We arrived at the port or 13:00 well at least some of us and got greeted by our skipper and mate .Today we got shown over the boat and what everything does. We then had a safety brief and set sail out of Portsmouth toward the Osborne bay, Isle of Wight. Jonathan sailed us across the channel without crashing so that’s a positive. We then anchored and cooked dinner which almost went up the wall after someone cried over onions  . We then sat down in harry potters cupboard (it was cosy) and ate dinner. Finally we then planed our voyage for the next few days as well as the meal plan. After a delicious meal with some raw carrots, we played some card games such as Uno. With a 7am start the next day to go to Poole harbour (how dare they wake us up that early!). The outstanding views have got to be worth it.

We woke up at 6:45 to a lovely sunrise. We had a quick work out with a rusty anchor chain. After preparing the boat, and having a much needed coffee, we set sail towards Poole. We started off in light winds, which began to build as we neared the Needles. Which was fully utilised with all four sails being up. The wind subsided as we started to race an old couple (we won). We then underwent a brief of a man overboard drill, which went swimmingly. Once we completed our drill, we progressed down to Poole bay, where we found an anchorage to have a swim, while our lunch was being made. After enjoying lunch we motored into harbour whilst watching all of the dinghy sailing and racing. After we moored up, we went ashore, to some rather wavy roads (and Pound-land’s lift). After exploring the quaint seaside town of Poole. After returning to the mooring dinner was lovingly prepared and cooked. It was an absolutely wonderful curry, even if there was too much. After dinner we had some lessons on IRPCS and Weather Depressions, which were both very informative.

Port Watch​

We had a later start this morning, with lovely views of a rusty wall and cranes. At 9:30am we started to make a move, by our watch making scrambled eggs, toast and bacon. We set the smoke alarm off quite a few times before we removed the batteries (don’t worry we didn’t set fire to anything). We also planned the pilotage to get out of the harbour, which included drawing a very beautiful and ‘accurate’ map. We then began motoring out of the harbour using this so called map, after shouting at a boat which was blocking our exit. We then got out of the harbour, into the bay and then started to hoist the mainsail, and then put it down, to then replace it with the genoa and mizzen. We ploughed across the bay at a rapid speed of six knots, heading for the needles. On this leg of our journey, many jacket potatoes were passed up top and devoured quickly before they were spilled overboard by the extremely rocky conditions. We then navigated through the needles, whilst performing our first gybe, which was swiftly followed by another before mooring in the harbour at Yarmouth. We then had a short trip ashore to get ice cream and have a quick stretch of the legs, before coming back and preparing dinner which was chicken fajitas with many choices for fillings. After dinner, the port watch washed up, and we then had the last few of our lessons on safety and lights, which will be very relevant as tomorrow we will be navigating to Portsmouth at night. Tomorrow we will have a 8:30 breakfast, to make a leisurely journey towards Cowes, against the tide, in no wind.

Starboard watch