Thanks to a grant from Ulysses Trust, Cadet 1st Class L was able to benefit from a week on board the offshore vessel TS Jack Petchey, owned and operated by the Marine Society and Sea Cadets (MSSC) to benefit Sea Cadets from around the UK.
He joined in Gosport with 11 other cadets. During the week the “crew” took on many roles including engineering, navigation, catering, helmsman and keeping watch. The voyage took place in The Channel with an overnight stop in Cowes, Isle of Wight.
On the second day out the vessel was contacted by HM Coastguard and took part in a joint exercise which included the Coast Guard helicopter winchman being lowered onto the deck of The Petchey. Cdt L was surprised by this activity and said “to be part of this was both exciting and educational”
He said of his week on board ,
“I really enjoyed the challenges of crewing a vessel and I was able to take a lot learning from this experience that I hope to use in the future.
A week on board any of the Sea Cadet offshore vessels is demanding but extremely worthwhile with cadets being able to develop their teamwork skills, learn to adapt to a busy and somewhat cramped environment as well as experiencing hands-on what it is like to live at sea for a period of time, develop their maritime skills and put into practice what they have learned.
Cdt L wrote:
Thank you for your donation towards my trip.
On my trip I had a little tour around Portsmouth harbour before we left to go fully offshore. Then we went fully offshore towards the Isle of Wight and stopped in Cowes for a night. We then left at 4 am the next morning to make sure that we could beat a storm and turned up in Weymouth at 10am the same day; I had never had the opportunity to partake in any boating activities this early in the day before and I soon realised that I actually really enjoyed the challenges of crewing a vessel this early in the morning and I was able to take a lot of learning from this experience that I hope to be able to use in future experiences.
I had the opportunity to take on many roles on the ship such as:
- Engineer
- Navigator
- Helmsman
- Lookout
- Cook
- Cleaner
We were sailing at the same time as one of our sister ships John Jerwood and we ended up meeting them a few times throughout the trip. At one stage we had a dance off out at sea where we danced to the Macarena and the YMCA which was great fun
I was really surprised when the Coastguard contacted the Captain of Jack Petchey and asked if they could use the boat for a training exercise. The coastguard helicopter hovered over our ship and then a winchman came down onto the deck. This was something that I had previously only ever seen on the TV and so to be a part of this was both exciting and educational. I learnt afterwards that this is not something that happens regularly and so to be a part of this was something very special indeed.
We had shore leave in Weymouth (this is where we are allowed off the ship to walk around whatever place we have docked at) and I got a very tasty McDonalds meal. The next day we left Weymouth harbour for some practices out at sea and met the other Sea Cadet ship, John Jerwood, that was also doing the same thing. This led to us getting out our fire hose and having a water fight with them, which was great fun. After that we did some anchoring practice and then came back into Weymouth harbour for our last night on the ship.
Awards were given out later that night I found out that I had achieved a qualification called Offshore Hands 2 from the trip, which will help me to progress further within my Sea Cadet career and beyond.
Again, thank you very much for your donation for me to go on the trip.
Cadet First Class L
