In this Bulletin
Sections which have changed since last time marked *
- Job advertisement – Staff First Mate
- * Sea staff vacancies this season – NEW space on a weekend voyage
- Winter refit core team needed – including a driver
- * Voyage news
- Safeguarding – new team member needed
- MDL fundraising event in Ocean Village – help needed
- 2025 DRAFT programme
- Maintenance days – PLEASE help
- 2024 AGM – a date for your diary
- Financial appeal
- Prolific earrings inspired by a crew member – and now NEW necklaces as well!
- Raise funds for OYT South if you’re shopping online – we’ve made over £2,200 through Easyfundraising!
- OYT South social media – please share as well as liking!
- Branded clothing
- New readers’ welcome and introduction
- Receiving this newsletter by email
Job advertisement – Staff First Mate
Everyone knows what a brilliant addition to the team it has been to have Lauren Mackenzie as our Staff First Mate. But she’s now well into her second full-time season with us and she’s too good to stay as a Mate for ever. So she’s going to be leaving us at the end of the season and we will look forward to seeing her developing her experience as a skipper – including, we hope, coming back from time to time as a relief mate or relief skipper for Prolific: we definitely don’t expect to lose touch with someone who has been part of OYT South since she was 16! In the meantime, she will leave a big gap and we are looking for an amazing new Staff First Mate to follow in her footsteps. Please see here for a job description, including deadlines and how to apply.
* Sea staff vacancies this season – NEW space on a weekend voyage
Please email webmaster1@oytsouth.org if you can help with any of the remaining vacancies.
People who have been newly-recommended to join the volunteers’ team: please do contact us if you are interested in suitable voyages from this list – we can advise you if a particular vacancy needs someone with more Prolific experience, but where possible this list is for you as much as it is for established volunteers. We will need to make sure your DBS, references and other paperwork is in place before you can sail. And do keep checking the list in each edition of the newsletter as people do occasionally drop out and leave other vacancies!
Dates given are when crew are on board so volunteers are generally needed the day before:
6-10 Sept, Southampton – female staff member needed – qualified or trainee watchleader or bosun – for a voyage with young people in care. Ideally able to help with maintenance on 5th Sept as well.
16-20 Sept, Southampton – qualified watchleader. School group (new client)
11-13 Oct, Southampton (weekend voyage) – mates’ training weekend -we need another member of sea staff who knows the boat well enough to help us new potential volunteers how it all works
25-29 Oct, Southampton – qualified or trainee watchleader. Swindon Scouts group.
Please email webmaster1@oytsouth.org if you would like to sail!
Winter refit core team needed – including a driver
If you are planning a gap year, or you are between jobs or for any other reason potentially available for several weeks or months this winter, might you be interested in joining our full-time refit team? We will need a couple of full-time volunteers between November and March. More details here. Plenty of our previous refit volunteers have gone on to great jobs in the marine industry – it really helps to have maintenance experience as well as good sailing skills when applying for sailing jobs! And any refit volunteers who want to sail in Prolific can be offered berths as watchleaders, bosuns, or relief engineers. So it’s a great way of developing useful experience, contributing to a good cause, securing free food and accommodation for a few months, and having a positive experience with a fun group of people! If you’re interested, please read the web page and email us with the details requested at the bottom of the page.
We’re looking for at least one of the core team volunteers to have a driving licence and be able to drive the refit car, to help get people between the accommodation and the boat, or for fetching kit and taking parts for servicing.
We’ll also need lots of casual volunteers helping for a day, a few days or a weekend, but we can get people booked in for that much nearer the time – at this stage we are really just thinking about the core team.
* Voyage news
The last newsletter ended as our MACS crew was leaving the boat.
Their feedback included:
“I liked the whole trip really, I liked every trip with the MACS so it’s just every time I see you lot I go “Whoo hooo”! I can just totally be myself, that’s just the best bit.”
“Seeing everybody sort of step up this year in the stuff they do, because a lot of us have been on this boat loads of times and … to see loads of different people running sail hoists and sail drops was great … it was brilliant to see that they were feeling confident enough to do that.”
“Leading some sail hoists and drops was really exciting and built up my confidence.”
“Most lasting memory: going out on the bowsprit to take in the sail, ‘cos I love going out on the bowsprit but I have only ever gone out to just chill, never to take a sail in so that was really fun.”
“Another amazing voyage! I loved leading sail drops and getting included in everything!”
“The staff were welcoming and lovely. I have learned new things and had a laugh. Had a great time sailing and I didn’t feel sick. Can’t wait for next year.”
“The voyage was so cool and fun with great sea staff … I am so proud of myself about getting in the dinghy to go ashore.”
“I loved this voyage so much! The staff and crew were so kind. I felt much more confident and knowledgeable. I love revisiting places around the coast and steering.”
“I love coming on these voyages and this year was no different! I really pushed myself to try new things which resulted in me going out on the bowsprit to help take in the jib and leading a mizzen drop which I am really happy about.”
“Being back on Prolific was amazing. I always enjoy getting to take part, lead sail hoists + drops. This year was especially fun as the Sea Staff were all so lovely + supportive! I can’t wait to come back next year.”
This week we have had a mixed crew of individual bookings on board. They joined in Brixham last Saturday and after introductions and briefings, set off across the Channel overnight, learning to hoist sails and use the winches:
They enjoyed clear skies so the Milky Way and shooting stars were visible, and there was plenty to look out for in the busy shipping lanes.
People got their first chance to try going out on the bowsprit:
They arrived in St Helier on Monday and the crew went ashore to explore, before a barbecue on the beach until the sun set.
Next morning they left for an anchorage on the north side of Jersey. There was very little wind but they had a chance to practise sail hoists and knot-tying:
It was an incredibly hot day:
They were glad to find that Bouley Bay was not only beautiful but also a great place for swimming.
The following morning the breeze filled in and it was raining.
They sailed to Alderney, the first windy sail of the week. The anchorage was packed and they had some sessions on weather, safety equipment and etiquette and then the crew went ashore by water taxi and enjoyed time on the beach, watching a sandcastle competition.
They had some rowing practice on Wednesday morning before setting sail for Sark – finally with both sunshine and wind! They found an anchorage on the north east of Sark – cliffs on one side and jagged rocks on the other – where they spent the evening and had games on board.
On Thursday they had a 6am start and more practice with reefing and points of sail, and did a man overboard recovery drill under sail. The tide meant they had to get to the fuel berth in Guernsey in time to fuel up while there was still enough depth, and then they moved on to the berth where Prolific will be for the ASTO regatta ahead of the Small Ships race back to Poole.
Our crew left this morning after 228 nautical miles, with 11 people earning RYA Competent Crew certificates and one person, who had had to leave early due to illness, getting Start Yachting – the others had these certificates already. The team said “This was a hardworking group which engaged well with learning and tasks on board.” You can see the complete voyage track here.
Feedback included:
“My best bit was probably just like going round the Channel Islands, seeing each different island and how they live and stuff like that.”
“My most memorable bit was being out on the bowsprit, after we’d crossed the Channel, and the sun was rising and there were dolphins everywhere.”
“The best bit was probably going to the Channel Islands ‘cos I’ve never been before. That was pretty cool.”
“My best bit was probably looking at the Milky Way and all the stars when we were crossing the Channel.”
“My best bit was the last day on board ‘cos it’s like really nice seeing everyone like having fun and getting along, splashing each other with water and all that. My most memorable bit is probably during the movie when the girls somehow convinced me to plait my hair so, you know, that’s an experience.”
“This was my first voyage and I really enjoyed meeting new people and just having a great time! I would love to come back next year.”
“For my first trip on the boat, it was so much fun and I would love to come back. I loved especially jumping out of the boat and sitting on the beach eating blackberries.”
“An amazing first experience on a boat this big!!! All friendly and amazing staff and people. Would happily come again.”
“Everyone was so nice and I had so much fun. YIPPPEEEEE!!!!”
“I have been waiting for this trip forever and I have had the best week of my life.”
Big thanks to sea staff Constantinos, Lauren, Martyn Powe, Iori Kent, Sara Abdur, Unity Bowns, Jack Thompson, Tyler Grant and Adeana Rowan who is making great progress with her bosun assessment!
Safeguarding – new team member needed
OYT South’s Safeguarding Officer is Steve Lacey, ably assisted by Cathy Lacey and until recently by Anjelica Finnegan. However, thanks to the arrival of baby Hraefn (big congratulations!), Anjelica has decided it is time to stand aside. We could really do with someone else in the safeguarding team, if only so that we don’t have to disturb Steve and Cathy when they are on holiday! Is there anyone with safeguarding experience who would like a chat with us about what the role involves, or can anyone suggest someone we might approach, or a good way of finding someone who would be ideal for the role? Safeguarding lies at the heart of everything we do so it is really important to find the right person. Email caroline.white@oytsouth.org. Meanwhile thanks to Anjelica for all her support in recent years and the very best of luck for the future!
MDL fundraising event in Ocean Village – help needed
MDL are once again showing their support for us and other charities with their family fun day on Friday 30th August. We would like to support them with this event and help raise funds and awareness for OYT South, Prostate Cancer UK and Breast Cancer UK. We would love your help on the day – if you are available, please email Susanna: susannapaynter@oytsouth.org. (NB it’s MDL’s Lauren not OYT South’s Lauren having her head shaved!)
2025 DRAFT programme
Thanks to all our clients who have been sending requests for group bookings next year. We need to make some small adjustments to the programme to meet clients’ needs and then we’ll be able to publish it and you will be able to see which group voyages are still available, and we will earmark some voyages for individual bookings.
Maintenance days – please help
We have several planned maintenance days during the season – these are essential to keep Prolific in working order and avoid losing voyage time to maintenance issues. We need all the help we can get, both skilled and unskilled – there are easy jobs for people not used to boat maintenance, or maybe we can teach you a useful new skill!
Please put these dates in your diary:
Thursday 5th September – Southampton
Sunday 20th October – Southampton
If you call the boat on 07990 518915, or email refit@oytsouth.org, we can get you booked in for maintenance days. We can feed you on board and probably offer accommodation the night before or after if needed. Generally we need over-18s, or 16 and 17-year olds who are sailing as bosuns or trainee bosuns.
Sea staff on the voyages immediately before and after these days should plan to include the maintenance day as part of your booking unless specifically agreed. If we don’t have enough people at a maintenance day and there are significant jobs to do, it might even affect the start of the next voyage, so please do make sure you are available to help!
2024 AGM – a date for your diary
Advance notice that OYT South’s 2024 AGM date has been set for 9th November.
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 we can claim back tax on your donation.
Prolific earrings inspired by a crew member – and now NEW necklaces as well!
Exciting news – sales of the earrings based on a drawing by a young crew member have been strong enough that our friends at Vurchoo have been inspired to add necklaces to the range!
£68 in silver or £85 in gold – click the pictures to go to the website and see how to buy them:
You can read the full story here of how the design was based on an idea from a Prolific crew member, with part of the proceeds coming to us to support our charitable work! The original earrings are still available for £40 in either gold or silver – click the pictures to see how to buy them:
Raise funds for OYT South if you’re shopping online – we’ve made over £2,200 through Easyfundraising!
“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!”
We have already raised over £2,200 through Easyfundraising – huge thanks to everyone who has used it!
OYT South social media – please share as well as liking!
If you look at the top left of any page on our website, you can click on icons for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. We are also on TikTok. Please share our social media posts as widely as you can – with the help of all our supporters, this charity is doing some amazing work and we need more people to hear about it. You don’t need to do anything more than share a post, or perhaps add a comment which could be as simple as “I’ve sailed with this charity!” or “I volunteer for this charity!”.
Please note that OYT South has a policy that our adult staff and volunteers should not make or accept personal online connections 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!
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 11-25, 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 11-25 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, mate 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.