The trip on the Fisheries Protection Vessel Westra was organised by the Sea Cadets and involved 2 cadets from Harris, 2 other cadets who came all the way from Devon plus one Sea Cadet officer. The ship is part of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency who police the fishing in all 127 000 square miles of Scottish waters using 6 ships, 2 aircraft, 20 shore offices and 285 staff. All this is done on the surprisingly small budget of approximately £12m a year. The Westra is of around 1067 tonnes, is 53m long and has a normal complement of 6 officers and 9 crew although at the time we were on board it was running with an even smaller skeleton crew.

On Tuesday the 21^st of August we travelled to Leith, Edinburgh where the ship is based. On arrival we were shown to our very own single cabins and then to the crew’s mess and eating area. The officers had their own larger mess, even though there were less of them. The mess had a TV and a huge video library but thanks to a special long-range aerial we could still get TV pictures about 30 miles offshore. There were 4 meals a day, which were always very good, including a cooked breakfast, a 3 course lunch, a 3 course dinner and supper for anyone who was still hungry. However, one of the best features of the mess had to be the unlimited supply of tea and chocolate biscuits.

Activities for the cadets during the week included a large amount of seamanship, navigation and complex chartwork on the bridge with the officer of the watch every night, tours of the engine room and machinery spaces, exploring every compartment and locker on the ship, emergency drills, instruction and practice in using a high pressure firehose and firefighting techniques on board a ship, steering the ship for a total of 4 hours each, of course, eating four meals a day and sitting in the sun reading.

The ship carried two RIBs, or rigid inflatable boats for boarding the fishing boats. These are like large inflatable dinghies but with a part fiberglass hull which enables them to ride over the water rather than through it. We couldn’t actually board any fishing boats because of the health and safety risks but we did get a demonstration of the ship’s main RIB which gave a good idea of what it’s like to be clinging on to a small boat hurtling over the wavetops at 40mph (quite exciting).

The ship sailed from Leith at 18.00 on the 21st and headed for a group of large Danish fishing boats which were being tracked by satellite about 40 miles off Aberdeen. The Westra arrived early on the morning of the 22^nd and boarding began immediately. After boarding about 4 – 5 boats during the day we left the area that evening for the Moray Firth where the reconnaissance plane had spotted some boats which headquarters wanted us to have a look at. On the 23^rd we arrived not only in the Moray Firth but also in extremely dense fog. We could hardly see the Westra’s bow, never mind any fishing boats so the captain decided to stay in the area around for a while. By that night the fog was still as thick as ever so overnight we headed very slowly (so as not to waste fuel because we weren’t doing much) to Orkney where we could anchor and wait for the fog to clear. The Westra arrived in a bay to the north east of the Orkneys at about lunchtime on the 24^th, still in fog. Luckily, after a delicious 3-course meal, the fog lifted and we found ourselves surrounded by green islands with sandy beaches on a lovely sunny afternoon. One island even had a mobile phone mast which gave all the crew a chance to phone home. It was even warm enough to get the No. 8 shorts out and sit in a deckchair on the stern deck.

Not wanting to waste any more time, the captain headed straight back down to the Moray Firth to look for those boats again as the reconnaissance plane reported that they were still there. We arrived back in the Moray Firth on the 25^th and found the boats, boarding several of them but there was nothing suspicious to be found. That night we headed back towards the Danish boats off Aberdeen to check how much fish they had caught. On the morning of the 26^th we found them and again boarded some of them. One of the Danish boats had run out of cigarettes so an exchange was made in return for some magazines. This shows just how well the fishing boat crews get on with the civilian Scottish inspectors whereas the Royal Navy who provide fisheries protection in English waters don’t get nearly as much cooperation, partly because they are the navy and carry guns and partly because they tend to be quite gung-ho about things.

Finally the ship headed toward Aberdeen to let us off and to resupply, arriving on the morning of the 27^th. We said our good-byes to the officers and crew who really couldn’t have been nicer to us during the week and then headed for the station. The week on the Westra was an unforgettable experience for all the cadets and gave a fascinating insight into life at sea. It was certainly more exciting than school anyway. Anyone interested in going on a similar course can visit www.sea-cadets.org or contact Dundee Sea Cadets on 01382 206245.

The following pics give a flavour of what the trip was like.  As ever, they are  in thumbnail format.  Click on any image to see a larger version and then use the back arrow in your browser bar to return to this page.