a more comprehensive memory of this trip. The challenges of chart plotting maybe, or the use of more technical sailing terms: but this was my journey, my memory, my story and it has stayed with me for over forty-five years. I recently reminded my 87-year-old father of this adventure and he recalled that upon my return I was a changed girl, a more confident and mature woman. It was only a week, a summer break before adulthood responsibilities took hold and although Julie and I lost touch over the years, I still treasure the friendship we shared and as the pin striped suited chap ordered, we made memories.
Over the following years I have sailed abroad with my family, holidaying in France and Holland, boyfriends and girlfriends in tow and even with my eight month old son to Guernsey, taking it in turns to hold him and laying him down in a travel cot up on the top deck. Nothing beats that moment when the weather forecast is good, it’s four in the morning and you leave a harbour behind and look out over the water ahead of you. I have now retired from teaching and am very lucky to live on the River Hamble and often see an Ocean Youth Trust yacht sail by from our balcony, brightly-coloured figures loitering along the decks, no doubt hoisting the main sail - or are they just cleaning the brass?
Written by Kim Shakespeare
Core refit team needed
Obviously our winter plans are all dependent on what we can do in a Covid-safe manner, but all being well, we will be 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.
Financial appeal
Big thanks to
all our supporters and friends who have responded with such kindness and generosity to our appeal over the last year. We are not thanking everyone individually in the bulletin only because quite a few people have asked to remain anonymous; but we are truly grateful to all of you. Everyone who has contributed and is still contributing is playing a huge part in getting us through this long period with no voyage income, and ensuring that the charity will be strong enough to do important work with young people who will need us more than ever, as soon as we can safely sail again.
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.
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.
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:
Anyone outside the UK wanting to order a copy, please email us.
Passports – be prepared
Since 1st January 2021, British passport holders travelling to the EU will need to ensure that on the day you travel, your passport has at least 6 months left, and it must also be less than 10 years old (even if it has 6 months or more left). If you’re planning to sail with us, do make sure your passport is in order in case your voyage might be able to sail to France. We won’t be sailing outside the UK until the situation with Covid seems more secure, but it would be a shame to get to that point and then find a long wait as everyone else is suddenly needing to renew their passports too: you might find it convenient to get it renewed while travel isn’t possible so that you don’t have to send it off for renewal later on!
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!"
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
