Ship to Shore

News

Hear the latest news from our Young Leaders Development Program participants onboard Alba Explorer.

YLDP 2011 final chapter- well on the boat at least.

Now that the challenge is over and we have all arrived in Oban, we are looking forward to our future with OYT as the bosuns and watchleaders of the future. The challenge voyage has changed us all from sheep to shepherds and we are all better sailors and leaders as a result. We all arrived as strangers ten days ago in Inverness, but now we know everyone's sleepwalking tendencies and how everyone likes their tea and coffee. The sea staffs have made the voyage a great experience for everyone and we have all had a lot of practice at tea making! All the young leaders would like to thank the sea staff; Pete, Craig(ginger), Jenny, Craig(bald), George and Jen. Although we have all battled through sea sickness- some staring into buckets for longer than others- the voyage has been filled with amazing moments and new life experiences.

Official YLDP sea sickness scale:

Nae bad- Keep going!

Iffy- No jumping and get some fresh air.

Peaky- No more biscuits!

Bokey- Immediate bucket to hand!

CHUNDER!!!- Everyone should stand well back!!

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We managed to get a good few pics of the orcas so hopefully we can send some to the whale and dolphin trust- who kindly provided us with the identification cards so we managed to identify them pretty well. Among the rocks scattered just off the faroes were the 2 god rocks, but we also saw another boat- after using a mixture of camera zoom and binoculars, we soon saw it was another sea shepherd boat like the one at Klaksvik. It all looked quite weird with the typical camouflage and black skull and cross bones logo. –but it was huge compared to the other one, so we made sure we kept out the way- and so we also decided to put the motoring cone !

Unfortunately we have been motoring for a lot of the morning- but just put the up so hopefully we will manage a good bit of sailing. The weather is starting to brighten up; sun is out, we have all had a lovely lunch of pie and beans and the wind isn't as undecided as before! We even had some more great bread- parmesan and roasted tomatoes, as well as whole meal. Also, we all seem to have got used to the sea, all feeling fine (so far-) but sad to be leaving the Faeroes behind.

We have been managing good time wise, even after having played around for a while looking at the whales and enjoying our last sights of the Faeroes. For a while this morning we also played around for a bit doing mobs and rowan went over in the fit suit- !! Then quite a few of us had goes on the helm trying to recover the poor bucket and fender from the sea... A lot of bosun apprentices have been hard at work and everyone has had a chance to catch up with diaries and the like as apart from the main hoist and jib hoist, so far the day has been pretty easy- given us a nice chance to enjoy all the nice scenery and killer whales!!!- as well as the waterfalls!

We then motored for a lot of the day to keep up with our time schedule.

Overall the weather has been lovely and the sun is out with clear blue skies. We saw a group of rissos dolphins- maybe about 50 of them, and they came really close to the boat so we had fun slowing down and chasing them around in circles for a bit. We also read some more of georges book on deck which continued to make everyone laugh- while cookies were being made in the kitchen. The sea was calm so it was quite a nice day of sailing- a lot of music on deck and everyone was in really good spirits .

Having spent a fair amount of the evening/night blowing up the dinghy, the rest of the night was quite easy going. For a change we were able to see quite a lot of the stars which was lovely to be able to lie down and look up at the lit sky- instead of it being darker and cloudy- we could see Jupiter. Everyone is getting more and more tired towards the nearing end of the voyage, so it was nice to sit and sing etc. Before we knew it the sun was rising and it was morning. Just after breakfast St Kilda started to appear in the distance and then we were all sat out on deck looking at all the gannets and amazing pillars. We all ran on deck with cameras and stood, pretty much in silence (until Rowan killed Jenny with the sock toy in the companionway) just staring at the sea stacks. Gannets circled around the caves and George told us that we were looking at the largest colony of gannets in the world (?).

We rounded the sea stacks and approached the main island of St Kilda. With the binoculars, we saw evidence of the original houses from which the original St Kildans were evacuated from, as well as a military base that George stayed in when he visited the island and masses of green and rocky ground that was just beautiful. At the edge of each island, the rock face just dropped down into the water which prompted the story of the young St Kildan men who had to stand on the edge of the highest cliff, on one leg, to prove they were worthy of marriage. It was really incredible to see the left overs of a civilization, and to see the harsh conditions under which they had survived for so long and we were all very sad when we turned to leave.

The sun was shining and we had a bit of background info talk from George which was really interesting. We took lots and lots and lot of photos before deciding to circumnavigate the island. Unfortunately we were not able to land due to weather conditions, so we then had to deflate the dinghy (after all that hard work!-) and watches continued as normal. About lunchtime the wind started to increase and the sea was "moderate" so our mothers of the day (George and Breagha) had quite a hard time battling against the strong angle the boat was at. However, lunch was no disappointment with some lovely fresh homemade bread! On watch we have been seeing common dolphins which have been playing with us for over two hours. They have been jumping up right out of the water within a couple of meters of the boat – sometimes three at a time.

Kktyik''

The nightwatch has just started and the green watch are decidedly knackered... we were wrenched from our beds and cuddled by an Irish stew before being flung into the night to work (probably quite hard) BUT we don't mind because we love it really. Craig (ginger) emerged from his cabin in a fit of moans about how we moan all the time and has since... moaned. BUT we don't mind because we might get some sleep at some point...?

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We arrived at the fish festival at night and came alongside Johanna, a 150 year old sailing boat we had meet in Vagg.

We were invited on board and given a tour of the boat as well as being invited to join in their singing – which we did for a song. We told them all about YLDP and OYT and Dan made a friend, again. The next day we moved to another mooring at the other side of the harbor. We did this mainly because 'sea shepard' which is a branch of green peace had turned up, Johanna was part of the whaling party and we didn't want to get involved – not that anything dramatic happened. We ended up harbored in between a big Faroese naval ship apparently monitors fishing waters and a Norwegian submarine.

After having a 'happy hour' we did a little bit of theory about weather and navigation and Jenny gave an interesting talk on the origins of Nautical terms and they all related to when 'boats were made of wood, men were made of steel and women were to sensible to go to sea'. I am beyond delighted to say we got a shower that day!!!

 We went to the swimming pool but on the way had a little tour around the Faroese navy ship – well we ate them out of the free waffles they were providing anyway. The swimming pool was an ...erm... interesting experience. We paid for our swim then went into either the girls or boys changing rooms. Us girls soon discovered Faorese women have absolutely no problem in being stark naked and there was a sign saying outside the communal shower 'it is forbidden to wear any form of clothing in the shower' including swim suits. Ah. The pool however was fantastic!

There was a massive flume which we screamed down backwards, in chains, on our bellies and crashed into each other, alot. Callum showed off some of his diving – Ian and Julia tried to race him but lost spectacularly. After our swim we ventured around to the other side of the harbor where the festival was in full swing. Back to the boat we were greeted with the news Craig has managed to bag us a tour of the submarine. The submarine was seriously cool! There were pipes everywhere and we saw the controls, the engine and the torpedoes. I also asked a few slightly blonde questions an got beyond ragged for it later. But in my defense 'can you travel while floating?' is not a silly question and it is useful for shallow waters. We invited the submariners back onto our boat where we gave them a tour, tea and cake and some tablet, shortbread and the peg game to take back with them.

Rowan and Julia also established one of them had a nice nose. This morning we set off early and on our way out saw some killer whales. There was an adult and two babies within a boat length of us at one point. After that, under no circumstances did we try and fill pan with water from a water fall. We are currently heading around the top of the Faores and the scenery is incredible.

Mhairi

 

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After leaving vaag we continued north under sail with the prevailing winds. At one point reaching 10knots and with spectacular weather and beautiful scenery it was a glorious passage. There was the possible chance of a stopover in torshaven however we decided that going straight to the festival of fish was a better idea and that there would be more chance of cultural experience. Arriving in stealth mode under the cover of darkness

Christopher

 

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Before leaving Vaag on our journey up to Klaksvik and the fish festival we were invited to visit the local school. We traveled, by coach, to the school building; I t was built in 2009 and was very modern in design, with many sweeping lines looking out over the local settlement. We were greeted by a teacher who lead us into the building, as we walked to meet some of the 100 students we noticed various art pieces lining the walls. The school had a very contemporary feel and was different to what many of us have experienced in British learning institutions. We then split into several groups and explored the school further with student guides. During our tours we grew friendly with the students, whom we discovered were within a similar age group to ourselves. After our tour we all regrouped in the cafeteria area for drinks and cake. The school was quite a relaxed working environment and we noticed that several students were using facebook during school time – this seemed somewhat of a luxury in the eyes of ourselves who were not used to such leniency.

Good day from the faros islands in particular klaksvik

 

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After emerging from the cork-screw effect that was the Pentland Firth we arrived in a nicely calm sea. The mother watch kept us supplied with tea and biscuits as half the crew sat with their heads in buckets and the other half tried to learn the ins and outs of the boat.

4 hours of staring for lights and swapping sails later and we were allowed some sleep. We reached the Faroes at midday Thursday 18th August (after a fisherman we lured in via Mexican Wave means gave us 6 of his hard caught cod - dinner, sorted - enough to fill Dan - for about 15 mins...) and were greeted by the harbor master and some boys who insisted George (The Elder) and Calum teach them to sail in their teeny tiny boat.

We made the boat pretty (a pretty boat is a happy boat...) and then explored Vaag where we proceeded to buy the place out of crisps (because we're worth it) . This was followed by showers and dinner. although the wash up took us so long that the watch leaders started to scowl meaningfully at us, we had a blast doing it.

An interesting account of the Faroese history and surrounding wildlife later from George, we were all sent off to bed for an 8 hour sleep (after the Rowan trap was set up - to catch the sleepwalker...).

Rowan Flint

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It's about 2 in the afternoon on Day 3. We are just north if the Shetland Islands.

Everyone (especially watch leader Craig) are excited as for many of us this is the first time we have sailed out of sight of land. Currently the weather is beautiful but most of the crew have already thrown up! Food on board is being regularly enjoyed then brought back up - I decided earlier I couldn't stomach quiche at the angle we were at. We survived the Pentlands firth in the early hours this morning, despite going at around 12 knots due to the tide. Animals; we have seen dolphins, minky whales and a strange ginger creature coming out of the mate's cabin (we established it was craig).

Mhairi Tordoff

We are grateful to Braehead for its continued support of the Programme. Click here for more information about YLDP 2012.

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