Tall Ships

Before I started sailing, I assumed that the further away from the beach you swim, the deeper the water becomes. When you sail, you learn a lot about the depth of water. The changing depth of water in relation to the tides, the depth of water in relation to the depth of the keel of the boat you are sailing on, the depth of the water due to which sea or ocean you are sailing across. The depth sounder on your boat is a vital instrument. And the depth written on the charts and the tide times in the sailing almanac, are vital pieces of information to inform yourself with. I was shocked when I first sailed across the North Sea and learnt that there was only 50m of water below us. That seemed far too shallow to be so many hours away from land, no spec of coastline in sight. The Solent is in fact remarkably shallow in a lot of areas, so shallow in fact, that once a year at low tide, an area in the centre of it becomes entirely uncovered to the extent that two sailing teams get together and hold a cricket match on it! They take turns to win annually, as the tide always comes back over it before the games has time to finish. 

The things we learn at sea are not only those lesson related to sailing itself. You work in tight confines with a crew, be it 4 on a 30ft boat, or 20 on a 50ft boat. The challenges you face range from powering on through rough weather conditions, pulling someone else’s weight when they get take down by sea-sickness, and learning to trust each other through emotionally stressful situations.

Tall Ships is a sailing charity, which has been taking groups of youth on sailing expeditions for over 60 years. In the interview below with Jim Prendergast, you can hear about Tall Ships, and his reflections on why sailing is so powerful for young people.