This morning we caught Minibus with Dave. The estimated time on the minibus, was around 3 hours. Once we arrived, we meet the crew and were welcomed on board. We were then shown to our bunks and shown the facilities of the ship. We then carried on to put on our safety jackets and were instructed on how to wear them. After, we set off from the harbour in Portsmouth and headed to Yarmouth. Once we left the harbour in Portsmouth, we brought all the lines and fenders in.

While on the journey to Yarmouth, we were given safety briefs for on deck and downstairs. We also learnt how to do different knots and names for places on the ship and were also given a chance at the helm. When we arrived in Yarmouth, we tied the boat to the shore and started cooking dinner.  Whilst waiting for dinner, we sat in the saloon and played cards. After dinner, we washed up and now have some free time, before having showers and getting ready bed. We have an early start tomorrow.

By Shem and Troy (James)

Captains log day two: brought to you by Bronwyn and Aaron.

Wake up was at 6:30 this morning to get breakfast ready for the rest of the crew, it was simple cereal today for all involved and then we had to get the ship ready to set sail. This included getting the main sail, the Yankee and stay sails erected to catch the wind. We ended up in Waymouth a lovely little seaside town where we enjoyed the beach and had fish and chips for dinner.

The sea conditions were amazingly calm, with a few waves and so we did some seal spotting, as the weather was lovely and warm for the seals. Once tied up in Weymouth, we went ashore to see if we could find anymore seals, but sadly couldn’t find any seals on the beach.

Overall we mostly chilled today enjoying the sailing and the great company on the boat and are looking forward to more great days ahead.

This morning we awakened to prepare for breakfast {bacon batty’s}. Afterwards we set off to do a final exploration of the town. We visited the beach, the pier and the arcade, we also had slush puppies, and they were aight. When we arrived back at the boat, we got to see the equipment used for the MAN OVER BOARD protocol, which was interesting to learn. Not long after this, we prepared the boat to leave the port/harbour. So we set off. The winds were on our side, so getting away from the main land was easy enough.  Apon our travels, we received a call from the Coastguard, who asked us to look out for a 30ft wooden sailing boat near Old Harry Rock.  We kept a good look out for the white sailing ship, but never found it in the end. I hope the sailor was alright. The rest of the distance was calm. When we arrived at shore everyone worked hard, whether it was sorting out the deck, or preparing a lovely curry dinner. The rest of the evening was used to adventure and see the sites and relax at the boat.

By Connor

What a day! I can’t believe how quick this week has gone, I have loved every minute of it and am very sad that it’s our last full day on Challenger 3. To start off the day my watch prepared breakfast… fried/scrambled eggs and toast. Deck prep was a little different today, because we only had to put up two sails and get things ready for mast climbing. Exactly half of us attempted to climb the mast, 5 of which made it to the top. Peter of course had to show us all how it’s done!

We left Poole harbour at 12:25 pm and began to sail without the engine around 13:22. The weather wasn’t as “nice” as the rest of the week, as it was quite drowsy and cold. However, it was the “nicest” day of the week, as we had the chance to properly sail the boat. As we sailed closer to Cowes, we heard a mayday come in on the radio in which someone had sailed into too shallow water and got stuck! Once that yacht had been pulled into a suitable depth, another yacht got stuck. Unfortunately for us we were too far away to witness this situation. The wind began to pick up and we managed to reach a speed of 9.5 knots (not that fast, but you know). We arrived at Cowes harbour safely at 18:05 and had dinner (or tried to because Paul forgot the spuds)! As per the previous evenings, after dinner and clean up, we had free time ashore and then it was time for bed.

By Jessica