We arrived at Portsmouth 13:00 and were immediately greeted by a wonderful friend of Mr Smith who told us they’d known each other for 15 years! We weren’t even born then – they must be good friends! We also met our really lovely Watch Leaders, Peter and Martin. Our skipper Tony was also very welcoming. We came in and had a few snacks and immediately started our first STEM project, which included creating windmill turbines! We tried to make them as aero dynamic as possible, and some were successful in doing so, others, let’s just say, were in a bit of a pickle.

After that, we programmed and coded a tiny little robot, the same size as a tennis ball, and made it go to various locations on a map of Portsmouth. We were the most successful and managed to learn some new skills during this activity, which was very fun and engaging. Also, we created a small boat out of tin foil and attempted to make it float with different levels of mass being added to it. Mr Copson did very well on this task and fit 800 grams on his boat which was very impressive.

Finally, we came back on the boat and went through some health and safety briefings while it was pouring with rain. Did you know the toilets here are flushed by immense work due to the pump? We also made dinner which was tearful because of the onions (and the hard work we put into this spaghetti bolognese). Then we ate (it was surprisingly delicious), showered and went to bed!

On the second day we woke up to pray and Starboard watch made breakfast for the crew. The breakfast was a choice between bagels, toasts and cereals. After breakfast, Starboard watch prepared the boat for sailing to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight. We prepared the boat by setting up the sails and ropes. After that, we set sail on a course to Yarmouth.

At around 10:00 we left the harbour and entered the Solent. We enjoyed the ride on the boat. However, an hour later, the wind was as vicious as 30 knots so we were forced to set up the tri-sail (used in heavy weather). This small sail allowed us to steer in the right direction. Due to the powerful winds, Challenger 3 was steering between low side and high side. Hasin was sea-sick due to his not looking into the horizon which allows the brain to suppress the nauseous effect.

At 18:00, Starboard watch cooked dinner which was creamy rice, fajitas and salad. Personally, I believe our dinner was better than Port watch’s spaghetti!