Sea staff
Volunteer and relief sea staff profiles
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John Smith |
| John has been involved with OYT South for around 17 years. An industrial engineer, he loves the buzz of sailing with young people and watching them have a great time. |
Phoebe Second mate |
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Phoebe is not her real name - this was inspired by the TV series Friends and has stuck so that many people don't realise she has another name. Phoebe has just completed an archaeology degree at Southampton University (with a first), and is now working full-time in sail training. She has been sailing with OYT South since 2001, starting as a sixteen year old crew member and working her way up. She is now a Trustee of OYT South. |
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Martin Skipper |
| Martin has had a long career as a police officer, from which he recently retired to start a new life as a teaching assistant. He also sails his own boat, Cwac. He was co-opted as a Trustee of OYT South in June 2007 and later became Chair of the Trust. |
Dave Carnson Relief skipper |
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Finally an up-to-date photo of Dave! |
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John "Cuddles" Snowden |
| Cuddles is the ship's strong man - tough enough that he can get away with wearing a sarong on deck without being laughed at. Not more than once, anyway. Renowned for wind-ups which are not exactly subtle. In the sense that a sledgehammer is not subtle. |
Mark Boggis Second mate |
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| Mark is a former Trustee and Chairman of the Board of OYT South. These days he is able to relax more when sailing with us! He has been involved with OYC and OYT since 1988, initially in Scotland and the North East. He has worked in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector since 1984, in a variety of national account, commercial and team management roles. |
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Graeme Cole |
| Sometimes known as "Becks" for his ace footballing skills, Graeme seldom goes sailing without his Garfield pillow. |
Andy Shuttleworth Second mate |
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| As a teacher, Andy is dedicated to inspiring young minds. It also means he has seen most things before and is never thrown by anything. One of John Laing's champions of the laid-back approach. |
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Alice Poyner |
| Alice sailed with us for many years before qualifying as a doctor, since when she has gone off to treat patients in New Zealand. We hope she'll still come back and sail again one day! |
Julia Davies Third mate |
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| Nicknamed "Bilgey", as one of the very few people able to fit into John Laing's engine bilge. Bilgey is currently a student at Cardiff University. She first sailed in John Laing as a crew member, before becoming a bosun and then a watchleader. |
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Tim Deverson |
| South African Tim (sometimes known as Tinkerbell) is a professional rigger and does great work on John Laing's rigging every refit. He has a knack of turning up on the boat whenever a social event is just starting - and he's guaranteed to be the life and soul of the party.. |
Caz White First mate |
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| Caz first sailed with OYC as a crew member in 1983. A former journalist and qualified fundraiser, she works on marketing and communications for the charity - as well as sailing as often as possible. |
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Kathryn "Gizmo" Francis |
| Gizmo qualified as a mate the moment she was old enough, having sailed with us frequently, as well as working hard at refits. In 2006 she took part in the ASTO Skippership Scheme. She's now thinking of returning to work on dry land for a while. |
Brian Eyres Relief skipper |
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| Brian was a staff skipper with the Ocean Youth Club, and did the OYC voyage round the world in the mid-1990s. Now he is a Trustee, keeps the mates' register and organises CRB checks, as well as still doing the occasional voyage. |
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Annant Shah |
| Annant started sailing with OYT South in 2005 having had previous experience with other forms of sail training. |
Alex "Leek" Evans Second mate |
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| Leek's first OYT trip was the International Voyage in 2005 (on account of being Welsh), after which he became a watchleader and a regular volunteer. He also volunteers as a lifeboat crew member with the RNLI. |
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Mike Makepeace |
| Mike is a very longstanding mate with the Ocean Youth Trust. So longstanding that he is reputed to waterproof his Musto oilskins with linseed oil.... |
Rosie "Habit" Allen Second mate / Relief bosun |
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| Habit sailed as crew in 2005 and has since spent a lot of time on the boat. When not sailing, she likes acting and improvisation, and snow boarding. She was upgraded to second mate early in 2008. |
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Andy Royse |
| Andy is another OYT South Trustee who began his sail training career as a young crew member. An engineer, he is passionate about street-furniture and often entertains his watch with his knowledge of street lighting. He can also snap things out of the air like a giraffe. He loves doing chart corrections. |
Tom Hughes Third mate |
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| Members of Tom's watch generally write in the visitor's book at the end of each voyage that he is the best and coolest watchleader ever. We think he pays them to write this. He now seems to be away crewing on posh yachts in the Mediterranean, judging by the occasional request for a reference! |
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Di Roberts |
| Australian Di is a marine surveyor who got involved through surveying John Laing. She is highly motivated to keep John Laing sailing in good condition as she has booked berths for twin grandsons Henry and Hector when they are old enough. Which won't be until 2020. She has an inexhaustible supply of jokes, some of which are very funny. |
Rob Butler Third mate |
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| Rob is another teacher. He has been involved with OYT South for several years and also organises some of his students to sail with us. |
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Helen Acton |
| A great navigator at sea but can't necessarily find her way out of Indian restaurants. Has a distinctive northern accent which appears to be infectious: a number of parents have noted that their offspring come home from a voyage talking like Hels. |
Nic Crawford Relief skipper |
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| Nic is a professional boat surveyor. He does a great David Bowie on guitar, and is very laid back. He thinks that the key to a good voyage is aftenoon tea with cake - preferably Jamaica ginger cake. |
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Tim Magson |
| Tim had sailed as a group leader with Sunnydown School and NTC Swiftsure before qualifying as a watchleader in 2006. |
Phil Whiffing Third mate |
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| Phil got involved after his daughter Kate did several voyages as a crew member. Kate recently got a mates' recommendation as well! Phil passed his third mate's assessment early in 2007. |
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Dave "Tigger" Heffer |
| The wonderful thing about Tiggers, is Tiggers are wonderful things....Tigger was responsible for the fantastic new OYT South backdrop first seen at the 2006 Southampton Boat Show. His daughter is one of the crew members known to have picked up Helen Acton's accent (see above). |
Tom Kemp
Second mate |
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| Tom previously sailed with OYT North West, before becoming a student in Southampton and doing quite a bit of sailing with us. He's now working full-time on a sail training boat in Scotland. |
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Steve Lacey |
| Steve is qualified as both a teacher and a youth worker specialising in outdoor education. He has extensive yacht racing experience, frequently as a race navigator. He currently works for Dorset County Couincil as a Senior Youth Worker. He became involved with OYT South by bringing a group of young people to sail in 2002, and quickly qualified as a second mate. He is OYT South's Child Protection Officer. |
Cathy Lacey
Second mate |
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Cathy is an Engineer Officer in the Royal Navy, currently working at the Maritime Warfare School. She is also a qualified part-time youth worker. |
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Steve Furniss |
| Steve owns a B&B but still manages to do quite a lot of sailing - including working in square riggers as well as skippering occasional voyages for us. |
Dawn Marshall
Third mate |
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A swimming instructor and gymnast who also works with the Guides. Dawn is into Dinghies. Her dad is really nice, too. |
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Ceri "Bridget" Adams |
| Currently studying social work at York University, Bridget sailed as crew in 2004 and then got involved in the winter refit. The Bridget nickname is because of a supposed resemblance to Renee Zellweger in the Bridget Jones movie. |
Laura Brayshaw
Relief bosun |
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Another former crew member, Laura was for some time our youngest member of sea staff. Not many people realised this as she is more mature than the Staff Skipper. She is currently on a break from sailing having recently had a baby - who is already practising for the day that she too is old enough to sail as crew. |
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Becca Causer |
| As a marine archaeologist, Becca's interests include old and decaying wrecks. Hobbies include dredging and diving. Becca is also a talented illustrator, artist and face painter. |
Andrew Viney Second mate |
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| Andrew sails Squibs and Laser 4000s in his free time and likes most things nautical. He joined OYT South's sea staff in 2006 to gain experience of big boats. An IT professional when he works, he is very funny and laid back. He passed his second mate's assessment in 2008. |
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Rob Dickinson |
| Rob previously sailed as a mate in the Gordonstoun School boat. An early draft of this web page led to him being voted "most gorgeous member of male sea staff" despite the big orange lifejacket. Readers note that we will not be giving out his phone number. |
John Clack First mate |
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"When not sailing with OYT South I’ll be at jazz gigs - I love live music. OYT highlights for me have been visiting ports when musical festivals have been running – a Gaelic festival at Lorient, a midsummer festival in Cherbourg. |
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Matt Bland |
| Matt first sailed with the OYC in 1998 aged 17. Sailing made him decide on a seafaring career and he is now a Third Officer in the Merchant Navy. This photo, entitled "Me and My Penguins" was taken while he was working in fisheries protection in the South Atlantic. He likes sailing with OYT South because he loves meeting new people and watching them develop. He qualified as a first mate in 2007. |
Ben Martin Second mate |
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Ben is part-way through a degree in economics at University of Bath, but is currently on a year's placement with KPMG - coincidentally, a company which used to sponsor the Ocean Youth Club! Having done many years of sailing 30-footers around the south and east coast with family, he moved on to OYT South firstly as crew, qualifying as watchleader in 2006, and stepping up to second mate in 2007. He was nominated by OYT South in 2008 for an ASTO exchange award, which he won, to spend time on board a sail training vessel in Canada. |
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Yvonne Taylor |
| Yvonne runs a company offering RYA and other yachting-related courses. She has a particular expertise in first aid and advanced medical courses, and safety at sea. She is also a Trustee of OYT South. |
Craig Dickerson |
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Craig is a former OYT South staff bosun. He arrived as a volunteer during the winter refit 2002-3, and barely went home again until the end of the 2005 season. After a year in recovery, a lot of sailing in the Caribbean and a ski season, he is now running his own garden design business and has occasionally been seen back on board John Laing, claiming that the engine had missed him. |
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Phil Runchman |
| Phil recently retired as a Surgeon Captain in the Royal Navy. Most of our mates think John Laing is quite large for a yacht but Phil is more used to aircraft carriers. Maybe he didn't get to steer the aircraft carrier enough as that seems to be his favourite thing on board John Laing. |
Joe Parker Third mate |
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Joe is currently writing a D Phil thesis in Comparative Macro-Evolution of Retroviruses, which he is completing on an exclusive diet of noodles. He sails in John Laing to get more sleep and avoid both the thesis and the noodles. |
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Dave Blogg |
| Dave has a vast knowledge of warships, weapons and submarines - always useful if we find ourselves in a naval harbour like Portsmouth, especially if we need to entertain the crew by taking them to see the sights ashore. |
Melina "Pingu" Giannelia |
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Pingu sailed in John Laing in 2006 as part of a scheme which brings people from Canadian sail training to sail with us each summer, and ended up as acting skipper when we handed over the whole running of the boat to the crew. She came back for a couple of Tall Ships voyages in 2007. |
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Vikki Maxwell |
| Vikki is a former staff first mate from the old Ocean Youth Club days. She sailed with us while working for Hampshire County Council but is now moving to Scotland, so we may not see so much of her in future. |
Hugh Myers |
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Hugh spent seventeen years in the British army, and then 20 years in the Middle East, in the army of the Sultan of Oman. Now retired, he has been involved with the Ocean Youth Trust since 1994. |
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Liz Key |
| Liz has a background in youthwork and has been involved with sail training for several years, including four seasons as a cook with Trinity Sailing's Leader. She went on to develop watchleading skills, gaining experience in different vessels, and passed her third mate's assessment with OYT South, before being appointed as our new Staff Bosun in December 2007, and completing a second mate's assessment in summer 2008. |
John Parkin |
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John is another long-serving first mate. He is committed to adding some classical music to the boat's repertoire, though he is learning to live with the normal diet of modern music. He brings a professorial demeanour combined with a nice sense of humour to his voyages. |
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Julian Jansen van Rensburg |
Julian is a maritime archaeologist and has worked in various archaeological projects all over the world and now studies the Medieval Maritime Islamic World. He passed his third mate's assessment in 2007. |
Stuart Raynsford |
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Stuart first sailed with OYT South in 2006, though he has substantial sailing experience in other boats. Refit 2006-7 revealed his extensive maintenance skills and enthusiasm for fixing things - which rapidly earned him a place as a relief bosun. He was upgraded to second mate in 2008. |
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Geoff Eddy |
| Also new to OYT South at the September 2006 familiarisation voyage, Geoff gave a lot of support over the winter and passed his third mate's assessment early in 2007 and his second mate's assessment at the end of the same season. |
David d'Costa |
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| David has been sailing with OYT South since 2006. |
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Pete French |
Pete is an experienced yachtmaster instructor who joined the RAF and learnt to sail, joined the BBC and learnt to avoid meetings and has now joined the OYT and learnt to make cups of tea. What he loves most about John Laing is drinking tea. |
David Hemsley |
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| David has sailed in John Laing several times with groups of girls from the school where he teaches, St Gabriel's in Newbury. He is now working towards becoming a qualified watch leader. |
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Esta Keen |
| Esta has been with Trinity since the 2005 season as Cook then Bosun/ 2nd Mate and is now diversifying into other sail training organisations. John Laing took line honours in the ASTO Small Ships Race on her very first voyage as sea staff with us, and she was signed off as an OYT second mate on her next trip. She is a Yachtmaster, plays the flute and the saxophone,and loves music, boats and snow sports. |
Heloise Finch |
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| Heloise was an active OYT mate a few years ago but then moved abroad, believing for some reason that living on a tropical island (among other places) would make up for not sailing with us for a while. Fortunately she has at last seen sense and made the effort to come back for a few voyages. |
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Tom de la Haye |
| Tom is another recruit from Trinity Sailing where he has considerable experience as a mate. Tom recently finished at Southampton Solent University where he got impossibly high marks for his dissertation. He's now working in yacht design. |
Lizzie Fiddman |
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| Lizzie is OYT South's volunteer press officer, and successfully completed her third mate's assessment in 2007. |
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Tristan Caudrey |
Tristan is an apprentice marine engineer who has sailed with us a number of times, including a Tall Ships voyage in 2006. He's one of the few relief bosuns who can safely be trusted to take bits of the engine apart. |
Brendan Stewart |
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| Brendan has worked in fishing trawlers in the north east. He did a leg of Tall Ships 2006 and earned a recommendation as trainee bosun because he stayed cheerful and hard-working whatever the weather. He needs to learn that it is possible to wash clothes rather than throwing them away when they get wet. |
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Penny Sykes |
| Penny got her mate's recommendation on a training weekend early in 2007, and passed an assessment later the same year. When not sailing she flies helicopters for a living, and is very popular at our refit for her helicopter tales. |
Miranda Camping |
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| Miranda has done several voyages in John Laing as a crew member and also helped with maintenance and other jobs on board in order to earn her bosun's recommendation. |
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Geoff Lewis |
| Geoff is a highly experienced dinghy instructor who first sailed with OYT South in September 2007, adapted very easily to the differences between John Laing and a dinghy and was recommended for a mate's assessment. |
Andrew Kitching |
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| Andrew sailed as a crew member aged 14 in 1997 with a young skipper called Dave Carnson...Ten years went by and Andrew became a watch leader with OYT North West before returning to OYT South in 2007 on a voyage skippered by....Dave Carnson. |
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Sam Revell |
| Sam did several voyages as a crew member and impressed with her hard work and enthusiasm before being invited to sail as a relief bosun. |
Paul "Cakes" Barber |
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| Paul sailed in John Laing as a crew member in 2004 before going off to train in outdoor activities and becoming a dinghy instructor. He came back to OYT South in 2007 as a new trainee watch leader, and liked it so much he decided to stay for five months as a full-time refit volunteer. He is now working at an outdoor activities centre. |
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Lisa Davis |
| Lisa works for Raymarine, one of our key sponsors, and knows almost everything there is to know about our radar and other key pieces of equipment - which makes her a very useful person to have on board! |
Bob Trimble |
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| Bob is a highly experienced sailor who met staff skipper Wolf on a first aid course and got lured into OYT South from there. He breezed through a third mate's assessment and half his second mate's assessment during his first full voyage in John Laing in 2008. |
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Dave Millward |
| We met Dave during Tall Ships 2007 when he was mate on another vessel, Black Diamond of Durham. We liked him and decided to kidnap him and make him sail with us. |
Jo Brooks |
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| Jo was a third mate with OYT Scotland but then she moved to the south of England. She belongs to us now and Scotland are not having her back. |
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Eddie Harper Third mate |
| Eddie did sea staff training voyages with OYT South in 2006 and 2007, and passed his mate's assessment right at the end of 2007. |
Emma Burrows |
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| Emma has sailed with us as a crew member for several years. Now a student at Cambridge University, she got her mate's recommendation in 2007, and will be doing an assessment in 2008. |
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Matt Bushby Third mate |
| Matt is an extreme sports coach who also does some modelling. He sailed with us a few times as a crew member, got his mate's recommendation, and passed his third mate's assessment in April 2008. |
Sarah "Tee Hee" Tredinnick |
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| Tee Hee learned to sail in John Laing, and became a qualified mate, but then disappeared for several years in order to become a qualified teacher. Now in her first teaching job, she has already booked a voyage for a group of pupils. Her ambition for 2008 is to provide a photo in which she doesn't have her eyes shut and a mizzen mast growing out of her head. |
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Jon Seddon Third mate |
| Jon got involved with us at the 2007-8 winter refit and impressed everyone by working very hard while always looking as though he was enjoying it. He has previously spent a season as a flotilla engineer in the mediterranean and will be an excellent addition to our sea staff. |
Ben Gillett |
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| Ben is a keen and highly competent sailor who is new to OYT South in 2008. He's just leaving a career as a health service manager and is aiming to work full-time in sail training. |
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JP Haddon Trainee mate |
| JP, from Northern Ireland, seen here doing his leprechaun impression, used to sail in Lord Rank with OYT Ireland, but now living and working on this side of the Irish Sea, he joined our team in 2008. |
Lucinda Neall |
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| Lucinda first sailed in John Laing when she organised a voyage for a group from her local youth club. Next time she brings a group she will be aiming to qualify as a mate. |
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Craig Burton Relief skipper |
| Craig is a former Sea Cadets skipper who now runs ASTO (the Association of Sea Training Organisations). He will be skippering John Laing for one voyage in 2008. |
Colin Robertson |
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| Colin sailed with OYT South as a mate on a number of occasions some years ago. He has recently returned to the charity and we hope to see a lot more of him in future. |
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Will Ramsay Relief bosun |
| Will has previously been a watch leader in another boat, Morning Star of Revelation. He signed up as a crew member for a couple of voyages in summer 2008 but rapidly became an enthusiastic relief bosun, and will go on to complete an OYT watch leader qualification as soon as he can. |
James Turner |
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James first sailed with OYT South at the end of 2008 and qualified as 2nd Mate. He is a yachting journalist and RYA sailing instructor who has spent a lot of time in recent years working with young people of all abilities in secondary education. |
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Ben Whinnett Third mate |
| Ben completed a Yachtmaster course this year and is busy extending his sailing experience. He will be one of OYT South's core refit team this winter, having completed a mate's assessment at the end of the 2008 season. |
Karen Harris |
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Karen came to us orginally via a very long-standing friendship with another mate, Phoebe, which brought her to refit and various other OYT South activities over a few years before she finally agreed to come sailing. She's now trying to fit qualifying as a mate in with her commitments as a vet. |
