Jus’ Sail has the only locally built wooden trading boat in St Lucia. This is contrary to the case thirty years ago when many wooden boats still sailed these waters and forty years ago when they were still made by hand on the beaches of St Lucia.
Part of Jus’ Sail’s focus is upon reviving St Lucia’s maritime culture through the engagement of its youth in learning to sail and helping them gain employment within the industry. Jus’ Sail run youth training programs during the off-season summer months, the cost of the programmes is supported through our fundraising activities such as the sale of our Tshirts and merchandise, donations from individuals and local businesses and our annual fundraising dinner.
The training programme has three tenets which underlie its focus – Training – Certification – Employment
The schedule of activities that students undertake on the programme includes:
- First Aid and CPR certification;
- Swim to Survive Certification with the St Lucia Lifesaving Association;
- International Crew Certification through Jus’ Sail’s accredited sailing school with International Yacht Training Worldwide;
- Customer service workshops;
- Personal development workshops;
- Conflict resolution and effective communications workshop;
- A multi-day (4-7 days) teambuilding and leadership development sailing voyage
- and a minimum of two weeks work experience within a suitable workplace.
- At the completion of this intensive programme successful participants will be assisted to rework their CV and seek gainful employment.
Approximately 90% of our 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017 graduates are now working successfully within the local yachting and wider tourism industry when before they were out of work with limited job prospects. Jus’ Sail is therefore proud to be helping make the initial steps towards the development of a cohort of young professionals within the yachting sector of St Lucia and helping young local St Lucians find a rewarding career in an industry that we know can take you anywhere in the world when you set your mind to it. We believe that learning to sail and getting confident on and in the water is a powerful short cut to life long empowerment for young individuals. A recent email from one of our students to us, we feel perfectly encapsulates that view. You can read it unedited and in full on our blog page.
We appreciate any assistance of in-kind support or direct financial donations received that help us to continue to undertake this commitment each year. Should wish to learn how you can make a contribution please drop us an email to sail@jussail.com for more information.
