Speaker Josh Wallace - My Voyage on the ketch James Cook

Last year's president John Barrow came across the

Ocean Youth Trust North (OYTN) organisation. They take young people away from their everyday routine and inspire them to make positive changes to their lives. To do this they use residential voyages on an ocean-going yacht, “James Cook” as a tool for personal and social development.  An ‘Adventure under Sail’ with OYTN provides a safe but challenging opportunity for outdoor learning and creates an environment where young people can develop resilience and self-confidence. It was agreed by the club that we should sponsor a youngster from within the Bradford community to go on such a voyage.

John contacted the Bradford Sea Cadets to find a candidate for an OYTN trip that took place earlier this month. Their commander recommended a young man, Josh Wallace – age 16 – who was keen to take part. In interview Josh said that he had joined the Sea Cadets aged 10 because his mother was keen for him to be a member of a youth organisation and he chose the Sea Cadets because his uncle and grandfather had both been in the services. Since joining he has completed 230 qualifications. His favourite is Power Boating and he now has a licence to drive one on rivers, lakes and in the sea.

Josh travelled on the 4th to North Shields, for a low-key start to his trip, by Ferry on the overnight crossing to Ijmuiden in the Netherlands. From there, a party of twelve young people took to a minibus for the short trip to Willemstad, to join the James Cook. This is a 21 metre (70 foot), 54 tonne steel-hulled ketch. She was designed to be sailed by young people, many of whom come from non-sailing backgrounds.

Over the next three days, they travelled round the inland waters of the Netherlands, visiting marinas at Zierikzee, Veer, Middelburg, Vlissingen and Bresken, before striking out across the North Sea, to return to North Shields during a sail taking two days. There was a good following wind during that part of the trip, and it saw them home to port in Royal Quay Marina, North Shields on Saturday 11 August. For more photographs of the ship please follow this link: - James Cook

On Board the James Cook, Josh learned and performed every duty, from sail handling, keeping watch, steering to cooking and cleaning. All of which earned him a certificate from OYTN for the trip, together with an official certificate of competence for offshore crewing. The picture below shows Josh with some of the crew.