Tall Ships Holiday Offer

Imagine this: you're a hundred feet up, out on the topgallant yard getting the sail in because the wind's freshened and the ship's carrying too much canvas. You're wearing a harness and you can't actually fall, but it's still a hundred feet down.

Imagine this: you're at the helm of a ship worth £5m. Overhead there's a helicopter with a line down to the deck. Someone's fallen ill and has to be airlifted to hospital. The downdraught from the rotors is making the steering pretty hard, and the orders - port 10, starboard 5, midships - are coming thick and fast. It's up to you.

Imagine this: it's three o'clock in the morning, there's no moon, but no clouds either. Your watch is on duty, but someone else is steering, two others are on lookout, and someone else is in the mess making a round of drinks. You lie on your back and look up, and see nothing but stars, and the sky looks like a great black dome over your head.

This is life aboard the Stavros S Niarchos, a two-masted brig run by the Tall Ships Youth Trust. The business with the helicopter is pretty rare, though it did happen on my own last voyage on her - but yes, you are taught to steer, and it does become instinctive.

The Trust is a sail training charity set up to teach young people the rudiments of seamanship on a tall ship - though sometimes older people like me get to go as well. Apart from working aloft and helming, you learn which ropes do what, and when to pull on them; you help in the galley (that's the kitchen); and there's a fair amount of swabbing decks and general housework. Above all, the ship has to be kept clean and tidy, and everyone does their bit.

There's also a lot of time to talk, and get to know your shipmates. The crew's divided into three 'watches', who get up and go to bed at the same time, and do their work together. There's a rota system to make sure everyone gets enough sleep - four hours on, four hours off, with two 'dog watches' of two hours to even things out (it's complicated, but it works).

This means that yes, you will be standing a watch from midnight to 4am, and from 4am to 8am. It might be cold (my last voyage was in November - it was freezing); it might be raining. You might have to go aloft. But the needs of the ship come first, and that's what you sign up for.

You get very tired, at least to begin with, and maybe you wonder whether this was such a good idea. But then it's time to go aloft again, or you get engrossed in a really interesting conversation, or there are half a dozen dolphins leaping along by the bow, and it all makes sense again.

What about accommodation? It's not luxurious, though it's more civilized than you'd think. Cabins sleep eight, in pipe-cots - deep canvas bunks that stop you falling out when it's rough. There are washrooms with showers, and the food's excellent - no-one goes hungry, and tea and biscuits are always available.

I'm a big fan of tall ships. I believe that an experience like this is good for you. It's fun, it's demanding, and it's enormously satisfying. You get to know people very well, very quickly. You have to trust people, because you work so closely as a team. It can be a deeply spiritual experience: most of us are on the edge of what we feel comfortable doing, and we're learning a lot about ourselves. For some people, it's life-changing: they go home feeling that they're capable of anything.

That's why The Baptist Times is offering you the chance to take part in a Tall Ships voyage. We've booked the Stavros Niarchos for the week after Easter 2012, and there's room for 40 young people aged 16-25. There'll also be eight Voyage Chaplains, mainly qualified youth leaders, who'll be there to act as listeners, counsellors and spiritual guides.

This could change your life, too. At the very least, the chances are that you'll have a fantastic holiday. So why not join us? Fill in the form below and send it off with your deposit to secure your place.

If you'd like more information before deciding, feel free to email me at editor@baptisttimes.co.uk, or telephone me on 01235 517672, or 07800 524590.