Day 5 – Thursday 12th April
This time, me and my dad, Sandy, decided to explore Weymouth. It is a cosy town and every thing is quite close together. Today (the 5th day) we didn’t go out too far. We went to Lulworth cove with the cruising sheet up, as the wind was blowing from behind us. The only problem was that the wind was too soft, and so we only could travel at 2 knots. Luckily, the wind picked up and our speed picked up to 5 knots.
When we got to Lulworth cove we anchored up and went with the dinghy to the shore. Instantly we started looking for fossils. In the end we found a couple of stones with some remains of bones in them. Then we all got a chance to do some rowing in the dinghy, which was quite fun. Finally we went back to Portland where we enjoyed a lovely, spicy curry.
By David Veres
Day 4 – Wednesday 11th April
When we woke up on the 4th day, the sun was shining and we had a very nice break-fast (as usual). We knew we had to leave Poole and head for Weymouth, but only at 1:30. So we decided to go off and explore the city. There were many shops on the high street and we even popped into a WHSmith. But there were also quite a number of antique shops full of old furniture and maps. The shop that intrigued us the most was a milkshake shop. It had more than just the usual fruity milkshakes and the classics; you could have a cake in a milkshake (e.g. a syrup sponge cake) or a chocolate bar put in it. At one point we managed to get lost and so have to find a route back using a map on a building. Then we departed.
Poole harbour is a very big harbour. It took us at least half an hour to get out and see Old Harry and his wife. The wind was quite strong (but not as strong as the one on the second day) and so we had all of the sails pulled out. Eddie, Tom and I fell asleep half way through so nobody managed to get seasick. After another hour, we reached Weymouth.
The showers were a bit too modern (it took a while to find out how to change the water temperature) and far too economic (they were automatic and turned themselves off after 2 minutes but restarted if the sensors felt you were still showering). Finally we finished the day off with a game of hearts and then went to bed straight away.
By David Veres
Day 3 – Tuesday 10th April
This was the most difficult day so far because of the weather the day and night before. Because it was rainy and really windy all day and night that the waves were rough and high which made for a quite interesting day. The start of the day was good everyone had a good nights sleep even through the weather conditions.
Everyone woke up with a smile on their face and had a good breakfast with lots of bacon. However a few happy faces disappeared throughout the day. The sailing started really well everyone was chipping in with the work with putting sails up and helping with all the ropes. The water started of really calm but as the day went on the waves got bigger and bigger because we were travelling into a big sea. As we had lunch myself and Eddie came down with a little sea sickness. So I didn’t have lunch whereas Eddie did. In the end Eddie was sick for quite a while. Whereas I just fell asleep for a long time. This was good as the voyage took a long, long time. As we both came round it was at the end of our voyage we both felt fine.
Our voyage was from East Cowes on the Isle of Wight to Poole on the South Coast of England. When everything was put away everyone had a good time either chatting with others or making the dinner of Spaghetti Bolognese. Everyone was just relaxed throughout the evening and had a good time and then we all packed it in for the night after a very stressful day.
Tom Harwood
Day 2 – Monday 9th April
Last night, (our first night on the cat) was very friendly with a game of cards, we got into our berths, (where you sleep) it was fine, fairly comfy and it felt as if we were sleeping on land.
This morning, when we got up, we were met with a ready-made breakfast consisting of hot-cross- buns and a variety of cereal. The weather was cloudy and was raining a lot, as a result, no sailing :-( but we explored the Isle of Wight on foot, in a small town called Cowes. Nice walk.
We got back to lunch, just after mid-day, again, very nice food, just what you might eat at home. It’s half two now and we’ve played cards for ages, hopefully the weather will be alright tomorrow, so then we can actually sail!
Just put some brownie mixture in the oven, can’t wait till brownies! 
David Veres and Eddie Rowe
Day 1 – Sunday 8th April
When I first go the Sea Cat at Portsmouth Harbour, the atmosphere was very friendly; Neil welcomed people with all different sailing experiences. Beth was also happy and welcoming when everyone sat around the table. Neil explained the things we were going to do throughout the week depending on the weather conditions. Afterwards, Beth took all of us around the Sea Cat and talked about all the various pieces of equipment and went through all the safety briefings.
Afterwards we got all our equipment for the week that we would need. Once all equipment was on, we started our first voyage to Cowes
on the Isle of Wight. This was a nice quiet easy start to the week to build up some of our confidences. I got to drive the ship which was really good and
really showed me that everyone is treated as equals on the boat. When we finally arrived we moored up to the pontoon and got settled in to our new home
for a week. While this, someone was cooking dinner. During dinner there was a good atmosphere; very friendly and talkative, it felt like I knew everyone for
a long time. After everyone joined in the playing cards and everyone enjoyed it. Afterwards everyone was very tired after all the information that was given
to us so most had a wash and then went to bed. The accommodation is very good and easy to use.
Tom Harwood
