A young Bermudian is sailing around the world on the training vessel Picton Castle.

Zoe Skinner, 22, applied to be a trainee on the tall ship because she wanted to do something meaningful after she graduated from the University of Surrey.

She said: “Once finding the programme, it became clear there was a bigger Bermuda connection than I realised.

“Once I met the people who knew the captain or had sailed on her before, I knew this would be nothing short of life-changing.”

Ms Skinner was accepted into the programme in August 2022 and joined the crew two months later.

She had very little sailing experience before joining, but said: “One of the best parts of this particular training programme is, by requiring no prior skill you gather a group of people with widely varied backgrounds and experience.”

Ms Skinner and 38 other crew members — 28 of whom are trainees — steer, handle the sails, sand, paint, scrub the deck and help to cook on board the three-masted ship, which left Lunenberg, Nova Scotia, on a voyage around the world on May 11 last year.

Ms Skinner’s favourite port so far has been Palmerston Island in the South Pacific, which has a population of fewer than 30 people.

She said: “As a crew, we were invited to stay with the locals and were, for a short time, able to experience a slice of life in such a unique place.

“They were all so welcoming and so kind.”

Ms Skinner, who graduated from Saltus Grammar School in 2019, said the biggest lesson she has learnt from the voyage is how to be flexible.

She said: “When sailing on a tall ship, conditions are always changing.

“The winds can fare or they can worsen, we may get to spends weeks in a port or only a few days.”

She added: “Things don’t always go to plan and it is not until you are faced by that reality while becalmed in the middle of the Pacific, or waiting for the ship to get down from an extended visit to dry dock, that you can truly appreciate the importance of recognising what to let go and what to fight for.”

Ms Skinner also learnt the values of hard work and a strong community, as well as the impact of a good leader while on board the ship.

Picton Castle will visit Bermuda before returning to Nova Scotia in July, and Ms Skinner plans to continue her education once the voyage is complete.

She said: “It would be an understatement to describe this experience as life-changing.

“To find an experience like this is something I am incredibly grateful for and I encourage anyone to find such an experience too.”

• To learn more about the ship and the programme, which is open to anyone 18 years and older, visitpicton-castle.com