As we continue to set the standard for post-16 education in the region, this new building – led by the expertise and vision of Northern Schools Trust – represents a significant investment in our students' futures. The design bridges the gap between traditional schooling and higher education, offering a mature atmosphere where students can thrive.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

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Before dinner, we completed an emergency muster drill which consisted of the general alarm sounding across the ship and all crew mustering at their muster station and donning their life jackets- although this was a little bit terrifying it is very important that we all know what to do and where to go in the event of an emergency at sea.

In the evening, we were served dinner which consisted of sweetcorn, pork, broccoli and mash. After dinner, many games were provided by the Pelican voyage crew which entertained us during our down time. We sat with the other crew members who were from the Isle of Man, and they told us about their different culture such as their folklore and celebrations on the island. This was intriguing as well as surprising to us, students from Liverpool.  Finally, both trainees and crew went to sleep at ten in the evening. Overall, the first day consists of settling in and making ourselves comfortable with the ship.

Day 2: Departure from Liverpool

Monday 22^nd June, 2026

Liverpool – Anchor at Dulas Bay, Anglesey

Cyrus, North Liverpool Academy: Mizzen Watch number 5

I had a wonderful time on day 2, we woke up at 07.00, and after having our breakfast, we departed Liverpool at 08.00, locked out alongside the new Mersey ferry and motored out of the river into Liverpool Bay. As we passed though the lock system, the lock released some water, so we are at the same level as the river outside the lock.

Day 3: Anchor at Dulas Bay

Tuesday 23^rd June, 2026

Stevie Tyrer, North Liverpool Academy: Fore Watch number 9

I woke up at 3:50 am to do my morning anchor watch which consisted of me measuring the temperature of the sea and looking out for anything that could disrupt us while we were anchored. At 5am, I swapped with the next watch members who were taking over from us and I went back to my cabin to get ready.

We had lots of different workshops throughout the day such as knot tying with the cadets, in this I helped prepare one of the sails (T’Gallant) by folding it fan-like state and then tying it with a series of lines known as gaskets. I found it very interesting to learn how the sails work and I really enjoyed watching the crew put the sail on to its yard.

The weather was glorious, and the Irish Sea was so still- apparently this is extremely rare and so we all embraced it. I then went on watch where we had taken turns on the helm and keeping lookout, I struggled slightly with the helm as I found it slightly challenging to keep course on track, but I managed to get the hang of it in the end. Whilst on watch we saw lots of different wildlife such as jellyfish, dolphins, seals and Minke whales- although this was a brief encounter it was so special. We didn’t Anchor this night so sleeping was a slight struggle as we were moving quite a lot due to the wind increasing and coming from the North which was the direction we were travelling, but I managed to get a couple hours of sleep before my watch at 00.00 to 04.00.

Day 4: Port Ellen, Islay

Wednesday 24th June, 2026

Dylan, North Liverpool Academy: Fore Watch number 6

Previously to my middle watch period, hours 0000-0400 I woke up a few hours before, as I had not adjusted to sleeping schedule. The calm waters from before had become more aggressive, causing the ship to pitch about. Despite the baltic temperature and winds, I admired the sunset on the horizon before preparing myself for my upcoming watch, which consisted of wearing more layers. During my watch, I spent my time at the bridge on the lookout for other vessels in the sea and anything that could possibly cause a hazard to the Pelican. Overtime the ship became encased by a dark, grey fog. After 2 hours into my watch, I was granted a 10-minute break, I spent this eating toast. As the swatch progressed, it become increasingly challenging, I spent majority of my time contemplating what I signed myself up to. However, I managed to find the will to push through until the watch concluded.

After 4 hours of sleep, we anchored off Port Ellen in Scotland. After lunch of burgers, we were informed that we will spend the day in the village of Port Ellen. We were given a briefing to ensure our safety off ship. I had a few minutes to gather any belonging and money I would like to take before the rib would take us to the shore. After landing on the beach, me and my friends explored the area while waiting for the rest of the voyage crew. After everyone arrived we had a scientific workshop, where we learned about the various types of animals and other organisms that inhabit beaches and shores. When that concluded, we were given permission to explore the island of Islay for a few hours, with this time me and my friends walked to the village in search for a shop to buy some snacks and ice-cream.

After a few hours ashore we were collected from the beach in the RIB, returning in the same order as we arrived. Heading back towards the Pelican at anchor was breath taking- sitting at anchor she looked very picturesque in the bay- it was amazing to think that in such as short time we had become the crew of the ship and had managed to get the ship from Liverpool all the way to Scotland. Once everyone was back onboard lots of voyage crew showered to remove the sand and salt from their skin- this dented the already dwindling fresh water supply. After our dinner we had a quiet evening were some of the crew played card games, sat and talked or even tried their hand at fishing from Pelican’s poop deck. We were scheduled to complete another 1 hour anchor watch between 20.00-00.00.

Day 5: At anchor Port Ellen and Sailing

Thursday 25th June, 2026

Tara, North Liverpool Academy: Main Watch number 5

Day 5 was another chaotic day on board of the ship; I woke up at 6:30am and got ready for 7:00am for galley duty because it was my day to be on the duty alongside Zuzanna and Cyrus which was fun and calm at the start of the day. Around 8:00am is when we weighed anchor and set sail up north. Two hours into my shift, we called out onto the well deck to get training on the seamanship; this is where we learnt how to pull the lines, make fast and learn key sailing vocabulary such as, “well” this means stop or freeze whatever it is we are doing. Another term I have learnt on the 5 days on this ship is “2…6…heave” which I think is fun when pulling on the main yards when bracing.

However, after the break, we got an announcement telling us that the wind was 20 knots strong; so, we had to turn back and go to port Ellen and anchor there again for the night and wait out the thunderstorm that was on the way. This was basically the end of my galley day shift and finally showered. Finally, everyone met up on the main deck and we were just talking  which was so fun, and I had a great time.

Day 6: At anchor Crinan

Friday 26th June, 2026 

Ioannis, North Liverpool Academy: Main Watch number 5

In the morning, we weighed the anchor and set the sails as we managed to gain some wind- pushing us in the correct direction. This included setting all the yards to the correct heading to catch the wind by heaving on the portside and easing on the starboard before setting the sails. After setting the correct heading we set the sails and sailed towards the start of the Crinan canal with the course, topsail , T’Gallant and spanker set and a couple of headsails. Unfortunately, as I went to heave the course brace it started to rain out of nowhere with huge raindrops that made me work even harder on heaving as I was only in  a shirt and work trousers so the course sail got moved surprisingly fast and to no surprise as soon as the course was square where we wanted it to be the rain completely stopped, just our luck! We have been very lucky with the weather, so we didn’t complain too much.

After sailing for a few hours, we eventually arrived at our anchorage and handed and stowed the sails then used the engine to crawl our way into the bay where we were going to spend the night, then we eventually dropped the anchor and were able to enjoy the view of the great Scottish coastline. After anchoring we all had to meet in the mess room in our different watch groups to take part in a inter-watch quiz that included questions about the ship and just general knowledge quiz questions which lasted for a while with about 25 questions and everyone, forewatch in particular being very competitive about winning.

During the night, we had our separate anchor watches that included looking out for other vessels that might be heading towards ourselves or just any possible dangers to the ship. Eventually my watch was over, and I went down to my cabin to find 2 engineers working on getting the heads back together as the vacuum system had been temperamental for the past few days. They had fixed them and were putting the bulkheads and shower back together, as they had had a very long day and were getting fatigued, they said they would finish installing the shower curtain and the main shower system back on the bulkhead the next day as they were struggling with doing so due to having had such a long day. As I enjoy joinery at home, I grabbed my multitool from my bag and got to fixing managing to put the shower system and shower curtain back up, eventually we had the shower back up and running and the heads.

Day 7: At Sea and At anchor in Tobermory

Saturday 27th June, 2026

Karolina and Shalom, North Liverpool Academy: Mizzen Watch number 7 and 2

Hi everyone! This is our 7^th day sailing the grand sea with the Pelican and what a day we have had. We woke up early in the morning, and we got ready for the long day ahead by doing our hair and makeup, getting changed and brushing our teeth before customising our breakfast to our comfort. I had a bowl of cereal and Shalom had two pieces of toast. After this, Captain Darren informed us that today was the day that we use the square sails efficiently due to the wind we were getting, this means that we had to completely switch off the engine. This is a good thing for us to do as a sailing ship because we are helping the environment by reducing the amount of carbon emission. Me and Shalom were cautious of how vicious the weather has been the past couple of days, so we decided to go to our cabin and wear weather effective clothing such as our waterproof gear and raincoats. Putting the gear on is SO HARD because there are buckles and zips we must do up so that our clothing is weather effective.

Me and Karolina giggle a lot during this because of the small and packed cabin, as well as this special gear, we have harnesses we are permitted to use during our watch. Look out duties are scheduled and can happen anytime. Sometimes we release a huge laugh if we are trying to put on our harnesses during the night whether it’s inside our cabin or outside on the well deck in the dark.

Anyway, we got our waterproof gear on, and we headed on outside to set the sails, as the permanent crew couldn’t do this without us. It’s too hard of a job on their own! The wind was insane and suddenly it started raining! The rain was unbelievable; it battered us all one by one. Most of the Voyage Crew believed that it was just ‘spitting ‘, but me and Karolina whispered to each other that it would get worse- and it did. Heaving, bracing and easing – techniques we had learnt over the past couple of days - repeatedly.

During this, we loosened the course. All we had to do was loosen the gaskets causing the sails to drop into its gear. This is so that our sails can fall out and be able to catch up with the crazy wind! The whole process was insanely amazing and allowed the Voyage Crew to come together and help each other which built our leadership and teamworking skills. We had to make sure we were listening to our deck crew Shauna, Caro and Rogan who are familiar faces when working closely with the ropes and heaving at the same time. It was tiring for both of us and everybody else. So, we’re extremely proud.

After completing the difficulties of sailing, me and Shalom decided to go sit on the poop deck and relax while we could before our look out duty at 6-8. Our other friends joined us too and we shared some jokes and laughs like we normally do. A couple hours went by, and we have sailed over 40 miles from Crinan to Tobermory!

We went to go have our dinner and afterwards we headed to our watch.  We were drenched, but a lot of laughing, talking, dancing and watching happened. This made the experience worthwhile, and we are both super happy about the friends we have made along the way.  After our watch, we had a inter watch competition which was divided by our different watch groups: Fore, Main and Mizzen! This was super challenging but super fun. We did a knot relay race. We had to learn the 6 different types of knots throughout the day whenever we had free time. Some of them were difficult but we got there in the end. Fore watch placed first, and our watch placed second place overall and our entire watch group was thrilled.

To end the night, me and Shalom sat in our cabin with our other friends. We stayed up talking and getting ready for bed, then we went to sleep, so we are well rested for our next busy day ahead.

Day 8: At anchor Duart Bay

Sunday 28th June, 2026

Alin, North Liverpool Academy: Mizzen Watch number 3

My day started out by going to my watch on the bridge from 01:20 through to 02:40 since our total 4-hour watch as a watch team (Mizzen) was split up into 3 separate watches of 1 hour and 20 minutes each. I believe the first watch consisted of Louise and Cyrus, the second one had me and Adam, and the Third was Shalom and Cameron.

After my watch, I sat in the mess room for a little bit longer while listening to some of my favourite music and talking to friends around the table. After our discussion ended, we all started making our way down to our designated rooms to get ready for bed and sleep the rest of the night.  I got ready for bed by brushing my teeth and changing into more appropriate clothing for bed.

Waking up the next day at 7:00 am, I got changed into slightly thicker clothes due to the cold breeze outside flowing in through the permanently open door to the mess room to ensure I wouldn’t have to spend more time going back to my cabin to change again since this would have limited my time to have my breakfast meal which included 2 bowls of cereal.

Once the morning routines were completed, we were transported via the RIB to the shore of Tobermory. When we all arrived on the pontoon, we were allowed to split up and separate from each other to go and explore wherever we wanted around the location, but we always had to be in at least a pair just in case of emergencies.

We spent around 3 hours ashore and then made our way back to the ship by RIB. Getting back on the boat after visiting a plethora of different shops like Co-op and a very niche souvenir shop where I bought 2 bracelets, a ring, and a fridge magnet for my fridge at home which came out to be an astounding £40, this only left me with £15 left in my wallet which I also later spend on a new pair of sun glasses. I also spend a lot of money in the Co-op restocking on snacks and drinks.

After the morning ended, it was time for my first watch of the day from 12.00 to 16.00 with my team. Again, we split it into 3 watches of 2-3 people; this time I was partnered up with Karolina and Cyrus to watch the port and starboard sides of the ship to make sure there were no dangers in sight or potential threats.

After raising the anchor, we sailed past the Isle of Mull while setting the sails and adjusting them to face the catch the wind so we would gain more speed without the use of the engine which saved us fuel and power. After sailing for about 2 more hours, we arrived at Durat Bay which is the place we dropped the anchor again, preparing for the night ahead.

Sam the Scientist then got out his microscope and started showing us all the different types of plankton and animals in the sea water all around us. There we saw copepods which are extremely small creatures the are the inspiration to Plankton from SpongeBob SquarePants. These samples were collected whilst we were sailing. We continued socialising in the Mess room before going to bed ready for another night of anchor watches.

Day 9: Alongside Dunstaffnage Marina

Monday 29th June, 2026

Zuzanna, North Liverpool Academy: Forewatch number 5.

The night before we stayed at anchor in Duart Bay which is a beautiful place filled with many different boats and ships as well as a lot of greenery and even a waterfall. The stay there during the night allowed us to have specific time watches, this means that instead of doing a whole 4-hour watch from 12-4 am or 4-8am we were able to split them into 3, 1 hour and 20-minute intervals. This let us get more sleep and rest in during the night as constant watch wasn’t needed because we were at anchor. Although we were stopped dangers still align so we had to as well watch out for other ships, boats, people and more.

In the morning of the following day, we done the egg dropping competition. One person from every watch climbed onto the green platform with their designated team’s egg and then dropped it. Forewatch went first and it almost hit us. Main watch was next, they had a parachute, so their egg contraption almost went over the side however, thankfully the nets caught it in place, and it didn’t even touch the deck. Lastly, Mizzen watch went, and their egg travelled the least distance aft on the Poop deck. However, in the end when we uncovered the eggs we were able to see that none had cracked nor broken!! David (Chief Officer) then said he needed three volunteers to help him, and he unexpectedly cracked the eggs onto their heads.  This was to check the integrity of the egg and more importantly to make sure the egg hadn’t been hard boiled! We then weighed anchor and began our approach to Dunstaffnage Marina. We came alongside a pontoon and may of our watch mates assisted with the mooring operations, such as linesman or on the mooring deck.

During some free time, those who were up to it went for a social climb- this would be the last opportunity to climb before the end of the voyage. After dinner, David set up a quiz with 19 questions all about the ship. It included questions like where is the hoover stowed and how many toilet paper sheets are you supposed to use per flush. After the quiz we all had social time in the mess room which involved everyone watching the tennis at Wimbledon and the Germany v Paraguay World Cup football match on the projector whilst the shop was open.

Day 10: Dunstaffnage Marina - Visit to SAMs

Tuesday 30th June, 2026

The 10^th and final full day started at 7:00 with everyone being woken up for breakfast which was a devastating event because the Nutella had run out. After that, mizzen watch was called for happy hour and the rest of us started packing our stuff. When we finished packing a group of us got called to help off-load the rubbish from the ship, this consisted of a very long human chain where everyone got covered in bin juice which led to us having to wash our hands outside. Following this very busy start to the day we set off for SAMs (Scottish Association of Maritime Science). A walk along a busy road took us to the campus where we got to wait in an interactive entrance room which had a tunnel which you used a blacklight to reveal sea creatures on the walls. We then got taken into a lecture theatre where we learnt about tides and interesting whirlpools around western Scotland, some found it interesting others not so much.

After a lunch break we went to look at some of the technology that they are using to investigate our oceans, some of the devices we saw are being used to research the importance of metal to the ecosystems in the oceans. We then got to go see some of the aquariums which are being used to research the plants and animals in marine habitats. Leaving SAMs, we stopped at a local corner shop where we probably bought out the entire stock.

When we returned to the ship, we had some social time where we had more conversations (still not sure how we haven’t run out of things to say) and watch rehearsals for the SODS (ships operatic and drama society) Opera performance which took us to dinner. After everyone had ate the world class performances took place. Mizzen watch kickstarted the evening with a poem about their time on the ship which consisted of some niche references, main watch followed with a reenactment of a happy version of the titanic called “pelitanic”. Fore watch stole the show with a performance of “500 miles” because “the writers are Scottish, and we are in Scotland, and it feels like we have travelled 500 miles”. This was the final of the inter-watch competition which meant the winners were announced… 3^rd place was main watch 2^nd place was mizzen watch and by 1-point fore watch took the victory. We then had an awards ceremony which had awards from best overall to who was sick the most. After some laughs as a whole group, we all split into smaller groups and reminisced on our time together, being 2 groups mixed together has made it an even better experience as I have got to meet people I wouldn’t have got to in any other experience, I have made friend that I will hopefully keep in touch with even if they live across a sea which costs an arm and a leg to get across.

Day 11: Oban to North Liverpool Academy, Liverpool

Wednesday 1^st July, 2026

Miss Williams, North Liverpool Academy: Mizzen Watch number 1

My alarm went off at 05:45—an early start, especially as it felt like I had only just gone to bed. After getting myself ready, I began preparing some of our group equipment, loading it into a marina trolley ready to transfer to the coach when it arrived.

At 07:00, I called all voyage crew, with breakfast scheduled for 07:30. Students were advised to finish packing and move their bags to the well deck so that a deep clean of the cabins and accommodation could begin.

The confined space within the cabins meant that not everyone could pack at the same time. Interestingly, without any formal plan, crew members naturally took turns to pack and move their bags. After eleven days together, it was evident that they had become completely in sync. They organised themselves—and each other—without needing to discuss who should do what. This demonstrated how the group had developed an intuitive understanding of one another and highlighted the significant progress they had made in working collaboratively as an effective team.

Students gathered on the well deck for one final briefing with the Captain: The Captain's Wash-up—a light-hearted summary of the voyage, blending facts and figures with the many memorable moments, laughs and stories that had shaped our time together. Before disembarkation, there was one last reminder to use the heads and refill water bottles before collecting belongings for the final time.

The well deck was strewn with bags of every shape and size. Some students required marina trolleys to transport their luggage on the ten-minute walk to the waiting coach, while others wrestled with oversized bags using every available limb. Amid the bustle of loading luggage, the atmosphere became noticeably quieter. The reality that our time aboard the magnificent Pelican of London had come to an end was beginning to sink in.

Just eleven days earlier, these same students had stepped aboard feeling anxious, uncertain and apprehensive about the adventure ahead. Those emotions had quickly given way to curiosity, resilience and confidence as they adapted to life at sea, mastered unfamiliar routines and embraced the language and traditions of the ship. Without fully appreciating it themselves, they had completed an extraordinary voyage of personal growth.

As they crossed the gangway for the final time, many did so with tears in their eyes—not from sadness alone, but from gratitude for the experience they had shared. The transformation was unmistakable. Students who had arrived shy, reserved or hesitant now carried themselves with confidence and self-belief. They left not only with practical sailing skills, but with stronger friendships, greater resilience, enhanced teamwork and leadership skills, and memories that will remain with them for a lifetime.

Reflecting on the voyage, I was reminded of something a former Captain once told me: "If we could bottle the impact of sail training on young people, we would all be millionaires." Watching our students step ashore, the truth of those words was impossible to ignore. Although the voyage had demanded much of them—physically, mentally and emotionally—the outcome was exactly what sail training strives to achieve: young people returning home more capable, more resilient and more confident than when they first stepped aboard, equipped with the belief that they can face future challenges and pursue their ambitions with courage.

As we meandered through the marina towards the waiting coach, there were countless final glances back at the magnificent Pelican of London, which had been our home for the past eleven days. Many were undoubtedly wondering whether they would ever have the opportunity to sail aboard her again, or even see her once more. It was a poignant moment as we left behind not just a ship, but the setting for an unforgettable adventure.

The journey back to school passed surprisingly quickly, helped in no small part by our only stop—a service station with a McDonald's. The coach was filled with a mixture of conversation, shared memories, photographs, laughter and well-earned naps as everyone reflected on the experiences of the previous eleven days.

We arrived back at school at around 16:30, where families were eagerly waiting to welcome home children they had not seen for nearly two weeks. Parents were keen to hear the stories of life at sea, the challenges overcome and the adventures experienced. The atmosphere was one of mixed emotions. There was excitement at returning home to favourite meals, long showers and the comfort of sleeping in their own beds, but also sadness that the voyage had come to an end. Saying goodbye to friends—many of whom had only met eleven days earlier but had formed remarkably close bonds—was particularly emotional. As we said farewell to the Isle of Man crew before they continued to the ferry terminal for the Manannan sailing back to Douglas, there were heartfelt hugs, promises to stay in touch and more than a few tears.

Looking back on the voyage, I could not be prouder of every student. Each of them embraced the challenges of sail training with determination, resilience and courage. There were moments that tested even the strongest characters, yet every student rose to those challenges and should take immense pride in what they achieved. They leave this experience with far more than sailing knowledge; they leave with greater confidence, resilience, independence, teamwork and leadership skills that will continue to benefit them throughout their education, careers and wider lives. I hope this remarkable adventure remains one of the defining experiences of their youth and that the lessons learned at sea continue to shape their futures for many years to come.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the captain and crew of Pelican of London, Mr Yorke and Captain Lee Clarke for their commitment, expertise and unwavering support throughout the voyage. Their willingness to give their time, share their knowledge and invest in our young people made this expedition possible. Their encouragement, patience and professionalism played a significant role in ensuring that every student returned home having achieved far more than they ever imagined. For that, I am truly grateful.

Tall Ship Voyage 2025

What a week it's been for the North Liverpool Academy crew aboard the Pelican! Our young voyagers have experienced a truly unforgettable journey, as documented in their own words.

Author: Paul Johnson, Executive Principal

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