Jack

I just wanted to say thank you so much for the trip and for giving me and Jayden the opportunity to take part. It was absolutely unforgettable and I enjoyed every minute of it!

At the start of the voyage, I wasn’t sure what to expect because I had never been on a boat like this before, and there was lots of new people that I had never met before. By the end of the voyage, I had made incredible memories, was much more confident with being on a boat and I made some amazing new friends who I am still in touch with.

I achieved everything that I wanted to on the boat, and then some. I had no idea that I would be given the opportunity to steer the boat in the middle of the night and assist in a plethora of tasks like opening the sails.

The best thing about the trip was the journey from Hartlepool to Holy Island. It was surreal being on/ driving the boat in the middle of the night and seeing the likes of illuminated dolphins swimming alongside us.

The worst thing about the trip was the toilets, as they were very different to usual ones, and not super spacious. Apart from that, there wasn’t much to fault at all. 

I would like to especially praise the staff, as they were extremely knowledgeable, patient and sociable. They made everybody feel welcome and comfortable on the trip, and pushed people to make the most of the journey, but respected peoples’ comfort zones. 

I feel like this trip has definitely had a lasting impact on me, it’s been all I can talk about to my mam. Everything from the skills, confidence and experience, it has certainly been a trip that I will never forget.

Jayden

I just want to say thank you for the massive opportunity to be able to be a part of the Faramir voyage. Unfortunately, I was only there for 3 days but what an experience it was, I wish I could have stayed the extra two. But overall thank you so much for this experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. 

Lizzie

Hi there, I just want to say a big thank you for the opportunity to participate in such a wonderful experience, I’m very grateful and if given the chance would do it again. 

The 3 crew members – Jarvis, Oscar and Matt – were truly amazing! Such a lovely crew to learn from and experience sailing. 

Learnt so many key skills for sailing. I mainly learnt a lot about myself too, what I was capable of and a boost in confidence too. 

The experience helped me recognise what I could improve on going forward in terms of interpersonal skills and team work. 

Many thanks 

Chi

When I received the confirmation for the cruise experience trip, I was very excited and happy. Since this was my first long trip in my life, I felt a little worried. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to experience new things and see the sea, and I am truly grateful to you for that. I had a great time with everyone on the cruise, as we worked together as sailors under the guidance of the crew members. My English is not very good, so the people who accompanied me helped me a lot. Although I got seasick, I still had an amazing experience. I hope your efforts will continue to spread and create opportunities for many people like me to enjoy such a trip. Thank you very much!

Sam

I think I have caught the sailing bug. Probably a top 10 week of my life so far.

I want to thank you again for the opportunity, it really was incredible. I had such a good time in fact that I signed up for another training voyage with a view to potentially volunteer/work on future trips.

I think what I most enjoyed onboard was the sense of solidarity and camaraderie with everyone on the trip. It was the first time in a long time that I felt as though I was truly contributing to a (small) community. The various small tasks and chores on the boat were made meaningful by the feeling that everyone was in it together, and without us working then we wouldn't have had as enjoyable a trip. This feeling I think made it easier to make friends and enjoy the rest of the time both onboard and during the excursion on Holy Island.

Also- we saw dolphins in bioluminescent water - which was completely insane.

Peter

We sailed from about 6pm from Holy Island to around 7am at Blyth. It was genuinely an incredible experience! We loved the dolphins in the night for about an hour that followed and swam all around the boat.

Zara

Personally, I love sailing. I started in 2023 [with Blue Spirit] and ever since then, I have always been coming back. I will never miss a chance of getting onto Faramir as I love the boat, especially when this time around it was a whole new crew. The last 2 years I have been on that boat, Davide was the skipper, but with this new crew and new people I was so shy at first. I did have my ups and downs and Jarvis was always there for me by checking if I was okay and doing well. Oscar and his funny personality made me realise that we can have so many laughs together and make wonderful memories together. Matt was super kind and took on board my thought about how we shouldn't be in groups [watches] as there were only seven of us in the last two days on the boat.

Also the people on the boat – meeting new people on the boat for the first time for me was scary but I did get along really well and I got given a nickname by everyone: ‘mini gobby’ as I would call Jarvis gobby because I forgot his name and I already know how the boat runs and what we will be doing, so for me the introduction was just boring – but everyone else needed to know everything as in health and safety, how to use to the toilets and the kitchen etc..

Doing two night sails with them was absolutely crazy. Seeing the glow in the dolphins on my first night watch was truly amazing and on the second night watch everyone came out onto the boat and saw loads of dolphins swimming with the boat. It was so magical. 

We have all shared really great pictures together and overall, it was the best thing.

When I came back home, I just felt lost as I had a really great time on the boat with everyone. Not only that, being on the boat for me is truly amazing because it helps with physical and mental health and everyone treated each other with respect and it feels like we're part of a family now.

Holly

1 - feelings.

Prior to the trip, I was feeling scared by the concept of sailing. I'd never been at sea before. As the days grew closer, I began watching sailing videos and quickly that feeling was steadily replaced by excitement, asking my friend all sorts of questions, and filling my brain with all things sailing.

On the day, the drive over was almost autonomous. Only once I'd arrived and taken a walk around the marina did the feelings begin to dawn on me – and I began getting nervous again. I nipped to the shops to pick up some things I realized I didn't bring (sun screen, sun screen, sun screen!)  and returned an hour later to find a group gathering by the marina office with bags - crew spotted!

Walking over and joining them, I felt very closed off and socially anxious. This lasted about half of the first day, mostly whilst we were trying to break the ice and make introductions on-board – but by the time we'd left, the story was completely different. We were all hugging, and saying how we'd miss each other - and hope to meet up again someday for a drink.

One negative for me personally is that one of the first things that happened on-board was a check of the passenger manifest – which had me down as my dead name – and was then read aloud in front of the entire crew. A very awkward moment, especially when it was during the period of social anxiety at the start. The crew handled it super well though, after confirming that it was indeed referring to me, Jarvis (the skipper) changed the name on the manifest without question, and we moved past it.

I also noticed that whilst Matt, the Bosun, was assigning our bunks that he ad-hoc altered the plan on the fly to position me with the girls. A little while later I noticed the pride flags they had hanging in the saloon, which in combination with the crew's behaviour made me relax and feel that this truly was an accepting and safe space :).

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2 - watches.

Growing up, I had a bit of a fascination with submarines – and how they operated. I'm a nerd, what can I say?

Once we were trained up with the basics and underway, I loved how the boat operated. It reminded me of this old fascination of mine, and how – in a way – I was now living it.

We were split into watches, there was a chain of command, and we had a schedule. I know it's something simple, but there was something about that schedule that made my days feel more structured and busy. It gave everyone a chance to do everything, and ensured we were never left bored or unsure of what to do. We had a role to play, a job to do, and the watch schedule kept us looking forward, looking at what we should do next.

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3 - leaks.

Leaving Hartlepool was sunny, but it didn't take long for the skies to change and the rain to begin. Once the rain had started, so did a couple of leaks.

Water was making ingress from the deck, directly onto some of the crew's bunks. The crew handled it well. They reminded us how old the boat was, provided us with temporary solutions to keep the bunks dry (namely duct taping sanitary pads over the leaky prisms), and Matt attacked the boat with a caulk gun at the next port to resolve it.

The boat showed us her character that day, and the crew stepped up to work together to sort it. It felt very British: keep calm and carry on.

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4 - sleep.

The first night's sleep was an unknown quantity. New bed, moving vessel, people around – I had no idea if I’d even fall asleep. To my own surprise, I went out pretty easy but was awoken about 2 hours later at the midnight watch change by folks coming back to their bunks, and my bunkie insisting on making conversation with me whilst I was barely conscious, lol.

I managed to get another 2 hours before I was awoken again by what described in my notes as “what I can only assume was a rather loud tack”. I hopped out of bed around 2am, and sat in the saloon, reading and writing a dairy entry. I was back on watch at 3am.

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5 - night sail.

As it turns out, staring at the open ocean for a long time in the concentrated dark makes by brain hallucinate things that aren't actually there! We all learnt something about ourselves, I suppose.

I loved sailing at night. The boat must go on. We knew that, with a number of people leaving on the Wednesday, we might struggle to have enough watches for the second half of the week, so we made the most of the first two night sails, playing music, telling stories, and trying to not hallucinate whilst on lookout.

From the night sails, i have three notable memories:
 - Oscar kept his age from us, and turned it into a game for us. If our watch could answer a question correctly about the boat, then we could take one guess at what his age was. It was really fun, and I really surprised myself with just how many questions I was able to answer. (He's 21 iirc, three years younger than me!)

 - The night prior to Newcastle, we finally got some wind.
 
We spent most of the week under engine power due to lack of wind, but we finally got some on the second night! The [rookie] crew – let's  say – didn't handle it too well. Lots of buckets were on deck that night, and not much collective sleep was had. Oddly enough, I’m glad that night happened. Experiencing bad or traumatic things with other people famously brings those people together, and that night certainly did that. People were comforting each other, chatting to create distractions, things of that nature. I'm glad it happened early on, it humbled us all and brought everyone closer together.

I opted to stay on lookout that night for what was, in retrospect, probably far too long – so that I could stay upright with the boat rocking underneath me, and keep my eyes on the horizon. I think that's the only reason my stomach held stronger than most that night.

Nearing midnight, morale in the moment was noticeably lowered. I headed down the gangway to jump in my bunk, with my friend Rob's advice of the ‘90 second rule’ firmly in mind. That is to say: once you're inside on a windy night you've got 90 seconds to get changed, in the bunk, and eyes closed before your stomach is sure to catch up with you. But I never made it to my bunk.

I barely even made it past the hatch before I came across a crew member who was visibly upset. I sat with her and got chatting, and she told me that she had quite bad emetophobia. No matter where she went to try to get away, somebody would come by with a bucket. I told her I understood, comforted her, and proposed sitting forward on the deck – where nobody was stationed at the time. I checked this with the crew, who advised high side only, clip in, and no further forwards than the navigation lights. She invited me up too, to keep her company.

Not 15 minutes later, we met dolphins. We had dolphins swim with us the night prior, and Jarvis was mildly annoyed that he wasn't woken up by the first mate to come see them. This time we raced to wake him up, and the atmosphere changed quicker than I can describe. From people crowding the cockpit with buckets, to everyone running forward on deck, huddling in awe at the bio-luminescent dolphins, and Jarvis calling out loudly to them. It was incredible.

I recall saying to Oscar the next morning how we had gone from a crew member crying and feeling like there was no space safe for her, in an environment of lowered morale, to 20 minutes later seeing a huge smile on her face, sitting at the bow with the dolphins. Such a huge win.

 - On my first lookout, I missed a buoy.

Lizzie and I were sat at the bow, yapping away. It was a dark night, with lots of fog – my eyes were supposed to be to the starboard side, which is where the head sail currently was. I had to shift to look under it from time to time, but amongst our yapping I didn't check under as often as I should've. A large flagged buoy drifted right behind the head sail, and then along the side of the boat - from blind spot to blind spot. Jarvis came forward to talk to us, but he was nice about it.

The watch after hit a buoy whilst I was asleep, and it tangled around the propeller. I took the role a bit more seriously after that, though we later had a good laugh over the patch of circles I recorded on my GPS tracker from that night, as they were trying to free themselves.

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6 - getting involved.

I really felt like a part of the crew. They take no judgment, and will more than gladly teach you in the moment. I told them early on about how I wanted to learn, and possibly end up volunteering – and the crew took that in stride to try to get me involved with more things, and teach me more stuff. Matt had a go at teaching me some of the knots he was using whilst I was sat on deck curiously watching them mooring the boat up, and I have a vivid memory of Jarvis coming outside with a whiteboard to sit with me and explain more about the tide, what springs and neaps are, and draw me some diagrams of the sun and the moon to explain it. He's an excellent teacher. They all are.

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7 - Making a mistake.

Myself and two others were tasked with hoisting the tender back on-board after swimming. We did so, and I was trying my best to instruct the others on relocating the main halliard from the tender back onto the main sail. Zara was port side holding the end of it, un-tangling it from some of the guide wires, and I believe it was Sam on the starboard side on the winch. It happened pretty quickly, but somehow the halliard was pulled from Zara's hands, and the wind took it. We'd informed the crew, and I had Sam hold on to the winch side firmly so we didn't lose it - but the shackle was blown out off the port side almost perpendicularly. Rather instinctively, I picked up the boat hook, before Jarvis made his way on deck to see what was happening, and took over.

He was lent out over the port beam, practically holding the boat hook at the ends of his fingers trying to reach the halliard. After some fighting, he managed to get hold of it again, and we quickly got it mounted back onto the main sail. Matt used a multi-tool to make sure it was wound down tight.

Whoops!

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8 - Making friends.

I didn't notice it, but the first few days I mostly only interacted with my watch. Most of the time, the other watches were either asleep, cleaning or cooking. We grew closer as a team, but after losing a number of people on Wednesday, some of whom just didn't want to be on board any more – especially after the windy night – we became one big team, and watches went somewhat out the window. After the leavers, the gender ratio swung - it was a boat of girls, plus Sam. The environment was amazing, and lots of hair braiding was done. I brought a good-sized makeup mirror, and it saw lots of use with people borrowing it left right and centre. Bringing that was a good choice.

We all began mingling more, and becoming almost like a family.

By Newcastle, only two days or so days in, we'd bonded enough such that we were sharing toiletries, and spent hours chatting outside washrooms watching the sun go down. We were actually gone so long that Jarvis and Oscar came out separately to check that we were okay. Jarvis actually joined us to wait for the room with the bath to become free whilst we were having a pretty deep conversation about people's experiences with birth control, and his presence didn't alter the atmosphere or conversation at all – which I think says quite a lot about just how comfortable he made everybody feel. He was just as intrigued and invested as everybody else.

By the end, we were making sure that we had each other added on social media, and giving some hearty farewell hugs. The atmosphere really did reach the heart, that we'd all become so close – and now we weren't going to see each other for at least quite some time.

In the week since, I’ve stayed in touch with 3 people, one of whom I'll likely meet up with again at some time soon :)

Our Whatsapp group chat has been abuzz with pictures, videos, and kind messages. 

I'm missing them already.

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9 - What's next.

Something that was a pleasant surprise at the end was the offer to buy (for next to nothing!) an RYA Start Yachting Certificate. I took that offer in a heartbeat. Coming away with a certification for the miles accrued, and my first RYA qualification? Such a win. That places me on the ladder towards what I’m dreaming.

I got to talking with the crew about next steps, and they recommended some great websites and charities for training. Namely Trinity House and ASTO.

Ever since coming back I’ve found myself looking forward to the future, and what I’ll be doing next. What qualification I’ll be working on next, what trips I could go on next. That's a feeling I’ve not felt in a long time. I think the flame is indeed burning. I love it.

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So many thanks to you too, for providing this opportunity. I loved every second, and i likely never even would've tried it if it weren't for Blue Spirit. 

This experience has made me realize that it's not just something that other people do, but something that I can do too. And that it's definitely something that makes me happy, and I want to do more of.

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