Donate

Challenger 2 – Emerge

By Tall Ships - February 22nd, 2019 | Posted in Voyager blogs No comments

Day One

Yesterday we travelled from Portsmouth (Gunwharf Quay) and sailed our way to Yarmouth Harbour on the Isle of Wight. On the way there, we learned how to put the Main Sail and the 1st Yankee Sail. Most of us were excited to set off from Portsmouth, as for many of us this was the first time on the boat. One random fact we learned was that boats like the Challengers have no toilets but ‘Heads.’ We had to wake up at 7:45 and had breakfast at 8:00. Then we had to do a lot of work when we were putting up the sails and setting off from the pontoon. Once we set sail, we learned how to tack and gybe the boat. This was changing direction of the sails. We got split up into teams called Port and Starboard. Port consists of Kieran, Kyle, Jake, Abi and Lyssa, and Starboard consists of Mitchell, Becka, Arvey and Louis. We also met the crew, Neville, Charlie (The boyo), Imo (Imogen) and David. Charlie and Neville are the Watch Leaders, Imo is the Skipper and David is the First Mate. We slept in hammocks for the night too, and most of us enjoyed it.

We are looking forward to sailing some more and sleeping most definitely!

Day Two

On day 2 we set off from Yarmouth harbour to Weymouth. We set off at 9:30 and everything was going fine. We had something to eat and drink before we set off. Then, we put on the sails, and we put on a new sail, the Stark sail. Then, Mitchell got seasick, and then everyone else was apart from the adults and Lyssa were seasick. Neville was saying how unpleasant it was to clean up everything too. When we got into Weymouth, we packed up the sails and put them in the sail locker, and then Dave taught us the Give way system and what to do on board if there is an emergency such as Mayday and so on and so forth. We also had  fish and Chips for tea and then we washed up and got in the showers.

We now 100% need sleep!

Day Three

We started the day at an early start. We got shouted out of bed by Charlie at 7:30, it was too early. Everyone was tired. After breakfast and tidy-up we all went on a walk. Soon after the walk we was ready to sail. We got our waterproofs on and our lifejackets on. Once we had our suits on, we did some exercises on how to save someone over board the real way, and how to save someone’s life if they have a spinal injury. Becka and Mitchell became the causalities and Charlie and Arvey became the swimmers. We learnt quite a bit. Later on in the day, we had the journey and the wait of getting to our destination. Soon, Mitchell threw up, and Abi went to sleep. It was better than yesterday because everyone except Lyssa went down to the bunks and was sick. After the wait, and the journey we all packed up. We put the sails away and made the boat presentable with everything ship shaped. For tea, we had a curry, Jake was being a wimp and said that Curry was too spicy even though it was the mildest curry you can get. We packed up and whilst the other team are clearing up we got told to write this/ blog. In are free time we are going to the showers to freshen up and then going to Tesco to get some snacks for the night. Early night tonight because breakfast is at 7:30 because we have to set off early in the morning.

Cya x

Day Four

We woke up early so we could get to the needles in time for the tide. We had our breakfast and started our journey. Today, near the start we learnt about Micro plastics and how to prevent it going into the sea. Then after we learnt about the different parts of the boat and we did a quiz. After this, we had dinner. We had pasties and beans. Then we had an hour break. After this we started sailing during the night and to be honest it wasn’t bad because it was quite calm. Then as the night went on, we soon arrived at Portsmouth again and now we are writing this while the others pack away. Jake said the mash was spicy, ahah.

Cya x

Join our mailing list

Get the latest updates and news, straight to your inbox.

Add your email and we'll do the rest!