When Jayne was talking about the adventure on The Excelsior, at first I thought definitely not, then I found out about how long it was and thought no way. I took a letter home with all the details and a form to fill out, and one of the PSA’s at school and my sister managed to change my mind by not shutting up about it and saying that I would regret it in the future. When I gave the form to Dad he was also trying to convince me too as he thought that it would be a good experience for me.

I gave the form to school quite quickly because I thought if I waited I would change my mind. The time went really quick and I was dreading the trip, and worried about what clothes I would wear as I didn’t want to stand out and look stupid. One of my biggest fears is water, and I was worried about getting sea sick as I get really bad when traveling in cars.

I had been ill the week before we left and was really thinking about not going. The weekend before we left I was so nervous, and telling my Mum that I wasn’t going to go. My sister was joking about with me the whole day before, and tried to keep me calm and excited. Jayne had been messaging me as my Mum had messaged her to say that she was worried about me and my nerves and anxiety getting the better of me.

On our journey down to Dunbar, I was extremely nervous and really wanted to jump out of the minibus to go back home. I was also worried about not knowing people but thankfully I knew a few, which kind of helped.

I was terrified when I was on the rib because I thought that I was going to fall in. Excelsior was smaller than I thought but I think it makes it more cosier. Everything was so different, and nothing like I’d done before from doing watches to being a sailor. A watch is when you work on the boat doing sailing things, like being the helmsman, working with the ropes and being on watch. It took until Wednesday for it to feel normal and get into some kind of routine.

There was a lot of people on the boat, and I struggled with speaking and asking questions to new people. Even simple things like ‘would you like a cuppa’. I still struggle with this but have found easier ways to cope with such challenges.

My highlight was being able to climb on the rigging. The last eight days will never be forgotten and I will always remember my time on Excelsior. I’ve learnt new skills, and being able to work with new people.