The day started at 1pm, where everyone arrived at the harbour. There, we were introduced to the Skipper, Mate and volunteers. The team spirit was initiated from the very beginning, forming a chain to get our bags aboard. Upon a warm welcome, we received a debrief about the boat itself, acquainting ourselves with all the new nautical jargon.

We set sail at 4pm sharp, taking on the choppy Solent. An exciting short voyage to Cowes, where we became familiar with… winches, sails and knots! The team spilt us up into two groups so that we could separate the work evenly. Once moored, one team (named the starboard team) started on dinner, meatballs and pasta sauce, tangy and scrummy! Steve, a volunteer, rated the dinner as an 8/10, so we created a table on the mini whiteboard to count up the dinner scores over the course of the week – Steve’s Scran Ratings.

Throughout the day we met charts and astrology and scrabble, gradually getting more at ease with the swaying of the boat. After dinner, the entire team gathered around the table for a game of Uno, a feisty battle, the winner is still unclear.

We’re now all showered, ready for tomorrow.

By India & Erine

This morning, we started the day excited to open the sails on the boat and tame the waves, but unfortunately the weather got the better of us – our activities were confined to the lower decks for the most part of the day. Though this did give us the opportunity to look at a colourful synoptic chart to see the weather in all its vengeance, purple fronts and windy seas. As an alternative, we explored the depths of the theory of sailing: we learnt about points of sail, emergency information and engine checks (which turned out to follow the acronym of WOBBLED).

Post-lunch, we visited the RNLI lifeboat station. There, volunteer Geoff introduced us to Sheena Louise, a striking orange lifeboat donated by the mother of her late daughter (Sheena Louise), who was passionate about the sea. Then upon descending the spiral stairs, we were also given further safety information by the RNLI volunteers who told us about FLOAT to survive (the technique everyone should use when they find themselves in the water unexpectedly). They gave us the run-down of what would happen in the case of a ‘shout’, where someone needs help at sea.

After this trip, we were let loose on Cowes in the form of a scavenger hunt. The challenge became very competitive, with both teams (port and starboard) racing to complete the list. Said list included pictures of the giant ice cream, little Lego people, a cute dog, a buoy (and the type) and to additionally return with an interesting leaflet and useful business card.

The hunt took a pause for team port, who extended their trip into the realms of Costa, picking up some stragglers who had failed to join the groups at the start. We ate muffins and drank cappuccinos over conversation involving Kant, Mill and A-levels. One individual took up the position of defending utilitarian ethics, against the immutable logic of Immanuel Kant. *Skip to the next paragraph if you’re only here for an overview of the events* (Later, as the ship’s Mate Hugo read this blog post, he argued against the innate sense of humanity we all have, that Kant’s framework falls down when we abandon a theological perception. However, this is clearly wrong as you don’t have to have a religion to believe in innate human rights… duh. This then dissolved into a further discussion around philosophy. I won the dispute obviously. This reminded me that there’s something really beautiful about reaching back into the thoughts of thinkers before us, how the contemplations of Egyptians reach into the minds of philosophers today. People dedicate their entire lives to the wonders of the universe, and we stand on the shoulders of giants. We walk through the corridors carved out by our ancestors who dreamt the silver linings, discovered wiggles of logic and paved the walkways of ontological arguments.).

The port team returned to the boat with photos of most on the list and a business card from the shop of the little Lego people – the card had charm, laminated and yellowing at the edges. The owner of the card had included his home email and landline number, however we then found out that the shop (That Shop) was going out of business! Devastated, we hoped the interestingness of the leaflet would save us – a nectar card information pack, complete with an actual nectar card (the starboard team would claim that the nectar card was a tool to bribe the judges, but don’t let yourself be fooled). On the other hand, the starboard team picked up an image of a measly red port buoy (in opposition to the port team’s striking black and yellow north cardinal) and the plain business card of an obscure marketing group, which was written up in the most blunt, and dull font. The judging must have been biased, the competition rigged, or perhaps the judges were bribed before we could fight justly, as the win was unfairly handed to the starboard team.

Card games and chatter stretched out from the afternoon into the evening. The saloon of the boat was filled with echoes of Irish Snap (which became quite aggressive, some even have the scars to prove it). For dinner tonight, the port team cooked the crispy fish and our Skipper, Paul, took to the local Cowes chippy to retrieve seven large portions of chips. We look forward to crumpets and the light of the sun through the clouds tomorrow morning!

By Erine

Day 3 started off with a fantastic breakfast (cooked by our team) which consisted of crumpets with a plethora of spreads. Upon eating breakfast, we readied ourselves for the journey from Cowes to Lymington. Although the weather yesterday was horrible, today was fantastic with loads of sunlight shining on our crew. Furthermore, we had decided to drop the sail of the ship. Moving in the ocean with the engine off and sails dropped felt so smooth and calming. Almost like gliding on air.

Throughout the journey, the skipper allowed other members of the crew to steer the boat. Steering the boat was very empowering. While steering, we had to constantly tack the boat, which consisted of vital aspects of teamwork to aid getting the boat to tack. This involved the use of multiple winches and lots of rope pulling.

As the sun started to disappear in the clouds, focus shifted to disassemble the sails upon our reach of Lymington. We rafted to challenger 4 and immediately got the boat ready for the evening where the starboard team started on the amazing fajitas for dinner (where we received an 8.5/10 rating from Steve)

The evening ended the same as most with showers and card games.

By Zac with help from India

Waking up was hard, but motivation and spirit kicked in when we started on the bacon baps! The salty flavour woke everyone up like a splash from the sea – ketchup and mayonnaise were lathered generously and it was by far the best breakfast we’ve had so far.

Despite the struggle of making breakfast, we devoured it all (including eggs, mushrooms and sausages) and prepped the boat ready for the thrilling day ahead. HOWEVER! Disaster struck, the water level was too low to get out of the port. Regardless, we were able to go on our own little adventure in Lymington. We headed to Tesco’s where we stocked up on scram and marched back to our boat, ready to set the sails.

Our menu for today was soup, where we came to the realisation that none of us could do the necessary maths – which mostly included counting to eleven (eight minestrones and two vegetable orders). Baguettes in hand, we managed to make enough lunch for everyone. Then we hoisted the sails, the team moving much more smoothly now, as we all know each-others names and preferences, for example, Lewis has a passion for the sail locker and Felix likes climbing the mast.

There was less sun today than yesterday, but the water was still a wonderful pale green with a blue hue, the sky momentarily clear at points. We took regular breaks, with rushes of hard work, but always found time for biscuits. The steering wheel was spun gracefully by lots of our crewmates, India and Lewis and Ffion and Ollie and Sam. The sails proved more difficult though… We were unable to get the mainsail up the full way, because the reef line was trapped or stuck somewhere in the boom.

Later in the day, we did a touch of night sailing! As the sun was setting on today’s voyage, we took to the conversations of accent impressions, buoys and more philosophy.

Perhaps the biggest event of today occurred this evening, the making and eating of dinner. I think this might be because of how the day moved faster as it neared the end, reaching the end of the trip as a whole. Anyway, dinner was definitely an adventure, Ollie managed to link his music to the speaker and we spent the time cooking alongside Bjorn, Agnetha, Anni-Frid and Benny. Some people accused me of being tone-deaf, though I think that they just refuse to recognise real talent. You’ll see me next on Britain’s Got Talent.

We peeled, chopped and boiled sweet potatoes, we added coconut milk and vegetables, to the curry which was finally mounted on a blanket of soft white rice, finished with a beautiful side of naan and poppadoms. One small interruption halted the process though, which may have hindered our final rating from Steve and could be tasted in the tang between the chickpeas and the sauce. This was Zak’s head poking through the ceiling hatch. It shook me to my very core, and a shriek escaped my mouth which shook to the cores of everyone else. This can be a formal apology on my part, for both the hindrance in the sauce and also the screams (which I can still hear ringing about my head along with the ABBA). However, you may like to know also that this didn’t just happen once, but thrice. To spice up the fun even further, upon the final shock, Zak indulged in throwing his glove through into the galley where we were cooking. I think he got it back, but can’t be sure.

Paul intended for us all to hit the hay half an hour ago ready for the early start tomorrow morn, and although I can hear the sweet song of my bed, I’m reluctant to sleep because it means the end of this adventure. Thankfully, the washing up and dinner commencements are taking precedent, and I’ve been granted a few more minutes of consciousness aboard the Challenger 2.

Steve’s Scran Scores: final edition

Port – 17.5/20

And Starboard – 16.5/20

à This made up for the scavenger hunt error

Q. What do sea-monsters eat for dinner?

A. Fish and ships!

By Erine