On our first day we arrived on the ship and introduced ourselves. We were then given a safety briefing so we knew how to stay safe onboard. Soon after, we were shown to our sleeping spaces and put our bags away. We then went to do a STEM activity (at the ‘Tech Deck’ at 1851 Trust), where we learned how sails and wind turbines work (drag and lift).

After that, we were given materials to make our own sails and wind turbines (which you can see on the photo above). Later on, we returned to the ship and had a lovely delicious dinner of chicken and vegetable curry and rice with naan bread. To end our first day, we had a little social time and then went to sleep.

On our second day, we woke up early and had breakfast (which was actually okay). We then set up to sail and I was given the job of stopping the boat from crashing into the side with fenders. Later on, we learned a few new knots for example, a clove hitch and a round turn and two half hitches. We sailed for a few hours before docking at the Isle of Wight.

We had lunch, which was vegetable soup with bread. After arriving, we left the ship, went for a walk around the town of Cowes and saw the mesmerising beach. Whilst doing that, we went to the only shop open THE ONE AND ONLY AMAZING SAINSBURY’S. (The boat was also cool I guess.) We bought a bunch of snacks and returned to make dinner (spaghetti bolognese with homemade garlic bread).

On day three, we had breakfast at the usual time, however we got prepared much earlier than we did on days one and two as we had finally got used to the schedule (don’t worry it’s easy to adjust for everyone). Today was really sunny and there was no rain. Yesterday it was raining so we had to wear our waterproof clothing for the whole day. Today was much easier to work because it wasn’t wet and slippery like previous days. But it was windy, so if you had a hat we would suggest to hold on to it, so it doesn’t fly away.

Most of the time you will have to work hard and get ready to tack (which means pull and release ropes depending on which side the wind is blowing). For example, if the wind is blowing on the Port side (which is the left side in sailing language) you would have to release the ropes on the left side of the boat and tighten the ropes on the Starboard side (which is the right side in sailing language) so that the sail could turn to the right. It’s a bit like when you are sleeping on your left side and you want to turn to your right side. It’s kind of similar to that, but the only difference is that you have to follow where the wind is blowing otherwise you will not move and you will float in the middle of the sea and ask ‘what am I going to do?’ to yourself 500 times minimum.

Anyway, back to the sailing and the tacking, make sure that when you are tacking, if you are pulling (the rope) you have to pull quickly when the people on the other side are releasing it because if you don’t, then the sail will flap around and you will have a huge exercise to do (which you might not like if you find long exercises difficult) so it’s better to do what you’re told, to stay safe and to make your life easier.

However, tacking is not the only thing you have to do. You have to hoist the sails up and down, usually at the start and end of the journey. You also have to be careful of the ankle breaker, it’s called an ankle breaker because it could cause you to twist your ankle and possibly even break it, if you are not careful and don’t look where you are going.

The crew are really nice because if you don’t understand something, they will repeat it as many times you need. Don’t worry about drowning, if you have your life jacket on, you will survive because it will inflate and keep you bobbing up and down in the water. The lifejackets have a whistle to get attention, a light to find you in the water if it’s dark, and a detector in case the crew can’t find you, so they will be able to look at their radar and sail to you. The life jacket inflates automatically but if it doesn’t then there is a little red toggle that you can pull to inflate it manually.

Back to the ankle breaker, be careful around the ankle breaker because if you jump and land on it, your foot can slip and it can twist or even break your ankle and you don’t want to ruin the amazing trip by you being unwell. If you break your ankle (hope you wouldn’t) you will be rescued. If you’re scared of getting hurt, do not worry as we have a paramedic onboard (our Watch Leader Mark) just like today when one of our crew fainted and he was there to help them.

Later on in the day, the crew went to explore the land, on a mission to find fridge magnets, sadly the souvenir shop did not have what we were looking for. Instead, we went to the lifesaving and money saving POUNDLAND. We bought our things and went back to the boat, where we ate our food. Once we finished eating, we washed the dishes, did our usual routine and played some card games before bedtime. Goodbye for now friends. <3 Hope you have a safe journey and beware of the ankle breaker.