DofE Gold Expeditions
MST are one of only a limited number of Approved Activity Providers who are approved to run Duke of Edinburgh expeditions on offshore sailing yachts. Completing your DofE expedition at sea is a whole new adventure, and is ideal for those looking to learn new skills and push their boundaries whilst completing the expedition. We provide open expeditions for individuals, as well as group expeditions for school, scout and licensed organisation groups. No sailing experience is necessary to take part in our expeditions!
In our many years of providing expeditions at sea, we have found that participants have the most success when taking part in a ten-day expedition voyage, made up of two parts:
-
Training and Practice (6 days). Learn about the boat, navigation and prepare to take command of the vessel yourself. During this time you will earn the RYA Start Yachting or Competent Crew qualifications (depending on prior experience) and also complete your practice expedition.
-
Assessed Expedition (4 days). Plan the voyage, get the boat ready, and cast off as the skippers of your own expedition yacht! For safety reasons, one of our qualified and experienced skippers will remain on board, but you will be in charge of doing as much of the sailing, boat handling and decision making as possible.
Group Expeditions
For groups, we can provide expeditions on dates to suit you, and can split the expedition into multiple phases to fit over several weeks. We also offer eight day expedition programmes to groups who have the facility to do some of the expedition training online before joining the boat. Please contact us to discuss your group's bespoke expedition.
Cost
We are aware that the cost of taking part in a sailing expedition is slightly higher than more traditional land-based expeditions, and are committed to ensuring that sailing is accessible to all. It should be borne in mind that our expedition price includes all food, accommodation and equipment for the entire period of the voyage, there are no hidden costs. Please visit our bursary page to explore funding options or call the office if you would like to participate in an expedition but feel the cost will stop you doing this.