A voyage to recovery

O’er yonder moor, through valley fjord

Arise the crew from Sheff and Bradford.

In Anglesey we lay our scene,

Where gentle breeze meets sun, serene.

Aboard the Faramir their journey starts,

With first mate Emily, Tim and Mark.

More bananas than sense aboard fair ship,

Enough to land a plane on airstrip.

Safety checked, Sea Kwells taken,

Ropes off dock and fenders stationed.

The sails are set all main, jib, mizzen,

Staysail also, now nothing’s missing.

The wash of sea spray spits o’er deck

Whilst wind bores waves with heights of heck.

Slowly but surely the crew descend

From cockpit to bunk for buckets to mend

The motion of ocean and battering of sea.

T-14more hours till we land in Dun Laoghaire…

What a night, what a trial, what a test what a challenge.

To keep it short, we survived we somehow managed.

A baptism of fire, a shake to the core;

Something we’d shared in, though separately, before.

Smooth sailing thereafter, a breath, a beat,

Our land legs lost, we claimed sea feet.

Across the bay to Howth we motored

And so onto Douglas, taking many a photo.

A final push and hurrah to Whitehaven

With bananas, we were STILL heavily laden.

The crew departed, how close we’d grown

From that tiresome night of wretch, hurl and groan.

So hard we’d laughed at quip after pun

And games and rhymes and rice, all fun.

For a sail is a sail which could be anywhere,

With anyone, on any boat, but on this one we shared

Our thoughts, our fears, our hopes, our food

Reclaiming ourselves after all we’ve endured.

The users that follow, the staff who aid

The carers who give and the friends who stay

All sail their journeys, some rocky, some smooth.

A journey, nonetheless, that few would choose.

By (Maritime) Meredith, EIP Service User