The past three months have been some of the best of my life and I am so grateful for all I have learnt. Last year I had very little confidence in myself and had no clue where I wanted to be in life, I felt like an anomaly, especially seeing all of my friends discover their passions. Then I found historic boats and suddenly my life took a turn for the best. I started sailing in September 2021 and it has consumed my life ever since. 


Over the past few months with Dom and Barbara I have been learning how to upkeep and maintain historic boats over winter and also discovered a new found love for rigging. Lynher River Barge CIC have also taken on a new project, not long before I arrived, the restoration of Cornish lugger Ibis.


Having Ibis around has also meant that I’ve had the opportunity to learn about boat maintenance in a real and intense way due to the state she was in. I’ve even had some of my own restoration projects including servicing and cleaning up her rigging, sanding, filling in splits and oiling the spars and restoring her old fishing number signs. 


I can’t lie, some days have been a real challenge and it did take me some time to get used to the pace and style of work but on the whole it’s been such a brilliant few months. Looking back on my first day here I was so nervous and unsure of what to expect but I fell into the swing of things so quickly and have learned so much, not just about the boats but about who I am and what I want to do with my life. 


My placement with National Historic Ships UK has also allowed me to take part in some external courses. So far I have taken a dinghy sailing course, gained my VHF radio license and my Powerboat Level 2. I will also be completing a STCW Sea survival course and diesel engine in the new year. With these, I hope to find myself a job on a historic vessel in sail training so I can pass forward all that I am learning and have been taught. I’m also really keen to learn more about traditional boat building methods so with the help of Dom and Barbara I have been looking into boat building colleges and have plans to take part in a course in Lyme Regis next year.


I do feel very sad that I’m leaving Millbrook and the Lynher family but I now feel ready to take on my next adventure and I’m confident that I will have Lynher CIC and NHS-UK behind me the whole time. Who knows, I might even end up coming back next year to continue helping with Ibis and Lynher!
Lynher Barge team on board Lynher