Life on Board a Tall Ship

Wake up and smell the coffee. Step out on deck and breathe in the chilly morning breeze. Look out over the horizon, can you see the land yet? Or maybe a pod of dolphins have decided to pay a visit?

No day, no hour on board is the same. You relax, talk, joke and sing shanties one minute, only to be climbing the masts and pulling the lines in the next one.

Then everything calms down again. You go down to the galley to help with lunch. The Ship’s heeling turns carrying a pot of soup into a true adventure. You all laugh while navigating this obstacle course.

Wind seems to be shifting. Time to trim the sails. Together, as a team. Apple in mouth, zipping up your jacket, you move forward. Pull the sheet just a bit tighter. The sails are perfect now and the Ship takes up some speed. What an exhilarating feeling!

Time for a hot shower and a well-deserved nap. You fall asleep lulled by the sound of waves hitting the hull. Your next watch starts at midnight. You can’t wait to watch the starry sky with a cup of hot tea in your hands.

And tomorrow will be a completely new day. A new day, with new horizons. Jump on one of our Tall Ships for a unique sailing adventure!

Absolutely Awesome Day

Today was absolutely awesome. Waking from a good 7 hour sleep to breakfast, first time in 5 days as I had been sleeping right through it when on the dog watch. We had watch from 8 am till 12 midday. It was drizzling with rain so we had our wet weather gear on. I managed […]

Morgenster EU-Exchange 1

Our final day in the harbour was marked by a delightfully late breakfast, allowing everybody a proper recovery from the festivities of the prior day. The day was marked by the first happy hour of the journey, where every watch was appointed one of different tasks on board. In contrary to popular belief, shipboard happy […]

Baltic Research: Ingo

Today we all arrived in Gothenburg together. We got to meet all the participants from different countries. Ingo hadn’t arrived yet so we all went to a scouting club to spend the night. We did a lot of activities to get to know each other. We also prepared the country presentations and ate some Swedish […]

I don’t have any sailing experience, can I still join?

No problem. Everybody can become a Windseeker. The experienced crew will teach you everything you need to know about life on board. From setting sails to navigating. If you’re not afraid of heights (or if you’d like to overcome your fear), you can climb the masts. Everybody helps with the daily duties on board, like cleaning the deck or assisting the cook in the galley. If you do have some sailing experience, you can help the other Windseekers, or learn new things like navigating, knotting, etc.

I'd like to sail but I don't have enough money. Can you help me?

Windseekers don’t give up! We realise that Sail Training might be an expensive adventure so we’ve come up with the Windseeker Dinghy Programme. The Dinghy is an online fundraising training and mentorship which will guide you through the process of raising the funds for your own journey. Read more about the Dinghy here.

Young Windseekers can apply for the Oman Bursary scheme. It has been established in 2011 in cooperation with the Sultanate of Oman. Each year young people between 15 and 25, who would like to join the Tall Ships Races or Regattas for the first time, can apply for the coverage of the journey costs – up to €500. 100 people are awarded the bursary every year, enabling disadvantaged youth to join in the Sail Training experience.

For application form and more information email info@windseeker.org

I follow a special diet, is this is problem?

No, this is not a problem if you let us know when you’re booking.

For A-class Ships it’s easier to take into account an individual diet than for B- or C class Ships.

If you are a vegetarian almost all of the ships can provide meals for you, with Vega Gamleby offering only vegetarian food.

Halal prepared meat and vegan food is possible on some of the big A-class Ships. Please contact us first so we can make sure the cook can prepare the right food for you.

Please be aware that some ships will charge an additional fee for a vegan diet – for details write: info@windseeker.org

Am I too old to join Sail Training adventure?

No! Sail Training is for everyone who loves sailing on Tall Ships – or who would like to try it! As long as there are no health-related contraindications and you are reasonably fit – you’re welcome on board.

Some Ships/events have additional age restrictions which will be clearly visible in the journey descriptions. If you’re still unsure which journey to choose, contact us at info@windseeker.org

How can I prepare for my first journey?

Go social! Join us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for interesting articles, pictures and videos.

Read the Kitlist carefully and make sure you’ve packed everything you need. Don’t forget the insurance!

You can also read the logs written by previous trainees and check out the article we’ve written specially for first-time trainees.

If you’re participating in an International Exchange we will invite you to a closed group where you can connect with your fellow trainees.

Most of all, though – don’t stress! Going sailing for the first time is a scary prospect, but the crew will make sure that you will feel right at home after only a couple of days on board!

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