Hi! My name's Ellis, and I'm undertaking a 6-month traditional seafaring traineeship with National Historic Ships UK, and you're catching me just shy of a month into things. Prior to this, I'd had some experience sailing heritage vessels from my hometown of Lowestoft, but sailing had to be put on pause while I was at University.

When I saw the opportunity to get out on the water again, doing what I love and escaping my 9-5 office job, I leapt at the chance. After a very relaxed interview with National Historic Ships UK and Dom & Barbara (the owners of Lynher, the ship I'd be spending most of my time on), I was offered the role. To say I literally jumped for joy would be an understatement!

After a frantic 7 hour train journey, I reached Plymouth at the start of June, being welcomed by everyone here. I was thrown in at the deep end, with 3 sailing trips in my first week, but this is exactly what I needed to blow the cobwebs out and get back into the swing of things.

Since getting here, I've learned more than I could possibly fit into a newsletter blog post. From rope work to knots, splicing to whipping, rowing to powerboat operation. Across the board I've been picking up valuable knowledge about traditional sailing, and how to preserve and restore boats. Specifically, the Lynher team has recently started work on restoring a 1930s cornish Lugger, Ibis. She needs a lot of work, but it's all valuable experience for me.

My hosts on Lynher have been extremely accommodating and kind, and I cannot thank them enough for such a wonderful start to my journey. Although I'm sure I've tested their patience at times with mistakes here and there, they've always been wonderful.

Outside of Lynher and Ibis, I've also started some short courses, specifically my Sea survival course and upcoming powerboat and VHF courses. These are invaluable as without these industry recognised qualifications, I'd struggle to find work after my training course has finished. I'm hoping to add First Aid onto this list too before my six months are up. Additionally, I've been invited for a voyage on Olga with Sailing Tectona next week month - very exciting!
On board Lynher