We gathered at the marina entrance at 1 and headed down to Challenger 4, our chosen vessel for this trip. We passed bags down to the saloon and had a safety briefing for above deck and below, the highlight being the passing out of wonderfully warm, wet weather gear that was appreciated. After this, the whole crew got the forward sails ready for the days ahead. We left the marina just after the Challenger 2, who went off to get fuel before their voyage.

Soon after, we headed to Cowes, which tool about 1.5 hours. It became dark very swiftly and so, we turned on the port, starboard, mast and aft lights to alert other boats of our whereabouts. Cowes was illuminated with the lights of houses and lots of moored vessels. We very slowly crawled our way into port.

We then, after mooring, set about making some absolutely divine spaghetti bolognaise, made by our amazing team, the merry mariners. And that brings us to now…

Introducing Gary, the Reinduck! A gift from watch leader Alice, kindly, to skipper Sophie. Gary the Geeza duck. The crew have already named and become attached to Gary. Prepare for his journey.

We began our day with grey weather but a lovely selection of cereals to fuel our action-packed adventure across the Isle of Wight. We ventured and fought our way through the tide with the wind coming either side of us. It was a struggle. We had a pleasant break with some custard creams, juice and… CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!!! Gary the Reinduck fled the scene when we were told to put up the sails. We filled in the logbook and discovered lots of new gadgets and the names.

We then proceeded to have a lovely lunch break that consisted of Cornish pasties and an optional side of beans. After that, we then raised a spinnaker pole and suspended ourselves fifteen feet above sea level. As bad as that sounds, even the hesitant had fulfilled this activity and will cherish it for… maybe a week.

As we descended back down into the saloon, we had noticed Gary with a new fit… a new style… He was wearing… A CAPE with the bold title “Emotional Support Duck” and a HAT.

We had docked back into Cowes and finished off our jobs of the evening, making sure everything was in order and that we weren’t going to drift out to Southampton (not the best place to go). After our hard day’s work, we had a lovely dinner of fish and chips with peas made by the Knots themselves.

For the remainder of our evening, we will play games and take in every moment of our lovely trip so far.

Today started with a rather unwelcome surprise for Sophia. During the night, the window that we left open for ventilation had become a waterfall because of the large amount of rain that had come with nightfall. After this was cleared up, the day began.

Breakfast consisted of bacon rolls, cooked by The Merry Marines. This was thoroughly enjoyed. We then all ventured down to Cowes RNLI station to be given a tour around by Barry, who we eventually persuaded to take a photo with Gary (the duck). This brought much joy to Sophie, as Gary is her most prizes possession, as he should be!

We then wandered back to the Challenger to have lunch. Afterwards, the five of us (the famous five if you will) walked back to Cowes to do the scavenger hunt and buy our secret Santa presents.

We returned to the Challenger to watch Paddington (a movie not the train station) and the Grinch with an array of snacks, including popcorn, mince pies and hot chocolate. The Merry Marines then made dinner, which was sausage and mash. After the remains of this was cleared away, we opened our secret Santa presents. Sophie nearly shed a tear at the sight of a gorgeous bright pink beak poking out of the wrapping paper. She ventured further into the paper and discovered Garry’s wife, Glinda. These two happy ducks are currently sat in from of me at the navigation station, having their evening tea. You can paint the picture yourself, it’s beautiful.

Yours faithfully,

The Merry Marines (and the rest of Challenger 4)

In the morning, we started with a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs and bagels. We then started leaving Cowes. As we began our journey, we were intrigued by a boat boat. Yes, a boat boat. A boat carrying boats.

We raised the Head Sail and ventured forward. At around 1pm, we began to take down the Head Sail as we approached closer.

We do our jobs and go downstairs to find…. Gary and Glinda have matching hairstyles! Thanks to the assisted help from Hugo, we dock in Gunwharf Quays. After doing some deck work, we headed down to the saloon to have some exquisite pesto pasta made by the Merry-Musketeers-Manatees-of-what-not. We gear back up and continued to fight through the last bits of the deck work. At last, we finish.

Unfortunately, mast climbing was taken out the picture due to weather conditions. However, we make way into Gunwharf Quays mighty Tesco’s and brought ourselves worthy snacks for Paddington 2. We settled down, then watched the film, and started making the Fajitas.

After dinner, we headed for the showers and came back to a lovely surprise… NO WASHING UP!!! A lovely gesture from the crew.

It is our last log and as a collective, we’ve had an amazing time.​