We took the coach to Portsmouth and arrived at Gunwharf Quays Marina to be greeted by Chas (TSYT Youth Development Manager).

Chas escorted us to Challenger 1 where we were given a briefing and explored above and below deck. We were also told about all the safety aspects of the yacht.

We then set sail to the Isle of Wight doing various jobs, some of the students also steered the yacht.

We thought it was a very interesting day and we ended it with a little walk around town, before heading back for dinner and showers.

Loved it, great! Can’t wait for tomorrow.

By Toby.

We got up very early in the morning because we needed to get out with the tide. We also had to prep the boat. We went to the sail locker and lifted the Staysail, Yankee sail and sheets onto the deck. We took the Mainsail cover off and attached the halyard.

We sailed out of Cowes and hoisted up the Mainsail. Some of us were sweating the sail and some of us were in the snake pit doing the Halyards.

We were all taking turns helming and steering the boat where we wanted to go.

We sat up on the bow of the boat looking for lobster pots. We looked for them because if we sailed over them, they would get caught in the rudder or propeller.

Some of us made hot baguettes for dinner.

We learnt the five dangers that you would need to make a May Day call for.

1. Overboard
2. Medical
3. Sinking/flood
4. Pirates/piracy
5. Fire

In the cockpit, some of us learnt how to tie a round turn and two half hitches knot and a half hitch knot.

Once we saw Weymouth, we stopped the engine and lowered the sail making sure that the Mainsail was flaked. We sailed into Weymouth Harbour and tidied the boat ready for tomorrow.

We moored next to Challenger 3 and another boat moored alongside us so that we were in the middle. We went ashore to explore a little and get an ice-cream before returning for fish and chips.

Tomorrow we are going to the beach!

By Melissa and Kirsty.

After breakfast on the third day of our adventure, we went down to the beach in Weymouth for two hours for a swim!

Then we came back to the boat to get it ready to set sail for the day. We left Weymouth and motored for a bit before starting to put the sails up. It was going to take us four to five hours to get to our destination of Poole.

While en route, the fuel pump broke, so we had to wait a while for it to be fixed. While we waited, we sailed using the Staysail, the Yankee and Mainsail. We passed the army firing range and heard gunfire.

Throughout the day, we also got to helm the boat.

We thought the day went really well and was fun. The bit I enjoyed most was helming!

By Joshua, Callum and Dan.​

We started in Poole. Before we set sail, we all had a go at climbing up the mast. To help, our friends were sweating us up the mast to ensure that we got to the top which is 95ft high! Once there, we then abseiled back down in our harness.

We also went shopping for a tacky souvenir and then we had to prep the ship to go out of the harbour. We sailed out, past the expensive houses on Sandbanks.

For lunch, we had chicken and sealed wraps then some of us washed the dishes and cups.

After lunch, some of us had a go at helming, but because the weather and visibility was bad, we used compass navigation and we looked out for some of the buoys that we had learnt about at breakfast.

We moored outside of Cowes and one of our teammates was lowered down to tie the ship to one of the moorings.

Later that evening, we sailed back at night and got to see the beautiful lights as we made our way back into Portsmouth for our last night sleeping in the cots!

By Josh and Jack.