Grant Reports

This was a voyage for a school in Hampshire, part of a large academy chain which is interested in doing several voyages with us for different schools in future. Across the chain they have significant numbers of disadvantaged and vulnerable students who will really benefit from a voyage so we were very keen to use this voyage to start building a good relationship and potentially open up interesting work with more local young people.

Some of the students on this week’s voyage had medical problems; one has a visual impairment following a congenital cataract; and one has had a couple of school exclusions though he is now working hard on his behaviour. Others were chosen for the voyage based on enthusiasm and effort – and we think also to create a good impression so that we will want to continue working with the schools in this chain: we have assured them that we can manage a higher proportion of people with significant needs in future. The school made a substantial contribution towards the cost of the voyage and only needed top-up funding to support students from families which could not afford the full cost.

Voyage report

They joined on Monday and started with lifejacket fittings and winch drills on deck:

They anchored in Stokes Bay on the first night and then spent Tuesday doing lots of sail training and tacking, handling lines and winches, as well as going out on the bowsprit, learning to steer and filling in the logbook:

They spent Tuesday night in Cowes and then set off round the south of the Isle of Wight.

They anchored by the North Channel between Hurst and Milford, where they were able to go ashore and had a beach BBQ:

On Thursday they tacked all the way to Stokes Bay where they had some time at anchor which included the young people planning navigation and pilotage so they could take charge of the vessel while heading back up Southampton Water to Ocean Village, where the voyage finished on Friday after 116 nautical miles. You can see the complete voyage track here. All 13 young people earned their RYA Start Yachting certificates, and overall skipper Diggory describes them as a highly- motivated crew, determined to get as much as possible out of the experience.

Individual reports from the skipper

A, girl aged 15: Thoughtful and serious, does things with purpose. Could be counted on with completing jobs and doing them well. Took a while to learn the knots but persevered and got them at the end. At the end of the voyage when we were coming alongside, helped switching fenders from one side to the other without being asked to (when she saw that that’s what needed to be done). Helmed while we were tacking and was good. Did the navigation during the navigation exercise and managed the others and kept them on task well. Constantly knew where we were.

B, boy aged 14: Very keen to get involved and already very knowledgeable. Enthusiastic and wanted to share and show off his knowledge. Asked lots of questions. Got involved all around deck. Very engaged during the planning of the navigation exercise. Wanted to help out during his dinner turn but felt seasick, was quite apologetic and kept trying to come down below to see if he felt good enough to try again (tenacious).

C, boy aged 12: Got very focused and stuck in the end-of-voyage clean up. Excitable, easily distracted and could be led off-task. But when alone, good at tasks like helming (often asked if he could go on the helm). Enjoyed the binoculars and was a good at being lookout when asked.

D, girl aged 15: Very quiet at the start but came out of her shell as the week went on. Did better when a task was broken down into bits and it was good to give her one instruction at a time. Not the most keen but with prompting would get involved and do a good job.

E, boy aged 15: Not the most engaged but would do jobs if asked to, without complaining. Wasn’t keen to helm but would do it if needed. Very engaged during the planning of the nav exercise. More into the social aspect of the voyage (liked being with the girls). Pushed himself to join in the banana game even though he wasn’t comfortable initially.

F, girl aged 15: Helpful and regarded highly by her peers. Challenged herself with the bowsprit and overcame her fears. Would respond quickly and reliably. Took responsibility seriously but was easily distracted. Generally remembered to come back to a job, was helpful but perhaps not all that interested in the sailing. Was engaged in the planning of the navigation exercise but less interested in delivery. A social leader, organising the others’ down time.

G, boy aged 15
Mature and thoughtful, very helpful. Got along with everyone. Got tasks done and did them well. Spent a long time on deck helping with tacks, at one point did all the winching. Was always there when needed. Very engaged during the planning of the nav exercise. If he wants to stay involved with us, he might have the potential to be invited to join our bosun / watchleader training programme in future. (This is something which is open to people aged 16+ who really impress on a voyage: around a third of our volunteers are former young crew members – watchleaders Susanna and Sara as well as first mate Lauren on this particular voyage all came via that route).

 

H, boy aged 13
Lively and happy. Very good helm, spent a long time on the wheel – clearly had previous experience. Asked if he could help and helm while everyone else was seasick. Recognised that his antics made people happy and could take jokes even if directed at him. Could sometimes wander off and get distracted – however if given a job could be trusted to do it well.

I, boy aged 14
Did whatever was asked of him. Very good at helming, was on the helm during the nav exercise. Picked things up quickly. Initially one of the more withdrawn members of the crew but started to open up and socialize more towards the end of the week. Very engaged during the planning of the nav exercise.

J, girl aged 15
Skilled, good at the helm. Easily distracted and would seek to avoid activities she did not enjoy. Was playful and could lead the others astray but was sociable and got along with everyone. She would do everything she was asked to but was reluctant. Picked up new things quickly. Perhaps if she was away from her friends she would feel less inclined to pretend to not want to take part. Teamed up well with Dora.

L, boy aged 13
Quiet with himself, but could get boisterous with the others. Had to be given instructions clearly and you had to make sure you had his attention. Excited to help the engineer with taking lines off the pontoon on the first day. Volunteered often to be on the helm for long periods of time.

N, girl aged 13
Mature and willing. Engaged well with tasks and could be trusted. Shy and quieter than her sister. She might have engaged better in a group of strangers rather than playing up to her friends from school.

O, boy aged 13
Liked to be the centre of attention. Engaged with the sailing and was willing to engage and be helpful on his own terms. Had very good manners and was considerate and caring, providing banana bread which he baked and cut in to 22 pieces as an icebreaker. Given a couple of years to mature he will be a charming individual. A possible long-term prospect for our volunteer training programme if he can stay involved until he is 16?

 

K and M were two school staff who sailed with them.

 

Certificates
All 13 young people earned RYA Start Yachting certificates. We always like to stress that an RYA certificate is a proper recognised qualification which can be kept in their Record of Achievement. It shows that they mastered some basic sailing skills; but perhaps even more importantly, earning the certificate also provides evidence of transferrable skills. To complete it, they had to be able to listen, concentrate, work in a team, practise things until they were able to get them right – even if they initially struggled, take part in routine tasks such as cooking and cleaning as well as the more exciting jobs, cope with living in an entirely unfamiliar situation, cope with being away from home, undertake tasks which some will have found really challenging, take responsibility when asked, follow safety instructions, and much more. They should be proud of themselves for doing so well.

 

Outcomes Wheel self-evaluation

We use an exercise called Outcomes Wheels, developed with Children in Need and the Prince’s Trust, to measure how crew members feel about themselves at the start of a voyage and again at the end, giving themselves marks out of 6 in different areas.

E didn’t fill in his end-voyage scores and C only filled in half of his, so neither of them has a meaningful end-voyage total. (As you’ll see in the next section, they did put comments on their sheets). F missed just one score so we have shown her total – obviously it might have been higher if she had included the missing figure:

		A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	L	N	O
1) Feeling confident	Before	4	4	5	3	5	3	3	6	3	3	5	4	6
	After	6	5	5	5		4	4	6	5	5	5	6	6
	Change	2	1	0	2		1	1	0	2	2	0	2	0
2) Working in a team	Before	4	4	5	5	4	4	4	6	4	4	4	5	6
	After	6	5	6	5		5	5	6	5	6	4	5	6
	Change	2	1	1	0		1	1	0	1	2	0	0	0
3) Learning new skills	Before	5	5	4	5	2	5	3	6	3	4	3	4	6
	After	6	6		4		5	5	6	4	5	2	6	6
	Change	1	1		-1		0	2	0	1	1	-1	2	0
4) Coping with new experiences	Before	5	5	5	3	6	4	4	6	5	4	6	5	6
	After	6	6	6	4		6	5	6	5	5	5	5	6
	Change	1	1	1	1		2	1	0	0	1	-1	0	0
5) Getting on with people	Before	3	4	4	4	5	5	5	6	5	5	3	4	6