In early 2013, 212 (Yorkshire) Field Hospital were tasked by Commander 2 Medical Brigade to organise a sail training event for units under his command as part of the overall Brigade plan.
The task was dropped on my desk and I immediately started sourcing some yachts. Being that I was involved in the exercise the previous year I immediately contacted the Joint Services Adventurous Sail Training Centre (JSASTC). There were five yachts available over the dates we were given. They were all Victoria 34’s able to accommodate six personnel comfortably, and up to seven at a push.
Yachts booked, that was the easy part! Now came the admin process and that within the military is a long drawn out process, so after digging in and filling in numerous forms the plan was laid and the recruiting of crews began. Due to the high tempo of deployments and training currently in the army, finding crews proved, at first, to be a formidable task. The qualified crews, skippers and mates, were the least problematical as several of the previous year’s skippers and mates readily volunteered to attend.
Crew however was a different thing altogether. Although the exercise had been widely publicised within 2 Medical Brigade, crews were not forthcoming at all and it seemed that the reintroduction of press gangs seemed imminent to fill the remaining available places. Some of this could be put down to the fact that Reserve Forces personnel are not paid during adventure training. They are covered for insurance purposes, fed, transported to and from the exercise at public expense but do not attract their normal daily rate of pay whilst adventure training. So anyone who does attend should be applauded for training unpaid alongside regular soldiers who are on full pay.
During the “meet and greet” several of the soldiers remade old acquaintances with whom they had served both on operations and exercises. The group was made up of volunteer Doctors, Dentists, Nurses, Paramedics, Environmental Health Officers, Drivers and other vital trades that are key to running a Field Hospital during an operational deployment i.e. at Camp Bastion. Age and experience ranged from young drivers who had just joined the reserve forces to some senior Lieutenant Colonels.
It was decided that the obligatory polo shirt be obtained for the exercise and this was purchased using the bulk of the funding provided by the Ulysses Trust. (photo attached) The Polo shirt is a major contributor to exercise moral. It identifies participants as a collective team, and in this case identifies
2 Medical Brigade as the lead and The Ulysses Trust as a financial contributor/sponsor. This raises the profile of the trust, which until this exercise was unknown to most of the crews. The wording EX which normally precedes the exercise name was left out deliberately so as to reduce the obvious link to the military as a security precaution. This completed the old adage: been it, seen it, done it, got the tee shirt (or polo shirt in this case). It also carries forward into units the existence of the Ulysses Trust.
So, most admin completed and twenty seven souls lined up alongside the pontoons at JSASTC in Gosport, the fun began. Skippers and mates were given free reign to decide what level of training they would deliver. One skipper wanted to get in some long passages in order to build up his log book as he progressed towards his next level in the RYA Syllabus, which is Yacht Master, so his plan was to sail to Brighton.
Most of the skippers preferred to stay in the Solent area. As all boats had only a qualified skipper and mate, with the remainder being complete novices trying out offshore sailing for the first time, it was decided that, after the compulsory training, delivered by JSASTC staff, that the boats, less the one deploying to Brighton, would make the short sail towards Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
The JSASTC yachts we deployed with were Calista, Amoria, Lambis, Mitra, and Nerita. The one pictured is the yacht I sailed on.
The weeks sailing progressed at a steady pace, only because of a lack of wind. However this was a good introduction for the novice sailors. Don’t want to take them all out in gale force winds on day one.
During the week the boats split up and visited several ports and marinas around the Solent: Cowes, Newton Creek, Yarmouth, Lymington, Southampton, Ocean Village, Beaulieu River and Port Solent.
All boats were back in Gosport on the Thursday evening for a crew meal in the Hornet Sailing Club at JSASTC. Then all the tales came out about the mishaps during the week. Like one of the crew who stepped ashore to fasten the boat up only to realise that he had not taken the mooring line with him. But he did regain the crews respect when he caught a nice mackerel for tea. One of our more, or should I say very experienced skippers, acting as mate on this exercise, was the only person to suffer sea sickness. I think he was just demonstrating it for the novice crews!
Cooking on board was an experience for some that they will not forget in a hurry. Boiling the kettle, making meals and producing brews with the boat at 30 degrees was interesting to say the least.
All skippers reported that by the end of the week all the crews were now working as a team and getting to grips with the nautical terms which drew blank looks at the beginning of the week. Sailing is an exceptional sport for developing team work as each and every member of the crew is essential for the control, movement and safety of the boat.
During the handover, checking the equipment of the boats, a question was raised as to what we did with a bosuns chair - answer hoist someone up the mast. So the attached picture shows Captain Harris from 212 Field Hospital being fitted into the chair for a trip up the mast to repair some rigging.
As a result of this exercise, several individuals have indicated that they will sign up for their RYA Competent Crew course, whilst experienced sailors have gained further invaluable experience to allow them to progress through higher qualifications including Day Skipper and Coastal Skipper.
On behalf of all those that took part on the exercise, I wish to offer my appreciation for the generous financial support from the Ulysses Trust, and hope that support will continue for years to come.
A. Orr, SSgt REME
