Fourteen cadet and two staff set off on a Voyage of Discovery.
Cadets from Clacton on Sea unit were offered a voyage with the Cirdan Trust but this voyage would have been out of reach for us as a unit without the support of the Ulysses Trust.
The expedition was originally set to head to France or the Channel Islands, however weather did not permit. This did not deter the cadets; even sleeping on a ship would have been an amazing adventure for them, but setting sail for the Isle of Wight was an experience second to none. Many of these cadets were on their first adventure away from home and many were suffering from anxiety due to the after-effects of Covid-19. This gave us, as a unit, the opportunity for the cadets to venture with close friends and people who knew their needs and they knew they could trust… this made them more at ease than going away with total strangers.
The voyage didn’t come without its challenges but this is what expeditions are all about, learning to adapt and overcome the challenges put in front of them; with a broken oven and no engineer available they had to improvise to make meals in pots on electric hobs and learning to adapt had made them more confident of their own abilities. Some, having never even cooked their own meals before, had them excited to put their ideas into action.
This expedition allowed nine of our cadets to complete a DofE expedition, which has made a huge impact on the cadets and the unit, as last year we had lost points for not being able to do any DofE expeditions due to the lack of funding for equipment needed for walking expeditions, etc. So this had really made a huge dent in the number of cadets who had expeditions outstanding.
Cadet statement from KB:
“This has been the best experience of my life, going aloft really did push me to my limits, but I am glad I have done it. I am keen to go back and do more; they offered me a space on the crew when I am old enough. I don’t go to school so learning on the ship has been really good for me”’
Veteran statement:
“I managed to find my sea legs by the end of the week; I have never done anything like this before as I am used to being on land. What an amazing experience, and great to work alongside the youngsters and watching them thrive”.
On the whole, the voyage on board Queen Galadriel has really encouraged cadets to want to adventure more and helped them with some of the anxieties they had leaving home. From setting menus, to catering for the crew, gaining competent crew and starting yachting qualifications to getting cadets expeditions completed, this has been the adventure of a lifetime.
