Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
Please note that a Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award is not something you can simply pay for. Very occasionally we have had young people on board who believe that “I have paid for the voyage, therefore you have to sign my residential”. OYT South reserves the right not to complete the Record Book for a crew member who does not put in a certain amount of energy, enthusiasm, commitment and co-operation. Any young person who is in danger of falling into this category should receive a debrief midway through the voyage while there is still time to turn things round. Keen Duke of Edinburgh Award participants have nothing to fear – we simply don’t wish to devalue your achievement by signing off people who haven’t put in anything like as much effort as most participants normally do! Our Chief Executive, Mark Todd, was the inaugural winner of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency’s Award for Command Commitment to Sail Training, the highest professional recognition available in sail training. If you have NOT yet had a recommendation from our skipper to join our sea staff, then you need to do a training/selection voyage first, and the next step depends on your age. If you are aged 16 or 17 then you need to book on any standard youth voyage and aim to get your recommendation there. If you are aged over 25 you will need to get your recommendation on an adult training voyage (open to people aged 18+): there will be two adult weekends in 2024 (3-5 May and 11-13 Oct) plus a longer adult voyage which is currently pencilled for 11-15 Sept though we can still move it if a youth group requests that week.
They anchored in Stokes Bay on the first night and then spent Tuesday doing lots of sail training and manoeuvres, as well as going out on the bowsprit, learning to steer and filling in the logbook: Can any of our other supporters do anything similar, with a school, club, or employer which regularly does charitable fundraising? OYT South’s AGM will be held on Saturday 4 th November in Southampton, followed by a curry in the Coriander Lounge (not the same restaurant as last year). We will aim to combine this with a refit weekend as we’ll need lots of help moving gear off the boat. More details to follow but please put the date in your diary for now! It is a very expensive business maintaining a boat, running an office and employing staff. If you want to help us, please become a member of OYT South. Or see here for information on making a donation. volunteer sea staff bookings – including people who were told on voyages this year that they should think about returning as volunteers
Our charitable work
In 1948 she was sold to Estonian refugees not wanting to be repatriated to Russia after WWll, and in July she set off for the USA with 69 men and women and at least ten children on board. She put into Dover, crossed Biscay in a storm and suffered damage; was saved by a Spanish three-masted ship and escorted into Pontevedra, north of Vigo. The fishing village helped the vessel to be repaired and the crew to recover. Next, she put into Madeira; she suffered more damage in a storm near the Bahamas; and finally on 20th September 1948 was escorted into Wilmington, North Carolina. The crew had no papers and the story goes that after their harrowing Atlantic crossing they pleaded for one night’s rest on board before being interviewed and possibly turned away. That night, Prolific sank in Wilmington Bay – readers can speculate as to the cause but it did mean that the Americans had no choice but to let them stay! The crew were then taken to Ellis Island to be processed as immigrants. My favourite bit has just been really watching everyone throw themselves into leading stuff, it’s been really really impressive. But also how everyone else supported them when they were doing leading, that was really really good.”
The team has done an inventory of the oilskins and, along with the bunk curtains, they are now off the boat for cleaning and repair. Robert has been bleeding the radiators which is obviously important for keeping the workforce warm over the winter! And Lauren has been doing chart corrections. The best bit, there was actually a few, there’s being able to sail on the Prolific but also getting to shout at everyone while pulling a rope – no one told me it was going to be that fun.” In January 2016, our previous vessel John Laing was named Sail Training Vessel of the Year by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency and the Association of Sail Training Organisations.Don’t forget that your Residential MUST take place primarily among people you don’t already know. Ideally you should come on a voyage where you don’t know anyone else at all; but we can include two or three people who know each other (you are likely to be allocated to different teams or watches). But if you know more than two other people on the voyage then please discuss this with us before booking as we won’t be able to sign you off if the voyage doesn’t meet the criteria for your Residential. Each week the newsletter includes a wide range of news from the boat and from the charity, including details of voyages available for young people; adult voyages; opportunities for adult volunteers both ashore and afloat, and much more. We find that while some people read the bulletin almost every week, many others dip in and out, and read it when it’s convenient – which is why some items are repeated. New items are marked with an asterisk * so that if you did read it last week, you can see which sections you can safely skip.
Please come to one of our in-season maintenance days! We can use both skilled and unskilled volunteers, and it all helps to keep the boat in good condition and to try and avoid losing any time on voyages to maintenance issues. MDL Marinas are seeking nominations for exceptional young people for fully-funded places on a voyage with us in the Easter holidays next year. You can also volunteer with us ashore, or by helping with vessel maintenance. We also need help with the essential work of raising funds, to maintain our boat, pay our staff, run the charity and enable us to offer bursaries to young people who could not otherwise afford to sail with us; and we occasionally need volunteers in the office. Spread the word One of the adult leaders added: “My best bit was being able to sail on a very different boat and getting to learn all about it: we had some great sailing passages. Funniest bit was washing up procedure last night when I was in goal for the cutlery that was getting thrown at greater and greater speed and cups and managing to catch them all – it was good fun. Great trip and a well-run boat, thanks for everything.”OYT South clothing– do you want an OYT South t-shirt, hoodie or hat to wear on board, or as a souvenir afterwards? Then on Monday we had our first youth crew of the season – the girls from Greig City Academy in Haringey! They have been a great group to get our 2023 sailing under way. Many of them had never left London before so this was a real adventure. Our shorebased training weekend next year will be 10-11 February, where we can run RYA First Aid and a range of other courses. We’ve had some great ideas for courses and we are just in the process of arranging instructors – we’ll let you have details and prices in due course. She will be missed more than we can say, and we really want to send her off with a nice leaving present, so please give generously!
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