Sutherland teenager overcomes acute seasickness on tall ship to have experience of a lifetime
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It’s not every day you get the opportunity of sailing the high seas on a tall ship writes Fiona Burnett.
For 18-year-old Molly Burnett, Loch Eriboll, her dream became a reality when she recently found herself taking part in the Tall Ships Races aboard the Statsraad Lehmkuhl on the Cruise in Company voyage.
The opportunity came after she applied for one of the 12 fully-funded volunteer sail trainee positions on offer to 15-25 year-olds living in Caithness and Sutherland.
Molly’s adventure began with a flight out of Wick airport to Aberdeen, staying overnight, before taking a flight to Oslo the next day followed by a two-hour bus journey to Fredrikstaad where she finally boarded her ship.
Onboard, Captain Marcus Seidl introduced himself and his crew to the sail trainees, with safety and mustering procedures explained before they were shown to their quarters.
Molly said: “We were all allocated locker numbers, the same number as your hammock and everyone was given a set colour watch. Mine was white which meant my watches were 4am-8am and 4pm-8pm daily. We had to set up our own hammocks which were quite comfy.”
The sail trainees had a brief spell ashore in Fredrikstaad before the ship sailed for Aberdeen. Molly’s first impression of Norway was how clean everything was.
“There was no litter in the streets and all the houses and buildings were so well-kept. It was also hot and expensive!” she said.
Her first buoy watch was “cold and dark” until the sun rose, brightening up everyone’s day.
“I didn’t find it difficult getting up early,” said Molly. “But it was hard coping with the motion of the boat, being cold and sometimes wet while trying to work your way through your watch.”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before she realised she had no sea legs, although she did manage to climb part of the rigging to help pull in one of the sails towards the end of her voyage.
Despite coming from a seafaring background, and having regularly sailed on Loch Eriboll from an early age with her dad John, Molly spent the majority of her time below deck suffering from extreme sea sickness.
“It was really frustrating because I’d psyched myself up for this huge adventure, not thinking that I would suffer from sea sickness,” she said. “I felt like I’d let my colleagues down as I wasn’t able to assist on many of the watches.
“I have never felt so ill. I struggled to keep food down and I was so weak and permanently exhausted that at one point I fell asleep in the toilets! I actually didn’t think I’d make it to Shetland. I seriously thought about leaving the ship in Aberdeen as I was no use to anyone.”
The North Sea almost got the better of Molly but it’s amazing how good company and a lively ceilidh can change a situation.
Once ashore in Aberdeen with sail trainee Lena Forbes from Wick, Molly found her feet.
They visited the Maritime Museum, and the highlight of Molly’s day, and indeed her whole experience, was participating in an organised ceilidh for crew and trainees at the Beach Ballroom, where all nationalities came together for a traditional Scottish welcome.
“The ceilidh was amazing,” she said. “It was like an adrenaline rush! The music was brilliant, everyone was happy, dancing, clapping and having fun. At one point I slipped and fell while dancing and suddenly this voice from the microphone bellowed ‘Man down! Man down!'"
"The Indonesian ship put on a spectacular play with members dressed in colourful costumes. It was a great night. Days later we were all still talking about it.”
On hearing Molly’s decision to stay, Melanie Henderson from Sail Training Shetland said: “I am so made up to hear that. Very proud she is showing such strength of character.”
The final leg of the journey from Aberdeen to Shetland was easier on Molly, although she still struggled with sea sickness. She managed to complete a couple of watches before finally arriving in Lerwick where she had a surprise meet-up with one of her friends, Andrew Gilbert from Glenelg. Seeing a familiar face gave her an enormous lift.
Hundreds of people lined the streets to watch the crew parade. “It was such a buzz walking past everyone,” said Molly.
The night before leaving Shetland, Molly waited for some hours before she got a photo of Captain Seidl, at the helm in his official uniform. He was returning from a crew dinner in honour of Princess Anne.
On the day of their ferry departure back to Aberdeen, the sail trainees met Princess Anne at Fort Charlotte in the centre of Lerwick. Molly said “She was very nice. She asked me where I was from and when I told her she replied ‘How lovely!’”
After a 12-hour ferry journey and another five hours by bus, Molly finally arrived home!
She said: “Sea sickness aside, it was an amazing adventure. It’s the most travelling I’ve done in such a short time, using so many different types of transport. I met lots of interesting people, visited places I’d never been to before, took loads of photographs, sailed on the most impressive ship ever, experienced the best ceilidh in Aberdeen, took part in the crew parade in Lerwick and met Princess Anne.
She is grateful to her sponsors, Scrabster Harbour Trust, Pentland Floating Offshore Windfarm, Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) North Highland, Sail Training Shetland and Captain Seidl and his cheery crew of the Statsraad Lehmkuhl, for giving her an adventure of a lifetime, a voyage of self discovery and memories which will last forever.
Special thanks to Sarah Beveridge, North Coast Connection manager for bringing this opportunity to Molly’s attention.
