Refit
We are now in the middle of the final, all-out effort to get everything finished on the boat. People are working incredibly hard and putting in some extremely long hours to finish all the jobs, so if anyone reading this has a day or two to spare up to and including next Friday 18th March, you could ease the burden on the refit team just a little by getting down there to give them a hand – either on the boat, or by helping to clean the refit house on Friday when we move out. Asking volunteers to come and clean probably sounds a bit cheeky but it really will make a difference as it frees up experienced refit helpers to work on the boat. Call Wolf on 07771 771864 if you can spare any time at all to help with anything at all!

This week’s heroes have been Wolf and Craig, Ceri, Kat, Special K, Irish Chris, Contact Marine Chris, Neil Fairbrother, Matt Johnson, Ian, Jude and Ed Surridge. They have done a lot of painting, including the galley, saloon, nav area, deck and cockpit; but apart from that, the jobs have been all about putting things back together and getting the kit back on board. That’s what everyone will be doing for the next seven days.

Crew bookings
David Salmon has been on leave this week, so there’s nothing new to report on current vacancies till he gets back. As far as I know, these are the berths still available (all open to ages 12-25, except JL05-29, 30, 31 and 32, which are 15-25):

JL05-03: 1st-5th April, Southampton, £235 (2 berths available)
JL05-15: 16th-22nd May, Poole, £385 (12 berths)
JL05-16: 23rd-27th May, Poole, £235 (5 berths)
JL05-20: 6th-11th June, Poole, £300 (berths available tbc)
JL05-29: 8th-15th July, Waterford to Cherbourg, £560 (3 berths)
JL05-30: 16th-26th July, Cherbourg to Newcastle, £635 (8 berths)
JL05-31: 27th July – 5th August, Newcastle to Fredrikstad, £635 (9 berths)
JL05-32: 6th-10th Aug, Fredrikstad – Bremerhaven, £305 (11 berths)
JL05-34: 12th-17th Aug, Bremerhaven to Ipswich, £380 (10 berths)
Plus lots of options in the autumn – including a few full-boat bookings if there are any groups still looking for a trip.

There may be bursary funding on offer, particularly for some of the more expensive trips, for deserving candidates who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford to sail – please contact the office for more information, as well as for bookings and general enquiries: 0870 241 2252, email office@oytsouth.org .

Sea staff bookings
Email me or call me on 07986 354697 and tell me whether you are looking for first mate, second mate, third mate or an assessment berth, and I’ll send you a list of vacancies.

There are still plenty of gaps for first mates after the end of April. We need second mates for 25-29 April, 16-22 May, 23-27 May and a third mate for 27-30 May. Any volunteers? I’ll advertise specific gaps for June onwards a bit nearer the time.

News and gossip section
Chris Lane went to Bishop’s Waltham Rotary Club this week, had a great time and came away with a donation for £300 – thanks very much to the group, and in particular to Pete Yeoman for organising the evening. And I spoke at Biggleswade Rotary Club following an invitation from a friend of Fraser Old – I got a donation of £50 on the night but they are also looking at sponsoring a deserving local youngster; or perhaps we may get some bookings via individual members of the group who work with young people.

That’s all for now…..must get down to the refit!