We travelled to Portsmouth on a four-hour minibus journey, boarded the boat at Gunwharf Quays and met the crew. We were given waterproofs and a demonstration of the lifejackets, and we got familiar with the rules of sailing and what you can and can’t do on a boat.

We left Portsmouth and 1:00pm and set sail sail for Weymouth on a 60-mile journey. As soon as we left, we spotted the Isle of Wight and many other boats just like ours. Not far into the journey, we were taught how to use the winch and what its purpose was. We also learnt how to release and tie rope and how to put up the big sail, which required a lot of teamwork.

After sailing for a little longer, it quickly got dark. We made sure to hook ourself onto the boat so we are secure and safe! We sailed towards Weymouth, passing The Needles – it was very bumpy and a lot of us felt seasick, but seeing lights reassured me that we were getting close to our destination.

Some of the girls made a dinner of sweet potato stew for us, while the rest of us stayed on the boat into the night, sailing in mild tides.

After a long journey of around 10 hours, we eventually arrived in Weymouth, found our space to park our boat for the night, put the sail down and anchored at the port. We were all feeling pretty tired so we soon settled into our pyjamas and rushed to bed for lights out.

We’re looking forward to the rest of the journey!

Ewelina, Prabh, Jess, Natalie, Kaitlyn, Olivia, Isabelle, Eve and Sasha

Ewelina: My highlight of today was learning to navigate tides across Weymouth towards Portland. We faced some challenges like avoiding lobster buoys and sailing with the tides. I have learnt many new rope knots and how weather forecasts are useful to sailors. I am anticipating all the new views and cities we will visit.

Prabh: The highlight of today was driving the boat, we faced some challenges such as avoiding buoys. I learned port and starboard and how to listen to instructions given to help me navigate, and I’m anticipating learning new skills and enjoying the nice views on the boat.

Natalie: We started sailing at around 2:30pm to get to Portland, as we were getting started I found it hard knowing what rope we need and how to use it. The highlights today were seeing the view and relaxing, and I learned how thawing can navigate the course of your journey and how it effects it. I feel pretty happy as today was very fun and relaxed, I look forward to seeing and learning more things on the way.

Jess: The main highlights of this day were definitely sitting with everyone fully alert watching out for boats, buoys etc… This was a very important job, it felt good helping out with such tasks! Some challenges that we faced today were figuring out how to get to Portland safely whilst avoiding strong winds and other boats, furthermore I learned how to port, after all of this I anticipate how we get to our other destinations whilst taking safety precautions to make sure we get there safely!