Upon ascending onto the boat, we faced difficult weather circumstances that had resulted in the MEN’s sail to disembark with a substantial time difference compared to the women. However, as the crew started cracking on following the briefing and instructions from the volunteers this was quickly turned around with us arriving at the Isle of Wight earlier. The sail from Portsmouth Harbour quickly taught us the value of working as a team as many of the tasks required us to cooperate.

The journey from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight was a rambunctious one where all 7 of us had the opportunity to do all tasks such as climbing the high mast to fix the sails and dropping and clover knotting the fenders. The most memorable activity, however, was the opportunity to helm (steer) in which we had to be weary of the high volumes of ferries, small boats and the sea lane barriers that we had to sail in-between.

Once we got into the harbour at the Isle of Wight the crew had split up into the two. 4 of us in the kitchen where we were given limited resources as well as having the task of preparing, an exquisite pasta, with spectacular sauce and a rambunctious set of meatballs, vegetarian and halal options available too.

After the dinner, we cleaned the lounge area and as a team headed over to the shore to access the clean and modern facilities in the harbour, only a 2-minute walk.

Lastly, until 11pm we had time to socialise, playing board games. talking and exploring the ship. At 11pm the lights went out…

By Ael, Kamran, Ted, Vladislav

The day began with a lovely breakfast cooked by Jake, Konrad, Veli, Steve and Mr Wamara, consisting of bacon and eggs in a bread roll. The other team then cleaned up involving cleaning the toilets. After this, preparations began for us to start the boat. We then hoisted the main sail: this was an 8-man job involving 3 teams of two in rotation pulling it up whilst Jake and Chris used the winch to keep the excess out of the way, and the rope taut. Following this, we put up the 2 head sails in a similar fashion and were soon able to get sailing. We practiced basic manoeuvres, turning across the wind while going against it to keep the sails at the appropriate angle to catch it fully. This required one person helming, as well as another loosening the sheet on one side of the sail, letting it loose and enabling it to move across to the other side of the boat, while another 2 people tightened the sheet on the other side, cementing the sail in its new place. While this was happening, the team on lunch duty was regularly going downstairs, checking on the oven to make sure the food could be ready to be served at 1. After a scrumptious lunch of jacket potatoes, we drifted along the current whilst the rain continued to increase. Eventually, we decided to switch the engine back on to check out some massive cruise ships in the Southampton water and the River Test before turning around and beginning our journey back toward the port of Cowes. Whilst this was happening, the lads took turns helming the boat. On nearing the isle of wight again, we took down the sails which involved packing up the main sail. This required the help of the entire group with us hoisting it over in an ordered manner together before tying it up with sail ties. We then put the cover over the main sail and prepared to dock at Cowes port. One team then proceeded to coil the ropes and pack up the Yankee and the Staysail whilst the other team cooked delectable Chicken Fajitas for dinner. After dinner and washing up, we went onto the other boat for a quiz which we flopped and came back.

Blog bois signing out 😉

By All The Crew