Paul Webster

 

I can remember my first voyage and JST experience was back in November 1991 when I was 16 years old and in Scouting.

My Mother was about to pick me up after Scouts had finished but just before we left, my Group Scout Leader approached me and said that an opportunity has come up to be able to sail on board Lord Nelson. The voyage would be sponsored by the Ramsgate Rotary Club in Kent. A blind person was to go, but at the last minute his parents had decided that it sounded a bit too dangerous for their son and didn’t want him to go in case anything bad might happen to him. So, they went to my Scout group and asked me and before I could think about it and decide, my mother had done it for me and said “yes”, send him, he will love it.

Sailing on Tenacious is a good opportunity for people with a disability, or someone who is able-bodied, to come on board this magnificent Ship and to get an insight as to what life on the good ship Tenacious is all about.

When you arrive on board for the first time you will be greeted by the first Mate who is also the Chief Officer, and your Watch Leader who looks after the watch. He or she is the go to person that you would ask questions about things that are or maybe happening. If they don’t know the answer to the question then they would just say “Very sorry but I don’t know the answer to that particular question you are asking me but I will go away ask a member of the permanent crew and come back to you with their answer”.

They will also introduce you to the Medical Purser who will sign you on. He/she is part of the permanent crew.

The most important thing to remember when in your watches on board Tenacious is we are all part of a team. We don’t rush any job. We work to the slowest person, giving everybody a chance to take part in everything.

One of the good things about the ship is the support given by members of the permanent crew, whether that is working aloft, or alongside voyage crew for sail setting, assisted climbs, or wheelchairs aloft, which is helping a wheelchair user to be hoisted up the mast in their chair.

I think one of the most important statements that we use is to share the challenge. This is what we have to do together now. Share the challenge and get that message out to as many people as possible in the hope that somebody out there will be able to rescue this fantastic ship, enabling us all to be able to carry on sailing on her and using her for what she was designed for.

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