Seasick Kevin recommends a life on the ocean wave

TIME at sea is fun and rewarding, according to one teenager from the Findhorn Foundation.

Kevin Featherstone (16) travelled from Shetland to Norway as part of a scheme organised by a national charity.

It helped him develop a range of new skills and he is keen to spend more time on the ocean waves.

He made his comments at a Moray Council meeting, where members of the children and young people’s services committee quizzed him on the trip. “I learned a lot about teamwork in the conditions of running a large sailing boat,” he told councillors. “I found the most interesting part for me was experiencing the fjords in Norway.”

He also said he was thinking of undergoing further sailing training and members of his crew had set up a page on the Facebook social networking website to discuss their futures.

The voyage, on the yaught ‘Alba Endeavour’ was organised by Ocean Youth Trust Scotland, a charity that aims to help youngsters develop new skills through sailing.

His place was one of two funded by the local authority. The other, on a different vessel was taken by Sophia Dawson, of Elgin, who also attended the meeting and answered questions from members.

Both supplied reports which were included in the committee’s agenda.

After the meeting, Kevin went into more detail on his experiences with the ‘Gazette’.

“I only spent about 26 hours sailing across the North Sea, most of it was spent in port,” he said.

The start of the approximately 250 mile voyage from Lerwick to Stravenger was delayed because of high winds and waves. Though things had calmed down a bit when they did set off, it was still a bit choppy.

“The boat bobbed up and down a lot and everybody got very ill,” Kevin, who is currently studying for five Highers at Forres Academy, joked.

Kevin and fellow crew members operated a four hours on/off shift system when they were at sea.

This was one of the biggest contributors to seasickness as they would wake up and not see any movement above their bed but would be able to feel the yaught moving around. This sent confused signals to their brains, resulting in them throwing up.

According to Kevin, the secret to beating this illness was to keep his eyes as he got up and dressed himself, not opening them again until he was able to see the horizon.

Once in port in Stravenger, they had responsibilities like cleaning the yaught.

But they also got involved in more fun activities like a parade of crews and hosting a party on their vessel.

“It was great to see Norway, it had been a long time since I’d been there,” Kevin said.

He encouraged other people who had never tried sailing before to give the project a go if it is run in Moray again.

Full details on the Ocean Youth Trust Scotland can be found at their website www.oytscotland.org.uk.