Coleraine Yacht Club has been raising funds over the last year to provide the opportunity for a young person from the Coleraine area to sail with the Jubilee Sailing Trust on the Lord Nelson from Liverpool.  During June this year, Russell and Sammy both non-sailors set off to experience the thrills and excitement of living and earning their keep onboard the Lord Nelson

The Jubilee Sailing Trust was established in 1978 with a donation from the Queen's Silver Jubilee Appeal Fund, following an idea conceived by its founder, Christopher Rudd.

The aim of the charity is to promote integration between able-bodied and physically disabled adults through the medium of tall ship sailing.

This is achieved by enabling a mixed ability crew between the ages of 16 and 70 plus to crew a tall ship at sea. Voyages range between 4 and 11 days and able bodied and physically disabled people participate on as near equal terms as       possible. There are no passengers; everyone works to the best of his or her ability.

Since her maiden voyage in 1986, the LORD NELSON has taken 16,395 people to sea. Of these, 6,617 people were physically disabled and 2,701 were wheelchair users. Their disabilities included: Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Spina Bifida, Paraplegia and many more...

The LORD NELSON is unique in being the only purpose built tall ship in the world. Her many facilities enable disabled crew to perform their duties independently alongside their able-bodied shipmate.

LOG

11^th June Saturday

On Saturday 11^th June 2005 we left Belfast International airport at 7.45am arriving at Liverpool airport approx. 9.05am. On leaving the airport we decided to get a bus into Liverpool, getting off the bus at the Albert dock. We spent some time looking at various ships and other displays around the Albert dock area.

We then walked along the river past the Liver Building and onwards toward the Wellington dock where we had first sight of the Lord Nelson sailing ship which we were to board. As we were early we had something to eat and a look around the Prince William sailing ship operated by the Tall Ships Youth Trust and a very large ship called the Khersones which were also in the Wellington Dock.

At 1pm we boarded the Lord Nelson where we were signed on as crew and introduced to our watch leader for the voyage, we also were shown to our sleeping quarters and issued with wet weather gear and climbing harnesses. When this was completed we were briefed on what was required of us during the voyage and spent some time introducing ourselves to the remaining members of our watch, 9 in all.

We left the ship with some other members of our watch and returned to see the displays etc at the Albert Dock area, we then dined at the Pan American Restaurant before returning to the Lord Nelson for our first harbour watch 8pm to midnight.

12^th June Sunday

After breakfast we were called to deck where we were briefed on climbing the mast and had our first try at climbing. This was easy as we were still docked but it built the confidence of the more nervous members of our crew.

We then had lunch and afterwards all hands were on deck as we cast off and left the Wellington dock, proceeding to the lock to get to the Mersey for the parade of sail. On entering the Mersey we sailed up river past the Albert dock, turned around and sailed down river in the parade of sail at 3.30pm.

We then sailed out of the Mersey for our first taste of life on the ocean wave, not very nice as most were seasick (even regular sailors) due to the rough sea. We had the midnight to 4am watch, went to bed approx. 4.30am.

13^th June Monday

Today we were up for breakfast at 7.30am so our watch were a bit tired, but we managed to set the sails after breakfast and take part in the `happy hour’ cleaning the ship. This was done daily and was carried out by all the crew except the group that were on watch from 8am. till 12.30pm. Today we had our first sight of dolphins swimming along with the ship. This caused a great buzz among the crew and everyone enjoyed the show as the dolphins played, sadly this only lasted approx. 10 minutes till they swam off. Our intentions of sailing to Cork were thwarted as the wind kept us drifting towards mainland Britain, the coast of Wales in view off the port side occasionally in the distance. Today we were on watch from 4pm to 6pm and had our first experience of taking the helm which was very exciting.

14^th June Tuesday

Got up at 3.30am to start our watch duty at 4 to 8am. This was a very enjoyable watch as we saw a beautiful sunrise this morning. After our watch we had breakfast and we saw Lizzard point off the port side. When we rounded lizard point we hoisted sails again and headed for France. Today we were joined by some dolphins again. We completed our daily ‘ Happy Hour’ cleaning the ship and then had an explanation on how the wind and tides were formed and different weather conditions from Steve (one of the permanent crew), a very interesting subject and very important to our voyage. Our other watch today was from 6pm to 8pm.

15^th June Wednesday

We got up today at 7am and got breakfast. Then we went on watch 8am to 12-30. This meant missing ‘Happy Hour’(we were all disappointed) Ha! Ha!

Lovely afternoon spent helping some of the permanent crew with some maintenance work. We went on watch at 8pm to midnight and I had the pleasure of taking the helm when we approached and entered Cherbourg Outer harbour where we dropped anchor for the night at approx. 9pm. We had sundowners with the crew on deck (a large container of fruit punch made by the ships cook, very potent stuff) and enjoyed a lovely sunset before completing our watch as an ‘anchor watch’.

16^th June Thursday.

Today after breakfast we had our ‘Happy hour’ before raising anchor and docking in the inner harbour. We tied up and got the gangway sorted. By the time we got everything organised and left the ship it was 3.30pm when we started to explore the delights of Cherbourg. I was very impressed by the sight and size of the nuclear submarine in dry dock at the museum and look forward to a return visit so that I can see inside as it is open to the public. I never imagined they were as big. After having a walk through the town we returned to the ship, got changed and went to a restaurant as a group (our watch) to have a meal. We ended up in the same restaurant as one of the other watches. After a very enjoyable meal we walked around the town and returned to the ship for 11pm. We were on Harbour watch from midnight to 4am.

17^th June Friday

Going to bed at 4.15am it was a short sleep then up for casting off at 7.30am. We left the harbour before having breakfast, had ‘Happy Hour’ then a relaxing time as we motored across the English Channel because of the lack of wind. During our crossing we met the other ship of the Jubilee Trust, the Tenacious. They were heading towards France. As we approached the isle of Wight we climbed the mast and out the yards where we stowed the sails in a harbour stow. This was a new experience working on the mast while the ship was moving, difficult work but very enjoyable. We motored to the north east of Cowes where we dropped anchor for the night. After supper we all went to the ships bar where we took part in a quiz. The questions were made up by each of the four watches submitting ten questions to the permanent crew, the permanent crew then picked five questions from each watch and added about twenty questions of their own. These questions were very varied and ranged from general knowledge, sport, sailing and our time aboard the Lord Nelson. This quiz was a bit of fun and everyone enjoyed the rivalry between the four watches.

18^th June Saturday

Getting out of bed today to start our anchor watch at 4am was difficult this morning as everyone was a bit tired but we managed to complete our last official watch duty, finishing at 8am. We then had breakfast and afterwards packed our bags and spent ‘happy hour’ cleaning the ship as we viewed the beginning of the ‘Round the Island’ yacht race. We were then boarded by a BBC film crew including TV celebrity who was ‘Eddie in Coronation Street and Hondslow in Keeping up Appearances’, they were making a programme which is to be shown on 30^th June 7pm or 7.30pm. They interviewed some of the crew and filmed while we climbed the mast and stowed the last of the sails. We then raised anchor and motored to Southampton where we docked at approx. 1.30pm. This was a sad time as we all said our good byes to the permanent crew and shipmates but many promised to keep in touch. Russell and I left the harbour and boarded a bus for the airport where we caught the 16.55pm flight back to Belfast. At the airport we met two of our shipmates heading home to Londonderry on the same flight.

This time aboard the ship was a great experience for both Russell and myself and Russell is already planning to return to the ship in September this year to assist with some maintenance work for two weeks. We have gained a lot from this experience and would like to express our sincere thanks to the Coleraine Yacht Club for making this possible.

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