On Monday 11th January David and Helene King from Etchingham, East Sussex, will be setting sail on board 65m long tall ship Tenacious.
David and Helene will meet the ship, owned by Southampton based charity Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST), in Malta and will be part of the 40 paying voyage crew that are responsible for sailing Tenacious to Lavrion in Greece.
The 10 day voyage (arriving in Lavrion on the evening of Tuesday 19th January) will be David and Helene’s 24th voyage with Jubilee Sailing Trust. They will be sailing with a mixed crew of able bodied and disabled people.
Helene describes;
“On the 10th of January we shall be joining Tenacious in Valetta, Malta as watchleaders*, on what will be our 24th voyage with the Jubilee Sailing Trust. What is it that keeps us returning?
“It is not only the thrill and satisfaction of crewing a tallship on exciting voyages to interesting places, but also the joy of seeing people of all physical abilities overcoming challenges and achieving aspirations that they never thought possible.
“People of all ages and from all walks of life come together and within hours they have all gelled, are working as a team and having great fun sailing one of JST''s magnificent 3 Masted Barques on a great adventure.
“People do return over and over again because every single person, no matter what their physical ability,knows that they can play a full and useful part in the smooth running of the ship, and that brings great satisfaction and enjoyment.
Jubilee Sailing Trust owns and operates the only two tall ships in the world of their kind that have been designed and built with adaptions that create an inclusive environment for a mixed ability crew. Lifts between deck levels allow wheelchair users and people with mobility impairments to travel around the ship unaided, vibrating alarms alert people with hearing impairments in the case of an emergency and a speaking compass gives visually impaired people the chance to helm the ship.
The charity subsidises every voyage place by 30% with the aim of making the experience available to everyone. Additional help to raise the remainder of the funds is also readily available.
David and Helene are active members of the Kent Branch of Jubilee Sailing Trust volunteers, Medway Mariners, and are extremely active in raising money for JST through various Branch arranged events. They also travel to help out during periods of maintenance on board both of the ships and during days where the ships are open to members of the public.
For more information about David and Helene’s voyage or to find out about JST please visit www.jst.org.uk or call 02380 449108