Day 1 we meet at school then we got onto the minibus and then we drove to Portsmouth and then we put our luggage into a trolley and then we went to get to meet the ship. Then we got to have our lunch on the ship and then we had a long talk and about the rules and then we put our safety gear on then we got our waterproofs on and we sailed to Cowes and then we got of the ship now we our preparing for our dinner. Micha

Day one we met at school then we go on the green minibus and then we drove to Portsmouth then we put our luggage into a trolley and then we went to get to meet the ship then we got to have our lunch on the ship and then we had a long talk and about the rules and then we put our safety gear on and then we got our waterproof on and we sailed to cows and then we got off the ship and now we are preparing for our dinner we are having fajitas with cooked salad inside and then we’re going to have a shower then we’re going to the facilities room then we’re playing some games and then were colouring and then were listening to music then miss is plaiting my hair and then were going to bed. Courtney.​

Tuesday started off with a few dozy-eyed people – maybe some very energetic people – after a tiring first night’s sleep on the boat. Breakfast today was all kinds of cereal, ranging from Cornflakes to Coco Pops to Weetabix. It was a cold, cloudy day turned into a warm sunny day, which meant we all had to apply suncream.

I believe we were supposed to learn how to steer the boat without the engine, but we relied on both due to the low velocity winds. When it came to setting the sails we all had to get in line and partake in a game of tug-of-war with a piece of rope to lift the sails. It started off easy, then it got tougher, which required a lot of strength and multiple pairs of hands. We did these tasks occasionally depending on the wind. We sometimes worked in groups, sometimes in pairs. We were apparently racing against the other challenger ship, which passed us earlier this morning, but was eventually caught up in the afternoon. We were split into teams: one did the cooking, the other did the cleaning after sausage rolls, pies, vegetables and sliced meat for lunch. When we were closing in on our destination, we all pitched in and began taking the sails down, zipping them into bags and getting out the equipment to dock our boat.

We all then took a walk around town, treating ourselves to some ice cream and coming back a different way. Then we had a ready-made dinner of fish and chips from the Fish & Chip shop and some of us decided to have a quick look at the bikes on show just by the harbour.

According to, I guess, most of the students, today was a particularly easier and better day than yesterday.

John Culloty

This morning we did not set sail right away. Apparently we had to wait until a high tide which was around 12 o clock. To kill the time we had bacon sandwiches for breakfast and partook in a competition of collecting the worst, most useless souvenir possible costing £2 or less. We were spilt into two teams (green and red). The green team won with a fridge magnet which was chipped and couldn’t even magnetize.

Twelve rolled around and we were out at sea towards Yarmouth. It started off as a simple, cloudy day with cooling temperatures, but at lunchtime (chicken and vegetable soup with rolls of ham and cheese) the weather changed for the worse: the wind was incredibly strong today, so there was no need for the engine for sure. But what was horrific were the waves in the sea; they were the most monstrous waves we have seen this week, the size of mountains and rocking the boat from side to side. At that rate, it felt as if the whole ship was about to capsize. We were, however, assured that what we were battling through was not going to be enough to tip us over. Still it was a scary experience and I’m sure some of the residents were getting sea sick. I was surprised I wasn’t. If the waves ever died down, it was only for a minute or two, and I could’ve sworn they were getting worse: enormous.

As we were approaching Yarmouth, the waves finally minimized. The wind, however, didn’t cease its fury, and it was still cold. After a trial of packing the sails away and tugging ropes we docked our boat at the harbour and made a quick recovery from all the excitement. We settled for a nice dinner of spaghetti bolognaise and a small tour of the harbour.

Compared to the rest of the week, I’m not sure any of us feared for our lives like we did today.

John Culloty

We went to have a look round Yarmouth then we went sailing to OSBOURN BAY we anchored down for a couple of hour until it was dark so we can drive in the dark. We did some navigations in the dark and we had to look out for boys so we can get round to the port and then we went to bed and brushed our teeth then we put our pyjama’s on. Then we woke up this morning and got dressed and we packed the rest of our things then we had breakfast then we cleaned the ship then we filled out some questionnaire.

Micha, CHLOE

Today was quite an exceptional day: we were going to travel at night. Of course, we didn’t set off at night at first. We started the day by traveling around Yarmouth to look out at the pier and have some cake for a snack. After lunch we set sail. The plan was to leave Yarmouth and anchor down at Osbourne Bay to have dinner and then make our way to Portsmouth, concluding our sailing trip. It was a cloudy and windy day, but there were no giant waves at least. The journey to Osbourne Bay was quite bumpy considering that we had to gybe the boat a lot. At one point we gybed too soon, and I was sure we were going to capsize. Thankfully we didn’t. When we arrived at Osbourne Bay we had our dinner and got ready for our last stretch of sailing, which was going to be at night. We were all put into pairs with navigation systems to follow, which was to look out for different coloured objects in the water called boys. After taking turns navigating and getting behind the wheel we finally docked at Portsmouth harbour and went to bed.

John Culloty

Today was quite an exceptional day.  We were going to travel at night of course, we didn’t set off at night at first. We started the day by travelling around Yarmouth to look out at the pier and have a beef sausage roll for a snack after lunch we set sail. The plan was to leave Yarmouth and anchor down at osbourne bay to have dinner and then make our way to Portsmouth, concluding our sailing trip it was a cloudy and windy day, but there were no giant waves at least  the journey to osbourne bay was quite bumpy considering that we had to gybe the boat .

Courtney