Sail Training from Tenerife to Portugal

Ship Ahoy!

It’s the end of the winter season, and our ship Bessie Ellen is preparing to get underway back to her home waters of Cornwall. There is excitement for the ocean passage ahead, route plans are being addressed – will it be North to Madeira, or Northeastwards to Lanzarote to avoid the worst of the Portuguese trades? Right now, the crew are high up in the rigging, tensioning, tarring, and overhauling all the gear, checking for weaknesses – we know all too well that things always go wrong at night and in the worst weather! This time of year can be tricky too, avoiding the spring gales that sweep across the Atlantic, but the ship is well found and the route will keep us inshore, giving the possibility to shelter from the gales along the Spanish & Portuguese coasts.

Bessie Ellen crew

Working a ship 24 hours a day can be tough, and although the watches are relatively short, either 4 or 6 hours, it is incredible how tired you can get. As the weather becomes colder after the heat of the Canaries, paired with constant moving of the ship, sleep is easy and deep.   The further we travel homewards, the galley becomes a favourite hangout, helping bake the daily bread or giving the cooks a hand prepping the meals. For the deck watch, time passes looking after the continuous chaffing of gear, working aloft to protect spars and rigging, regular rounds and checks, along with updating forecasts and routes. Coffee is important, and the pots are always full of a steaming brew. Moments of beauty as the sun goes down below the horizon, moonlight on water and stars above, the evocative rolling of the waves as they lift our world onwards.

Perhaps this life belongs in another time, little communication with the outside world – no phones or Instagram here. Embrace it, and maybe this is your opportunity to enjoy a potentially life-changing experience, whilst gaining an insight to life on the blue ocean. Perspectives change, and you become aware of more important issues; friendships, adventure and challenges while experiencing a glimpse of the past.

crew working on Bessie Ellen

So should you feel the pull of the waves, the desire to slip away to sea, then come and join Bessie Ellen as she travels from Tenerife to Cascais. 

If you are between 18 and 25 and would like to apply for a berth then please contact us at nikki@bessie-ellen.com and be ready to sail from San Miguel Marina in Tenerife on Saturday 3rd March and finishing on Wednesday 14 March. The voyage cost is £400 (meals inc.), and flights and insurance should be purchased separately by the applicant (insurance is a must!). 

seamanship training