The crew rose at precisely 7:20 on a Wednesday morning, starboard watch was in charge of feeding the team which involved: writing a brew list, setting the table with bowls, spoon and finally cereal and fruit. We then on a full stomach prepped the deck for the days sail. Rigged up the sheets and halliards ready to hoist the main sails all done in set time with no hassle with compliments from the skipper and the crew making the tides in good time. Last night’s navigation lesson came in handy today as we followed what we had planned out. It was smooth sailing from there on out, we also did some radio drills each taking turns in speaking through the radio talking to nci (national coast watch institution) as there was not much wind we realised we did not need the Yankee sail so we dropped it down and tied it down. Port watch sorted the scran for us a lunch time, pasty and beans, yum! Scan dissolved we decided to put up the spinnaker pole and do some climbing. I didn’t think I’d be able to do it however thanks to the support of my fellow crew I managed to get to the top the whole crew tried it some needed motivation but in the end everyone did it so then we de-rigged it, dropped the main sail for a final flake. Using the navigation paper we had planned out the previous night we had to navigate through the channel into Lymington pulling out the lines and fenders to tie the boat down and tie up the sails. Once we had finished mooring the boat into Lymington marina we had evaluated everything we had done throughout the day complimenting each other on the immense achievements giving each other that other that boost of confidence at the stat of the week we had no idea what we were doing a couple days through now we are running the boat ourselves through launch to navigation food preps deck preps truly an amazing experience and an opportunity for people to take steps in there career personally I am going to university to push my career but never had the thought of what I wanted to do but I have a very straight forward mind set of how I can view the interpretation of my future I thank tall ships for this opportunity it seems before I came it was a bad idea but don’t knock it till you try it truly a push into the life you want to have  Whilst Terry and the crew kindly cooked us the lovely meal I might add whilst we explored the town of Lymington just finished coming back from the shower don’t forget to like and subscribe stay tuned for tomorrows episode.

This morning we were woken up at 05:40, when we went up on deck and prepared the deck before we set sail bound for Weymouth at 6am, under the power of the engine. The early start was difficult for some of our watch; a few of us feeling queasy and tired but with some help and guidance from the Skipper, Mate, and watch leaders, we were soon digging deep and working as a team.

At 7am we raised the main sail followed Stay and Yankee sails, we were completely on our way harnessing the wind. Conditions were substantially calmer compared to yesterday. With a wind of around 8 knots.

At 8am we then went below deck to prepare breakfast. This simple seeming task was made difficult because of the yacht tacking to port at a 45” angle and bouncing over the waves. But nevertheless, we served bacon baguettes for breakfast at 8.30.

At 9am we encountered engine issue which upon investigation it turned out to be an alternator defect. Our speed decreased to 2 knots later followed by the wind dropping off completely. The direction of the tide sent us drifting backwards.

Come 10am we were under way again with the engine and main sail, the stay and yankee being lowered earlier. Everyone was in good spirits and feeling well, but 4 of the crew were feeling sea sick and 2 were sent to bed.

By 12 noon we had finished lunch and port watch was cleaning up below deck. Everyone on our watch took turns at the helm, maintaining course and heading with guidance from our mate, skipper, and watch leaders.

At 1.30pm we were taking down the main sail and preparing our lines, fenders, and deck for mooring in Weymouth. We had the Mainsail down and flaked by 2. This was a tough and gruelling jobs.  With the whole crew working together, we made short work of the main sail and by 2.30 we were moored on our port side in Weymouth.

We had fish and chips at 7, this was well received and a treat for the entire crew after a hard days work. Shortly after we planned our voyage on the charts with the guidance of our Watch Leaders.

Overall today has been a good experience, with some not feeling too well during our voyage but dinner cheered us up. We all feel that we have learnt a great deal aboard Challenger 1 and we are looking forward to the following days ahead

Signing off, Port Watch Team.

We arrived in Portsmouth around 6 on the Sunday evening, from here we were welcomed by the crew and boarded the Challenger 1 boat. After this, we were shown around below deck, things including the “heads” and our bunks. Once we had eaten, we had an early night ready for the day ahead, in bed by 10pm. After a refreshing night’s sleep, we were woken up to cereal and alternative breakfast options. We then split into two teams and simultaneously briefed on deck and below in a lot more detail then the night before. We found this very interesting as a lot of us have never sailed before and we began to learn new terminologies for normal things on the boat, such as the kitchen (galley). Throughout the day we sailed from Portsmouth to Yarmouth, with winds of 38 knots. We put the main sail up, along with deck prep and the staysail. This was quite a challenge as a few of us were feeling quite queasy after the rough water therefore a lot more work was required. We took the sails down together before reaching the harbour, the staysail followed by the main sail. However once this was done, it was very rewarding as we then sailed on through smoothly. After reversing into the hailing pontoon, a few of us held the fenders to ensure the boat didn’t hit the edge. The rest were involved with the placement of mooring lines, which will keep us securely docked. The group split into two watches; one half tidied up the deck and put the sails away, and made sure the snake pit was to a suitable standard in preparation for tomorrow’s voyage. For tea we had spaghetti Bolognese made by the starboard team. After consumption, the dishes were cleaned by the Port team, and then downtime was allowed until bed, as an early night is required for our 6am departure from Yarmouth to Weymouth. There have been some ups and downs of the day, quite literally as the boat was heeling form side to side at times. Our wet weather gear kept us dry, however, can’t say the same for our shoes. Good job we brought spares eh?  Signing out from team Starboard 🙂