ROSYTH boy Ben Harnwell had a chance to test out his sea legs last week when he joined the latest stage of the Ellen Macarthur Cancer Trust's 2017 voyage.

Eleven-year-old Ben, of Boyle Drive, was the youngest member of yacht Moonspray's crew and helped it travel down the coast from Stonehaven to Edinburgh.

It was his second experience on board after he completed a similar trip last year when he went to Largs and the Isle of Bute.

He was put forward for the project by staff at the Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh where he was treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia after first being diagnosed with the illness in 2011.

Ben's dad, Tom, said his son had loved the experience.

"He was away from the Saturday through to the next Saturday and stopped off at Stonehaven, Arbroath and Tayport and places along the way," he said.

"The aim of the charity is to take people who have recovered from cancer to help build their confidence and the nurses at the Sick Kids thought he would be a good match for the project. He really enjoyed it."

Ben, who has just left Camdean Primary and is heading for Dunfermline High after the summer holidays, was delighted to have completed his second voyage.

"There was never nothing to do – there was always something to do," he told the Press.

"When we were sailing, there was always a job to do and if we were at a port, there would be something fun to do. We were never bored.

"I liked it best being on the helm and we saw dolphins swimming beside the boat, we saw seals and puffins and lots of other types of birds as well."