We started our day at 6AM at Jersey intentional airport, after goodbyes and whatnot we continued into the airport for the first time in ages, it was all a bit of a foreign experience having not travelled in almost two years, we eventually got on a tiny plane after multiple trips to duty free. We then took the surprisingly short flight to Southampton which took 30 minutes. After that, we took a short coach ride to Portsmouth harbour where we took a short walk thought the town to get to the harbour. The boats were moored by Spinnaker Tower.

When we arrived on the pontoon we all did a Covid-19 lateral flow test before we were even allowed to step foot of the boat, we all tested negative, luckily. After putting our bags on our bunks we had our first five briefings before we got out to sea. In the briefings we were taught about the set up of the boat and the safety precautions we would have to take while sailing. We got told how to use the winches properly and even the toilet.

Once we finally started sailing, it was amazing. All the youth crew onboard race small single and double handed dinghies so we have had limited experience on boats bigger than 30 ft. Everything on the boat was a lot bigger than I had anticipated, especially the loads on the winches and the deck space. We had three sails up while we were tacking up past the Isle of Wight, the fastest we went was 8 knots which was quite good since not many of us had ever been onboard. I really enjoyed today as it gave me a chance to do more hands on work with the safety of having experts in case I get it wrong.

Wowee….. We have learnt a lot in only two days! Sailing can be hard work, especially when we have all been feeling very queasy and yet we are still sweating ropes and getting our seas legs.

We started the day off with some ‘crispy’… not burnt bacon butties (courtesy of the Port watch). However, we appreciated the effort; at least they tried. After washing the dishes under motor we got ourselves ready to set sail and put our big buoy boots on for a long day at sail. Unfortunately Mike (skipper) didn’t warn us of the swell to come, so we didn’t chew our Stugeron tabs early enough. We all showed a brave face and got the jobs done, like real troopers.

Today’s challenge was to stay with our inside voices throughout and to keep the language to a PG state. It was a huge struggle for most, with Russell having a whopping 3 points, Dengate having 2 points and Kai drawing with 3. The forfeit of this all mighty challenge was to be burdened with the task of cleaning the heads (good luck Kai and Russ).

Port watch had the task of cooking lunch with a building swell on the beam as we sailed further from shore. Starboard watch were responsible for washing up, although several crew members had to go up on deck, as the swell was making them sea sick despite the Stugeron.

We have all made such good friends so quickly, especially with our watch master Lucas, who lead the sail flake EXCEPTIONALLY WELL. THANKS LUCAS! Me (Juliette)  and Will.i.am, sitting here writing this epic blog are dripping and shivering from the cold dip we braved in Worbarrow Bay where we are currently anchored. Not too sure if we are looking forward to waking at 11pm for anchor watch and getting back to bed after our shift at 1am, especially after tiring ourselves out from all the singing we have blessed everyone’s ears with.

Starboard Watch (THE DAPPER DANS)