Day one – SSN 498
Day one was all about travelling to the ship berth at Southampton from London, getting to know the crew and getting to know the ship. There was lots of essential training, like emergency muster stations, seamanship and steering skills, plus more.

We were issued all the equipment and clothing like the safety harness and wet weather gear. We are all signed on as the crew of SSN by Captain Liam. Lots of information to absorb, lots of new faces and a very different environment to what we are used.

Here are some first impressions from the voyage crew…

“I found it shocking at first but after a few hours I got used to the lifestyle… “

Joe Kavanagh, Blue Watch Oaklands Secondary School

“Everything here was really unexpected, the weather, the ship, the living conditions… but it was all really pleasant surprise and we are all settling in really well”

Rafi Mannan Blue Watch St Paul’s Way School

“It was a really great day, meeting loads of new people. I really enjoyed the seamanship training on the bridge and learning how to steer. It’s really weird all the different ship terminology, so different to what we would normally say, but it’s really cool.”

David Riley Bruce, George Green Road School

“Although I was quite shy at first, me and the others members on this ship settled in quickly. In this ship they are really helpful, kind and supportive and really friendly”

Wahidur Raham, White Watch Oaklands Secondary School

“The room are a bit cramped, but overall the crew seem eally nice. I look forward to the rest of my stay”

Farzana Khanom Blue Watch George Greens School

“I found the training process strenuous but rewarding”

Adeline Watson Red Watch Oaklands School

“The day was really exciting”

Jake Woodley White Watch Langdon Pak School .

Day Two

With the normal ships daily routine in place the day started with a hearty breakfast. Whilst eating the stores arrived, thus straight after breakfast a long human chain consisting of 45 people starting from the quayside all the way down to the galley store was formed. We unloaded and stowed away two huge vans full of food supplies.

As soon as that was finished we put on our harnesses ready to go aloft. Some of us a bit nervous, all of excited. Having accomplished the climbing “up and over” we felt really proud and pleased. A lot of us conquered our fear for heights; this made us happy and left a feeling that we could do this over and over again, many times, at any time.

After a short break we all got ready to leave our berth Southampton, with the gangway in, we pulled away from the berth. The crew very excited as we are finally sailing away and going somewhere.

After lunch we continued with more sail training, learning about the sail, how to set them, essential knots, learning how to brace the yards and practice on bracing. There was a lot of information but it felt like it was making sense and coming together.

We anchored off a little bay of Isle of Wight not far from Southampton, very sheltered, very pretty, most of us went aloft again to undo the gaskets and it was a great feeling, the scenery was fantastic and the weather was fabulous.

After a lovely dinner we kicked off the inter-watch competition and had some fun with “the boat race” competing against each watch teams, it was a laugh it’s harder than it looks and more practice needed by most people!

This was followed by a quiz again in teams of our watches. It was fun and the questions were challenging, luckily the answer were within the team.

All in all a very active day, learned loads , conquered fears, made friends, improved our communications skills as this necessary to work well as a group, so loads of team work and loads more fun.

Nazma Begum, Blue Watch St Pauls Way School

Here are some more thoughts about the day …

“It’s the first time we sailed, I was nervous and excited but got used to the motion. I enjoyed moving the yards side to side again and again and again. The boat race was really funny”

Faisal Choudhury, Blue Watch, St Pauls Way School

“Working in the mess is different job, but ist also a fun experience”

Joshua Bevan, Blue Watch Bethnal Green Technology School

“The thing I enjoyed the most about this day was the bracing”

Yaseen Mohammed, Blue Watch Langdon Park School

I enjoyed this trip so far especially the food and going aloft. We got on to the yards – the main course, brilliant.

Minhan Li, White Watch Bethnal Green Technology School.

A fantastic experience to try, the crew and people here are very welcoming and friendly. Climbing up to the yards/sails was one of the best moments in my life. Really excited for the rest of the week to see what will happen. I would say if you get the opportunity to go then you should definitely come.

Rusne Indrasiunaite, White Watch George Green School

So far it has been fun and educating… loving it.

Tiago Viegas Manuel Blue Watch

I enjoyed the activities all day, especially when we started to sail. For the first time my eyes have seen Isle of Wight.

Abdul Wahab Blue Watch George Green School.

Day Three

Straight after breakfast, the Captan briefed us of on the plan of the day, very exciting as we headed east in the direction of Dieppe, France. After more training from Kim we set all a few square sails and some fore and aft sails. At lunchtime we could really feel the motion of the sea and we suddenly we had a lot of green faces, me included…

 Adeline Watson, Red Watch

Once we put all the sails up the ship looked pretty good, I liked the roller coaster feeling at the front of the ship. I was one of the lucky ones and managed to keep my lunch and dinner down which was yummy. My job when we were setting the sails was helping to ease the various ropes. Most of the people from my school were feeling sea sick so I was force feeding them with ginger biscuits. I managed to get about 2-3 hours sleep and then got up 3.30am to go on Watch 4-8 am. As soon as I was on deck we were helping brace the yards in the dark, in the rain and it was very cold… Feeling very tired you realise its important to get bed in time, if only the rest of the watch would let you.

Luke Fisher, White Watch Bethnal Green Technology College

The best thing about the day was steering the boat.

Yaseen Mohammed, Blue Watch Langdon Park School.

The day was a very good challenge, watching everybody being ill and not being able to help plus taking in all the information on sail setting. Applying it was a bit easier as it was a lot of teamwork, I was on the midnight-4 watch and it was very very cold, but had an amazing time as we were all telling jokes and having a laugh and getting to know each other really well. It felt like a long day as we did so many activities. I am loving it, but cant wait for the sea sickness to be over.

Sadia Khan, Red Watch Oaklands School