Who Goes On Tall Ships Holidays?

John and and I often get asked ‘what sort of people go on these tall ships sailing holidays of yours?

But what do we reply when there isn’t really any ‘sort’ you can put your finger apart from ‘all sorts’?

• Many people like some adventure or challenge on holiday, or to learn something new, and a tall ships type sailing holiday fits all of these.
• About half of our guest sailors this summer will have sailed with us before.


At the helm of Trinovante in the Irish Sea

• About 80% come on their own. Some don’t have partners waiting
  for them back home’, some do. It’s just that they love sailing but their partners don’t so a week or so sailing on Trinovante fits the bill. Everyone likes the fact that there is a relaxed and friendly atmosphere on-board and plenty of team spirit.
• Ages on-board range from 18 to over 80. The only consideration is a persons ability to participate in the sailing and agility is the most important thing. You don’t need to be built like the Terminator.
• Some of our guest have previous saling experience, sometimes on yachts, sometimes on tall ships but many people have no experience at all.


Relaxing on deck at the Sail Amsterdam Festival

• Some people have their own boats but want to explore different places under sail that are too far away to go to in their own boats or they want to sail on a bigger or differently rigged boat. They can relax knowing all the voyage preparation is done and the boat is in the port ready to go even down to the shopping being done before they arrive.
• Some people are seasoned independent travellers but as one said to us once ‘you need a holiday to plan your holiday if you go completely independent’. If I come sailing with you it’s all so easy. I know it’s going to be as good as anything I could possibly put together myself and particularly in Norway, a lot cheaper too. Plus there is the added bonus of instantly being welcomed into any new port because you have arrived on a tall ship.
• Some people take several sailing holidays in a year and our schooner Trinovante is just one of the boats they sail on.
• Most of our sailing guests are from the UK but we do get people from other countries too – mostly Europe.

So now for the interesting bit what sorts of job’s do they do, yes, you guessed, it all sorts!

Before we started SchoonerSail we never realised how many different ways there were to earn a living and run your life with different aims, objectives and outcomes.

One of the things that keep us interested in running sailing holidays (apart from spending the summer sailing and going to beautiful places ) is we love hearing about our guests varied life experiences from every section of society.
Some memorable jobs have been the guy who worked as crew on an Alaskan crab fishing boat, supposedly one of the ten most dangerous jobs in the world as seen on the TV’s Deadliest Catch and a midwife with some great stories of new life coming into the world.

Tall Ships Holidays for 2011