We all met in Portsmouth Marina and were greeted by the crew at 13:00. We were shown to our yacht, followed with an introduction from the skipper which included introducing ourselves.

Having completed the mandatory briefing both above and below deck, we set sail from Portsmouth around 18:00 and slingshotted around the east of the Isle of Wight and continued to sail throughout the night.

The wind was quite intense all night an average about 20 knots of windspeed, the waves crashed against the boat and in between the noise of trimming sails and the fierce never-ending waves you could hear the groans of some sailors fighting for their to recover the dreaded sea sickness , which probably didn’t help with the fact we were heeled right over whilst sailing!

This was an overnight trip, so we were split into 2 watches (Port and Starboard) where each watch took it in turns to keep a look out on deck whilst the other watch was allowed to take some rest in a 3-hour pattern.

We managed to sail at a speed around 10 knots with our main sail, stay sail and yankee 1 sail. Helming during the night proved to be a difficult challenge, in the dark there are very little markers that you can use to ensure you stay on course.

We had the gyroscope compass, the onboard transponder and digital compass.  The Full moon glistened with orange and red-ish light as it finally came out of the cloud coverage. We had to tack a few times during the night to ensure that we could get the best angle to arrive at Alderney.

The sailing continued until the wind started to power down at about 06:00 so we turned on the motor to assist with the journey.

We arrived at Braye Harbour in Alderney around 12:00 the next day. Unlike Portsmouth Harbour where we are moored alongside a pontoon, Alderney has mooring buoys so there is no direct access to go ashore.

Once we put the boat to bed after our long sail, we were let loose for a couple of hours to explore Braye. Pretty much all of us factored in some time to make use of the marina facilities to have a shower and use the comparatively luxurious toilets.

Many of us went to explore the massive fort that overlooked Braye while others relaxed on the beach. And an honourable mention to Hugo and Cameron who went for a run (the fitness never stops, even while you’re sailing).

After a night moored in Braye Harbour in Alderney, the crew of Challenger 4 woke up at around 0800 after a very calm and peaceful night sleep.

After a communal breakfast that consisted of Cornflakes, Shreddies and fruit there was time for a day briefing and a plan for the next few days to come.

The plan for our Saturday morning was to get started on some of the competent crew syllabus: ROWING!

We pulled out the rib from the sail locker and each took it in turns to paddle to a nearby boat and back (without sinking). Next was our activity on the Main Island.

Ian had set up a challenge for us which consisted of going to many notable sightseeing areas around the island and having a selfie taken with the place of interest clearly shown.

Many pictures were taken, and many teams of people went their separate ways to fulfil the challenge, some even managed to make it around the entire Island.

There are many interesting places in Alderney such as a Roman Fort called the Nunnery, made by the romans and then later used by the Germans in WWII when the Axis Powers occupied the island, where it is now a museum that shows many of the weapons that the Germans and British forces used during the war.

The Roman Fort Backs onto Longis Bay, a beautiful beach that had an amazing Three mast French ship anchored for all to see. The day then ended with an amazing Chile con Carne for Dinner and a late night sail off to our next adventure to the French Port town of Lorient.

Now the journey begins! On our way to Lorient, we have divided ourselves into a more sleep efficient watch pattern.

During the night there are 3 four-hour watches and then during the day 2 of six hours. The wind was quite strong as we left Alderney; however, we noticed a significant drop in the wind during the early hours of the morning and had to put 3 reefs in the sail in order to stop the boom from bashing uncontrollably due to the unfortunate tide not being in our favour.

As a result, we have been under motor power the entire day, but we have not stopped going. In the afternoon some of us on the Afternoon watch even saw a few dolphins, only for a few seconds, however it definitely gave a firm morale boost.

Our next Plan of action is to go through a rocky passage called the Chenal Du Four to save a lot of time instead of going around the Ile D’Ouessant.

After a full night of watches, we awoke still under sail and the wind started to drop as we started to zone in on Lorient.

The sun came out, the wind completely disappeared and the boat ground to a holt. The engine was fired up as we approached the very crowded harbour due to many boats were coming out of it.

When we moored out, we ran to the showers as it was very hot. Once everyone was clean, dinner watch started to prepare the dinner – spaghetti Bolognese.

Fortunately, it was tasty, however we received it early hours of the morning.

Following morning, we woke up to a later start and we took a nice long walk to the customs office.

In the office that looked like a dentist room we had our passports stamped. After that we went off in groups to explore the city of Lorient for a few hours. Some of us went to an amazing museum about Eric Tabarly – a famous French sailor.

We learnt a lot there not only about Tabarly but also about sailing in general. After our exploration of museum, we did some shopping in the centre of Lorient.

When everyone gathered on the boat we came up with the menu for the rest of voyage. Then we went to the shop for all the ingredients. After that, as usual, we started preparing dinner – chicken and chorizo stew.

Once we had tidied up dinner Jim gave us a short nav brief about the following days journey to Brest. We learnt that we had to leave in the early hours of the morning due to the tides.

At low water on our mooring, we sat on the keel in the mud making it crucial to leave when we had enough water under the bottom of the keel.

Off to Brest we go !

We left Lorient around 6:40 am without breakfast. Unfortunately, there was no wind, so the sails never made it up to the top of the mast.

However, the bacon sandwiches were very delicious breakfast. At the beginning of our journey the weather was cloudy.

Thanks to Hugo we had an interesting lesson about buoyage. Now we know what the different cardinals are.

With little wind we were getting bored, so we climbed the spinnaker pole off the side of the boat. It was a challenging climb for most of us.

After our climb we started preparing the lunch – toasties. It was a relaxing day. The busiest part of the day was entering the “Port du Chateau” of Brest – . We passed the French naval base which was captivating.

Dinner was served up on arrival. Thank you, port watch, for the amazing and creative dish.  After dinner evening entertainment proceeded.