The hard work soon began at sea with the cadets using all their might ‘sweating’ and ‘tailing’ to raise the sails whilst their colleagues were on standby on the ‘purchase’ to finish off. The cadets recovered and stored the fenders used to protect the side of the vessel as they left via the dock whilst others were kept busy tidying away the multitude of ropes into figures of eight and coils. The necessity for good teamwork was immediately apparent. No time was wasted before preparing for sea under the guidance of the skipper and his crew and then they were off out of the marina to sea. After passing under the brass plaque that said, “Enter as strangers, leave as friends” everyone claimed their berths followed by a comprehensive safety briefing and the issue of safety equipment and waterproofs for the five-day voyage. The twelve air cadets and two adult members of staff boarded the James Cook at Royal Quays Marina on the River Tyne, North Shields.
During their voyage they were to take responsibility for all aspects of running the vessel. Twelve RAF Air Cadets from Cumbria & Lancashire and Greater Manchester Wings of the Air Training Corps escaped to sea onboard the Ocean Youth Trust (North) ‘James Cook’ a 21-metre steel hulled ketch at the end of June 2018.
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