NEWS

Volunteer News March 2017




Change of command - Andy Reed. James Cook has a new skipper.

I am delighted to welcome Andy Reed who is joining our team for the coming season as the Skipper of James Cook.  Andy is a longstanding supporter of Ocean Youth Trust North having sailed with Ocean Youth Club as crew on Francis Drake, Master Builder, Samuel Whitbread and Sir Thomas Sopwith.

He has sailed as mate on James Cook and more recently as skipper of Ocean Venture.  He is a freelance RYA Yachtmaster Instructor.  Andy previously worked for Lloyds TSB Bank where he also skippered the bank’s yacht Dark Horse in the Tall Ships Races.  Dark Horse is a 60ft schooner and a sister ship to Ocean Venture.  I look forward to Andy joining us next month when he returns from the ski season in Verbier in Switzerland.  We will be on the lookout for a full time staff skipper for the 2018 season onwards.



Sailing Programme. Voyage plans for 2017 and beyond.

Under the current circumstances we have decided not to charter Ocean Venture this season but fully expect to have her back again next year.  All existing bookings have been transferred to James Cook. In July and August, James Cook will still undertake her annual visit to Whitehaven and the Irish Sea where she has a full programme.

We have planned an exciting delivery to the west coast which will take James Cook around the top of Scotland.  This adventure voyage is attracting a lot of interest and bookings are coming in fast. For more information click here. We still have some places available so please share this with anyone you know who might like to join us.

In 2018 the Tall Ships Races will start in our local port of Sunderland.  Ocean Youth Trust North will be there and we have entered James Cook into the race from Sunderland to Esbjerg in Denmark. On-board will be a young crew from Berwick Youth Project. Participation in the cruise in company and the second race will be subject to securing further bookings and we are open to offers. More information available here and here.



Volunteer berths. New arrangements for booking.

I am proud to report that last season over 500 young people benefited from an Adventure under Sail on one of our vessels.  We could not have done it without our committed volunteers, so well done and thank you for your continued support and good work.  We will need you even more this year so please register you interest in voyages soon. 

Please note that from now on, all volunteer bookings should be made through Ann Arkle at our Royal Quays office.  Her contact details are as follows:

(e) volunteers@oytnorth.org.uk or (p) 0191 257 1212.

Ann works Tuesday - Thursday 9.00 to 5.00p.m. & Friday 10.00am to 2.00p.m.



changing lives, inspiring futures.

Our Young Sail Trainer Development Programme goes from strength to strength and is being noticed in Sail Training circles.  Lucy Gross, General Manager of the Association of Sail Training Organisations (ASTO), wrote “There’s certainly been a few impressive First Mates from OYT North coming through Trinity House applications . . . “

Congratulations to all our alumni who have progressed to new positions worldwide, building on the experience they gained with OYT North and spreading our reputation as one of the foremost Youth Development Charities within Sail Training.  Laura is working for the Island Trust as Mate on Tectona, Holly is First Mate with Rubicon 3 Adventure Sailing, while Ollie is volunteering on Blue Clipper.  Also with the Island Trust, ex OYT North Mate, Hannah has become an RYA Cruising Instructor and will be skippering Moosk on some legs of the Tall Ships Races 2017 while her predecessor Sam has been carving a name for himself in America as First Mate on the schooner Zodiac. 

Phoebe, who is the latest cadet to complete our programme, returned to Canada in December where she has secured a position as watchleader with the Sail and Life Training Society (SALTS). We will miss Phoebe, as we do all our alumni; however we are always pleased to see them move onwards and upwards, no matter how sorry we are to see them go. In the words of Alfred, Lord Tennyson “The old order changeth yielding place to new . . . “

Joining the family this season are our new cadets, Poppy and Emma, who will be working alongside Jess, now starting her second year on the programme. They are both local to the Northeast and the River Tyne.  Poppy is a volunteer on the Tynemouth lifeboat and Emma first sailed on James Cook with Escape Intervention from South Shields. They are currently helping to get JC ready for our first voyage in April with North East Youth. Welcome aboard both.



30 years of Adventure under Sail. James Cook is fast approaching her 30th anniversary. 

James Cook is fast approaching the 30th Anniversary of her launch which was back in September 1987.  Since then, we estimate that she had taken over 9000 young people to sea on an Adventure under Sail.  This year we intend to contact all those who have sailed on her over the last 15 years for which we have records and we will seek to reconnect with them.  We are eager to know how they have fared since their voyage and what the impact was from their engagement with the trust.  It will be great to hear their stories and to quantify how we made a difference to their lives.

The ‘Quantifying our Impact’ project will be driven by Charlotte Young who has recently joined our office team as Marketing and Communications Intern. Her internship is supported by the Rank Foundation for which we are exceedingly grateful. Charlotte, who is a graduate of Kingston University in London, recently completed an MSc in International Marketing at Newcastle University.  She is enthusiastic about our charitable work and we are delighted to have her on-board and to be able to benefit from her experience and skills.

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