TO the teenager from landlocked Leominster, whales and dolphins were a source of wonder.
Alex Powis watched wide-eyed as the sea creatures surfaced alongside the sailing ship she and her friend Becky Mifflin were helping crew.
Alex and Becky, sixth form students at Minster College, spent 10 days aboard the Prince William on its 800-mile voyage from Liverpool to London via Dartmouth and Boulogne.
They, and their young shipmates from all over the UK, worked in teams to scale the ship's masts, scrub the decks, keep watch, help cook, and batten down the hatches in Force 7 storms.
The two owe their place on the Prince William to the luck of the draw. It was their names that came out of a hat when the college decided who it would send.
Prince William is part of the HSBC Tall Ships Youth Trust, a key sponsor of the college. Voyage places have been offered to students for the past four years.
Alex says that seeing whales and dolphins from the mast-top will always be her overriding memory. For Becky, the whole experience was in a "one in a million opportunity".
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