Guadeloupe to Southampton (via Bermuda and the Azores)

This trip is unlike any other trip in our voyage programme.

Afrer 41 days onboard, you will truly become one with the ship, her routine, and her ways. You will probably get to experience her in all kinds of weather, from calm sail-flopping moments, to exhilirating speeds where you’re not sure if you’ve been soaked by the water rushing up through the gunnels, or flying over her side as the waves try their best to help keep voyage crew fresh water showers to a minimum.

It isn’t for the faint-hearted, but even if you have never sailed before it will be unforgettable. And it will be Amazing! A trans-Atlantic crossing (also known as a transat) is a real bucket-list experience, for sailors and non-sailors alike. You will be recreating the historic journeys of famous explorers and the trade routes that first connected the continents. Our Captains will try to complete as much of the passage under sail, so be prepared to learn your sheets from your clews, and your buntlines from your bowsprit. You’ll be doing it all!

Square rigged vessels were built exactly for this kind of voyage, so set sail with us to enjoy amazing sailing, stunning sunsets (and maybe the Green Flash!), the possibility of whale and dolphin encounters, and the experience of being the only vessel in sight: surrounded by the open ocean.

Confirmed stop-over: Bermuda

Although we cannot specify the exact dates of her visit, this voyage will call into the port of Hamilton, Bermuda, to allow our voyage crew a quick chance to explore the island and the wonderful hospitality of all who live there. We certainly re-ignighted some great friendships when we came back in 2023 and we can’t wait to return in 2024. Take the time to explore the island’s historic forts, swim in the island’s turquoise water, or explore the pink sandy beaches: Bermuda is an idyllic place to discover. This will be your time, and you can spend it how you like!

Confirmed stop-over: The Azores

Again without a specific timeframe, we will also be stopping off in the Azores on the way back to the UK. Our Captains like to explore places less-frequented by the main tourist trade, giving you a chance to see the islands’ dramatic landscapes and the abundance of marine life in these rich waters. Expect to either anchor in small bays or visit some of the smaller ports, but where these will only be decided by the Captain once the voyage is underway!

One of our Bosun’s Mates, Brian, recorded this fantastic video of Tenacious’ return journey from the Azores to the UK last, year, capturing the need for everyone to work together when setting sail, and the challenges of times when the ship is rolling with the waves (it won’t always be like that though!). But note how everyone is smiling at the pure delight of being at sea on a vessel like ours. There really is nothing quite like it.

Still reading? Here’s an explanation on how we priced this voyage:

As you know, it costs a lot to run a tall ship. Infact, we worked out it is going to cost us just over £9.7k a day to operate Tenacious’ Winter 23/Summer 24 voyage programme. Although a lot of our costs are averaged accross the year, they’re pretty inflexible – and we try our hardest to keep costs down. We’ve always fundraised to reduce the costs to you, our voyage crew, and this year all regular voyages have been advertised at 25% less than the actual cost for us to deliver them. If we were to do that with this voyage though, we’d still be asking people to pay c. £7.8k for this 41 day trip. If you can afford that, fantastic, please get in touch right away!

All jokes aside though, that’s a huge cost, even for a life-changing experience like this. And it doesn’t sit right with us to charge that to you, our voyage crew, especially when we consider the financial pressures felt all over the UK and beyond, and particularly by some of our voyage crew who an experience like this is only possible onboard Tenacious, thanks to her unique and accessible design.

But the ship has got to get back to the UK somehow. We looked at breaking this into smaller voyages, as we have done before, but they are often difficult to fill to a comfortable level of voyage crew onboard, and feedback tells us that’s often due to the expensive one way flights at either end of the individual legs. So, we’re trying something different with pricing. If we just calculate the estimated food; fuel (yes, in case of emergency); port fees; costs to crew her with our permanent and volunteer crew, and; an allowance for maintenance (as who knows what will happen, when, or what we will need to suddenly purchase in port) the voyage comes to c.£3,699 per person. That equates to just over £90/day, far from the £192/day the rest of the voyages are subsidised at, and excludes a whole load of other vital voyage costs like the navigation and satelite comms/licenses, costs to keep life saving and lifting equipment certified and compliant (along with everything else on the ship that is), and other really boring but important costs, like insurance and surveys. And we haven’t included the Captain’s Jaffa Cakes in any of our expenditure anywhere!

Why can’t we do this for all our voyages? We really wish we could, but we still have to meet those extra costs somehow and the truth is that fundraising has become highly competitive – especially since 2020 when so many funders gave away much larger amounts to help during the pandemic (impacting their future ability to give), and more charities increased their focus on fundraising to meet their costs. We’re going to have our work cut out for us raising the programme’s regular subsidy, sourcing specific funding for equipment and maintenance, and to keep finding new bursary funding to help with voyage fees, but we promise we will always keep trying.

So there you go. An explanation as to why this voyage is priced completely differently to any others. After all that, we hope you can join us onboard!

What to expect

Sailing on Tenacious 

Don’t worry if you’ve never sailed before – most people step on board with no experience of sailing a tall ship.

You’ll be part of our Voyage Crew, and be put into one of four teams called Watches. You’ll learn from our Permanent Crew and will take part in all the tasks necessary to operate the Ship, whether that’s setting sail, helming (steering) the Ship, assisting in the Galley or climbing the mast – though that one’s not compulsory!

And you’ll enjoy time off watch every day to take in the scenery, get to know others on board and take part in the activities we have planned. Our beautiful tall ship Tenacious becomes your home for the duration of your voyage – we want you to be comfortable and enjoy the experience of being on board.

*What you pay 

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters we are able to subsidise all our regular voyage places by 25% from the true cost to the JST to deliver. But, as explained above, this one is priced a little differently. If you can, please consider making a donation or fundraising towards the full cost of your voyage. This means we can continue to offer this subsidy to those who are less able to afford our adventures.

Historically the JST has advertised our voyages with a larger subsidy, but sadly these levels are no longer sustainable. We realise that the cost of a voyage may be a prohibitive factor, so we fundraise throughout the year for bursaries to further reduce the cost to you, our voyage crew, so that we can still welcome people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities onboard. We recommend anyone that does not think they can afford the existing subsidised rate to read more and apply for a bursary here – please state which voyage you wish to sail on at the same time. We recommend submitting a booking request at the same time as a bursary application as all berths and bursaries are allocated on a first come, first served basis. The Bursary Committee meets monthly.

Note: Bursaries awarded to this voyage will not be to the same levels as other voyages, in recognition that it is already heavily subsidised.

Why sail with the JST? 

Our voyages are not just boat rides in amazing settings. JST sailing adventures are about giving people the freedom to explore their ability, potential and place in the world.

Life on board is about joining in and getting involved. Everyone is seen and treated as equal. Everyone has a role to play and contributes to the best of their ability.

It’s in this unique environment that we see daily challenges fade into the background. Charlie says “I never thought I’d be back on the water again, let alone be asked to be a Watch Leader and become so involved in this amazing charity. I owe them so much.” and you can read her full story here.