About:

Sail Training Association Netherlands’ main focus is to organise sail training voyages on Tall Ships. These adventures involve participants in every aspect of life on board: from sailing a Tall Ship, to discovering their talents, learning to live more sustainable lives and maximising their potential. We bring young people from all over Europe together. As a part of our team you will be working in the engine room of this exact goal! We communicate with Tall Ships, future and past trainees, mentors and otherorganisations. We establish partnerships to bring even better value to our sustainable projects. We work with everything related to Sail Training. We cooperate with each other making use of the potential coming from international team of different ages and backgrounds. As a volunteer, your activities will include mostly a variety of office tasks, depending on your strengths and areas you want to develop. As we are a small organisation, you will be directly involved in the projects.

• On arrival training offered by the national ESC agency,
• Coaching by a friendly mentor,
• Coaching sessions with project leader,
• Daily guidance by our office crew or professional sailing crew (when on board a vessel)
• Fundraising training,
• Training/preparation to become a mentor for trainees on board sail training tall ships,
• Sail Training on board certified sail training vessels.

Tasks
Work includes: translation of documents, contact with Spanish-speaking participants and partners,
finding new partners in Spain, finalizing the programs of the summer youth exchanges.
Optionally, depending of the volunteer’s learning goals: making videos, flyers, helping with finances
and others (there is some flexibility in tasks).
During the summer you might be representing us at maritime festivals.
Some flexibility is needed, as the tasks can change quickly and sometimes we work on the weekends
(you will be entitled to take another day off when that happens).

Volunteer profile:

Motivation is the most important part! When applying tell us about yourself and how do you see participating in this specific project will benefit you. We are a small team of sailing enthusiasts but our daily work is done in an office – please keep that in mind. We will especially welcome young people who are good at communication, or willing to improve since a lot of our daily tasks include communicating by phone or email, in English or your mother tongue. We would be very happy if you know some graphic or video editing, and a driving license is also a plus.

Accomodation, food and transport arrangements:

Your main home will be a recently converted freight ship “Brandaris” docked near the centre of Amsterdam. It is fully equipped for your stay. You will have your own cabin and share the living space with other volunteers. Grocery stores are nearby. You will be provided with a bicycle for the duration of your stay. The office and your living area are one the same ship. That makes for a very short commute, but can also mean little privacy sometimes. There are occasional weekend meetings at the office. The Brandaris ship dog Tibbe lives onboard and spends some of his time in the office.

What you will get
– A place to live on ship Brandaris at no costs. You will have a private cabin and you will share the
living space with 3 other youngsters from all over Europe
– Pocket money for food, going out, etc.
– Reimbursement of transport costs, insurance, a bicycle
– Possibility to sail on a Tall Ship with other young people
– Trainings with other international volunteers from around the country
– Experience working in a maritime sector, behind the scenes of Tall Ships events, youth exchanges
and other projects, in an international team.