Iris

I had an incredible experience on the voyage. Even though this was my third trip, it was the first time I went without anyone I already knew, which pushed me out of my comfort zone. At first, I was a bit nervous, but I quickly settled in and found myself making new friends and working well as part of the crew. Being out at sea felt completely like home, and looking back, I feel proud of how I managed that challenge and grateful for everything I learned along the way. The experience has left me with more confidence in myself and some great memories that I’ll carry forward.

The voyage has also had a lasting impact on me. As someone who is neurodivergent, new situations can sometimes feel overwhelming, but being part of a supportive crew and meeting new people in such a positive environment really helped my mental health. I felt included, capable and valued, and the challenges of the trip gave me resilience while the teamwork and friendships lifted my confidence.

I definitely feel I got what I wanted from the experience - and even more than I expected! The sense of teamwork, the friendships I made, and the opportunity to push myself out of my comfort zone made the voyage truly memorable.

Thank you so so much for this experience, I really appreciate it and would be thrilled to join another trip in the future! 

Amina

The trip was wonderful and I’m back home now but definitely missing the sailing experience! 

A few days on, how are you feeling about the voyage?

I’m missing the voyage a lot! I’ve looked back at a lot of photos and videos of the trip and there are moments of it I wish I could go back to! Some of the sights and nature we saw on the trip was beautiful and breathtaking, I wish I could go back to some of those and experience looking at the sunrise or sunset again. There was one day of the voyage where I did a lot of cooking (which made me very happy because it made me feel quite useful onboard and I deeply love cooking for others!) and my watch group told me to watch the sunset while they did the washing up; I remember sitting outside and just having a moment to myself where it was just me on deck, with my thoughts, watching the sunset over Holy Island after having cooked which is a task I also find quite relaxing. It was breathtaking but so grounding and I was able to just be and not really think about much else going on in my life or in my head. It was amazing. 

Do you feel the experience has had a lasting impact?

Yes! I think in a couple of weeks’ time it will sit with me more or I will have a better sense of the impact but it was an amazing experience and really pushed me out of my comfort zone. I think it confirmed a lot of things for me: that I like being around other people, that I like cooking for others and communal living. But it also taught me a lot of things including that I like being out at sea! I am definitely not going to leave sailing here – I would like to learn more about sailing and I would love to sail up to Norway one day! It’s an experience I wish I could share with more people. I think the trip gave me a lot of confidence too. I didn’t know anyone before the trip but came out making some good connections even though the trip was only 5 days. Sometimes my inner critic can be really strong and it sometimes makes it difficult for me to connect with others but I think this trip showed me just how much of a social person I can be! 

Looking back, do you feel you got what you wanted from the experience? 

Yes! I think maybe a part of me didn’t know what to expect from the trip but wanted to meet new people and also experience the therapeutic benefits of the sea. The sea was definitely therapeutic and it was so refreshing for me to be immersed in nature – it’s  something I desire in my day to day life but don’t always get, so going on this voyage was special to me as it met that need. It was so grounding and refreshing to see the sea every day – and when I wasn’t seeing the sea, seeing the sky or the coastline or the wildlife. It gave me the break that I needed and the permission to forget about my everyday worries. 

One thing that was a bit tricky or I guess interesting for me was to be around a lot of young people who had either been in care, adopted or estranged. Everyone on the trip was really lovely but I found it hard sometimes when people wanted to have conversations about very personal experiences when I had come into the trip with more of a mindset of having fun and maybe having those conversations after a while of getting to know everyone. I don’t usually run into people with maybe similar experiences to me so it’s nice when that happens but it can also be triggering or hard to manage sometimes for me! I guess I wanted an escape from my personal life experiences which made this a bit tricky but otherwise the trip was amazing. The staff on the trip were really lovely and I wish I was able to get to know some of them more - I hope our paths will cross again! 


Billy

The sailing trip was amazing! I can’t thank you enough for your work in making these opportunities accessible for people to experience. I have truly fallen in love with the sea and would love to keep going with it. 

I have certainly got more than I imagined from this trip, I have made new friends, found a new excitement for sailing and definitely grew my self-confidence. 

I would like to extend my gratitude to you for allowing us to experience this, and to Tim, Duncan and the rest of the crew for keeping us safe and putting up with my constant high energy levels. 

Zainab

A few days on, how are you feeling about the voyage?

I feel it has helped relaxed my mind. Seeing the sea and travelling on the sea allowed me to ground my mind – something normally I cannot do. I feel relaxed and confident.

Do you feel the experience has had a lasting impact?

It has helped me develop lifestyles such as learning to cook, socialising and learning different ideas. It has made me be resilient and take on a challenge. Flushing toilets was difficult! But it made me resilient and keep going despite of my dyspraxia and struggling with coordination. I feel I have been able to speak to volunteers about things that have stressed me and been on my mind. I feel I have to an extent developed building relationships around people that get me. Prior to this I have always struggled with understanding social cues and relationships impacting me in work. 

I am grateful to have taken part in this experience. I feel more confident being around people. I feel it has helped me to develop a little bit of a secure attachment style. I feel this trip has helped me to improve my mental health by viewing nature on the sea and practice grounding and mindfulness. 

Looking back, do you feel you got what you wanted from the experience?

It has made me very confident and made me got the experience of developing healthy relationships. It has helped me improve communication skills particularly when we did teamworking activities.

Gabriel

The return to "real life" and normality has been quite difficult.

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Straight after the voyage I felt quite sad and nostalgic (I know it was only like yesterday, haha). In a sense, the 5 days were fast-paced with a lot happening: things to sightsee, new experiences and people to meet. On my journey back and the following day, when there weren't as many interesting things to do, so my mind had time to process all of the things.

After a few days, I slowly returned to my usual schedule, but it was difficult. During this trip, I didn't have to think and was able to live in the moment. In contrast, my day-to-day job (software development), despite being considered prestigious, revolves around finding and resolving problems without getting much praise. 

During the sail trip, I had somewhere around 6-7 hours sleep on average per day (23-06), plus 30 minute power naps – surprisingly this was more than enough for me and I didn't feel tired throughout the day. I also didn't struggle to fall asleep and preferred the chill during the night. When I returned home, the sleeping habit of 23-06 remained for a few days, which felt nice and very productive. Ironically, compared to my normal sleep of about 8-9 hours, which my body regulated to again, I struggle to fall asleep. Often even after 9 hours of sleep I tend to be tired – maybe that showcases the difference between mental exhaustion and physical exhaustion.

Outside of that, I feel great about the voyage and look back at it fondly; the moments, the experiences and the people. It made me akin to nature and incentivised me to look for further potential to escape reality. The only thing blocking me from doing so is finding the time.

This trip made me appreciate not only nature, but sailing. One of my goals was to learn the basics of sailing for the fun of it – I think Tim, Duncan and the team of volunteers did a great job.

After having lived in London for most of my life, going on trips like these makes me want to eventually move out, possibly North.

Photography, which was a hobby I pushed away a while back due to lack of time, is something I got back into during this trip. My intention was always to travel more and see things, which combined with travel, is a good pair.

During this trip, I wanted to make friends, but I don't think I quite achieved it, or at least not confidently. I see myself as an outgoing person, albeit not the best with people. Everyone on the trip was great, and we all got acquainted quite well; but for me, 5 days simply wasn't enough to make long lasting friendships

Overall, I think the trip had not only a short mental boost, but also a change in my perspectives, shift of importance/focus and larger appreciation of things around me.

Becks

Just wanted to pop you a quick message to say a massive THANK YOU for giving us all the chance to spend the last few days on the James Cook.

The crew on board were all amazing – I know we’re not their normal age group and Tim said at the end he wasn’t quite sure what to expect with the older age range but they did an awesome job and I think they adapted amazingly to give us all as much freedom as possible but with the rules and structure that have to come with living communally on the boat. The crew were all great at giving us calm, clear instructions and teaching us new things at a pace that we could understand. Special shout out to Duncan, who had stories and knowledge to last for days!

Being away on a boat was something completely new to all of us, and I know some of us are keen to get back out there again, but on top of that I think it was great for testing our resilience, making new friendships and just getting away from everything.

Thanks again for making the experience possible for us.

(and later)

• A few days on - I’ve had time to think. I think how I responded to living communally on top of people on a boat with no easy escape (with most residentials, there is somewhere you can go to and get space) was super interesting. I’m really pleased with how much I took it in my stride. I guess my biggest stress about anywhere always is knowing I can leave at any moment and not having that option on a boat really helped me to build resilience around that and it’s cool to know that I can manage that stress now.

• I think long term - it's definitely taught me ways to manage my emotions that I can use next time in a potentially challenging situation. (I guess because you’re physically so close to everyone else all the time, it makes emotions feel more intense than they might do in other settings so it’s an awesome way to almost micro dose intense situations and figure out how to deal with them if that makes sense?) 

• I was there with very few expectations and just to see what I would take away and I found out I don’t get instantly sea sick as soon as I step on a boat, which is a really cool thing to know and something that has always put me off boats before. It’s also given me the confidence to try sailing or boating in the future because I’ve always been too scared to try it because I don’t know anything really about boats. 

I would love to get back out sailing again in the future.