“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did.” Mark Twain
GAP Year or Change of Lifestyle
Taking the plunge and stepping off the treadmill of earning a living or bringing up children is tempting to us all. Who hasn’t looked jealously at school leavers going off travelling before university and wished they could take a GAP year – satisfy some wanderlust and follow a few dreams.
You are not alone in wanting a career break or GAP year.....and it need not be as long as 12 months to rejuvenate you. About one in five of the 200 000 people surveyed who took a gap year were adult professionals. This makes your GAP year travelling very acceptable.
But beware. The experience might change your life.
The Prudential did a study into work/life patterns and discovered that 1.4 million of the working population have already taken steps to simplify their lives and a further one million or so 35-54 year olds are making serious plans to ‘downshift’.
Our skippers have listened to many of our sailing customers expressing a wish to change their work – life balance.....but sometimes they need a decent break away from everyday pressures- meeting new people with different values to really believe they can make long term changes.
Typical Career Break Triggers: Do you recognise any of the following feelings: Burn out, guilt at excess and affluence, sensory overload, mid life crisis(es), freedom from responsibilities, retirement, needing new sense of purpose or fulfilment, children flown the nest, retirement, no need to work, shaking out the cobwebs, once in a lifetime goals, can now afford to travel.
Why live on our ships as part of a GAP YEAR ?
Young or old, there are many lifestyle and career reasons to make sailing and living aboard a traditional boat or tall ship part of your itinerary:
Finding courage to follow a dream? Co-founders of Classic Sailing Adam and Debbie have consistently had to make hard decisions and work long hours to keep Classic Sailing and the vessels we promote prospering, but we followed our dream and have no regrets. We chose our lifestyle and we call it freedom.
If you have time to cross an ocean then sail on Bark Europa. A time to reflect and talk with people of all ages and nationalities, as well as the challenge of living as
part of a close shipboard community sailing one of the last great wildernesses for up to 59 days before the mast.
Improve your languages by joining our multinational vessels such as Oosterschelde, Bark Europa, Soren Larsen and Antigua. Be an informal ambassador for our boats. Help us talk to the French and other nationalities at maritime festivals like Brest and Douarnenez.
Working with disabled crew - Worthwhile adventure for your CV
The mission statement for tall ships Lord Nelson and Tenacious is to enable disabled and able bodied crew to sail as equals on a square rigger. These ships are ocean going and do not compromise their itineraries or destinations for an easy life. They sail to the Caribbean and the Azores and race in tall ships races. They are currently considering a Round the World voyage to a series of Australian Tall Ships races in 2013. The people who come are an amazing mix of ages from young people injured in the armed forces to 70 year old ex ballet dancers, or crew who have been blind from birth but have sailed on the ship so many times they know it better than home.
Travel around the world under square sail for a minimal carbon footprint. Why not cross continents from Africa to South America on Bark Europa as part of your round the world journey? Combine it with conservation or charity work, or other adventurous activities in either continent. The Southern Hemisphere summer is from December to March so ideal time of year for trekking or wildlife safaris in South Africa or Patagonia – The famous Torres del Paine Mountains or National Park of Terra del Fuego and Cape Horn are close to the finish ports of Ushuaia or Punta Arenas.
Simplifying your life
Gain inspiration from those who have already ditched the TV, taken a pay cut, forgotten about a pension, and be happy to do more physical or creative jobs than their qualifications might suggest they should be doing. It is ok to ditch an engineering consultancy to teach sailing in the sun (Skipper Ian), or sand and paint wooden boats for a living with a master’s degree in landscape architecture (Skipper Debbie).We don’t feel we are betraying our professional calling or expensive training –every skill you learn is useful in some way! BE HAPPY & HEALTHY there is no better way to enjoy your gap year travelling.
Exciting News - Round The World Voyage Planned 2013
Tall ships Europa, Oosterschelde and possibly Lord Nelson are all planning to take part in a round the world voyage in 2013. Barque Europa and Oosterschelde will sail in company for part of the journey and the route has already been decided. Full dates and prices will be announced shortly. The route is:
Europa - South America - Antarctica - South Georgia - Cape Town - Madagascar - Reunion - Mauritius - Freemantle - Jakarta - Melbourne - Adelaide - Hobart (tall ships race) - Sydney - (tall ships race) Auckland - accross the South Pacific and around Cape Horn to Falklands or South America for next Antartarctic Season.
Oosterschelde - Cape Verde - Cape Town - Madagascar - Reunion - Mauritius - Freemantle - Jakarta - Melbourne - Adelaide - Hobart (tall ships race) - Sydney - (tall ships race) Auckland - accross the South Pacific and around Cape Horn to South America and back to Europe.
Tell us what interests you and sign up for our e newsletter to get the latest news of the Round the World Voyage 2013
Best Tall Ship Voyages for World Travel & Career Breaks
RYA Courses, sea time and sailing qualifications
Barque Europa's Antarctic voyages 2012-2013
Career change to sailing ?
Interested in a Sailing Career? Gain RYA qualifications, experience on gaff rigged and square rigged boats. On Eve and AJ we also run mates training voyages and have reduced cost places for voluntary mates on some longer passages like Scillies and Brittany voyages. Our skippers can suggest the best way for you to get the experience you need to find paid work on boats.
Want to work on tall ships or large private yachts?
On the Stavros S Niarchos they run a Tall Ships Academy so you may get recommended to come back as a watch leader or deck hand and work towards STCW 95 qualifications which will help you gain employment on large private yachts or sail training ships. Speak to staff that have come up through many career routes from merchant navy, navy, engineering, catering or yachting background. They can tell you some of the pros and cons of working in this competitive but rewarding industry.
Tall ship deckhand placements
Historic sailing ship Bessie Ellen is sailing in the Canaries and Azores this winter and has voyages around UK and France in the summer. She occasionally has a vacancy for seasonal deckhand (unpaid but all food and accommodation on board provided).
If you can't spare the whole season then we have created some month long deckhand placements with full training on Bessie Ellen at a signicantly reduced weekly voyage fee of around £200 (normally £699 per week for charter crew). This is hard physical work and involves domestic chores and maintainence on a historic wooden ship.
Classic Sailing Current Job vacancies - paid and voluntary
See job description and person specification Deckhand for a month
Own business plans? Try Eve, AJ or Lizzie May to meet boat owner/skippers (Adam, Phil or Jerry) who have successfully downshifted and turned their leisure passions into three individual charter businesses. We can help you in particular with ideas for tourism or adventure activity businesses.
