On Saturday we joined the boat, everyone was really friendly and really helpful in showing us the ropes around then boat and after a short while we set of out of Portsmouth under motor towards the Isle of Wight before we took out the sails and sailed along the coast line making slow but steady progress throe the constant drizzle pouring down. We arrived in Osborne bay dropping anchor just as the drizzle began to stop. For diner we had bangers and mash with an onion gravy before shortly heading to bed.   We took 1:30 hour shifts in the night taking reference points from a red and a green boy before stopping at 04:00am.  Doing a anchor watch was tiring but after a wile the clods cleared and the moon came out making it a really nice night.

Jack

On Sunday morning we woke up at anchor at Osborne bay and we also had a brilliant view of Osborne house in the morning. First night sleeping on the boat was better than expected, we all kind of thought we would get sea sick and the swaying would be bad but in actuality it was a good nights sleep. Anchor watch went well that night but our only issue was our depth, it actually ended up going down to 0.0m [actually we had 1m under our keel – Skipper] but at night when all the cruises were going past and all the pretty lights were shining it was very pretty. We then set sail deeper into the channel and then for that day we had a mix of ideas where we would make anchor but because of weather conditions decided to make port at Cowes. For the food that day it was a mix, so in the morning we had bacon sarnies then for lunch we had cheese and onion pasties and to top it off we had vege chilli for dinner. We learnt how to tack, gybe and do a overboard drill.

Ryan

On Monday morning we left Cowes, we woke up to some strong winds, and most of us being excited to go out onto the water and experience some proper waves. We then left the harbour with all of our food supplies and our water supplies ready for the day. As soon as we left there were massive waves, waves as big that it was splashing the whole boat. We then made our way to Beaulieu River as our original plan was to make it to stud land bay but unfortunately that would not happen due to the fact that in the needles the waves were too big and our vessel would not manage with the conditions. We then left the river and we had to change our course to go to Yarmouth marina. As we were crossing the Solent we experienced some strong winds of up to 32kts. As we were crossing the Solent the waves were huge, the wind was powerful, the water was cold, and at one point when we let out the whole genoa (very front sail, like a spinnaker) our whole boat tilted to the side and it was that bad that people were sliding down the side and it was impossible to walk upright so we had to quickly reel in the sail to stop us from capsizing, we then did around 4-5 tacks on close hauls and we then ended up in Yarmouth. Overall the day was quite extraordinary and quite eventful, this was truly a one in a lifetime experience at sea, and I would love to do this again.

Adam

Tuesday morning, we woke up to the smell of toast being made and the sound of the kettle squealing for the hot cups of tea and coffee. We then proceeded to go on a lovely 2-hour walk around Yarmouth, we got to see the lovely landscape of the Isle of Wight and say good morning to the locals, we had to go on the walk because we were waiting for the tide to turn in our favour so we could go faster out of the Solent. Once we had left the marina we go to the needles area and this is where the waves and swell got quite big and it got quite rocky, this then lead to quite a few of the crew members vomiting over the side of the boat. After a good 5 hours of sailing in the English Channel (Bournemouth Bay) we had finally arrived in our anchorage spot, Studland Bay.

We then proceeded to anchor and everyone started to jump into the water and have some fun, then we took a group photo and then headed inside to dry up and get ready for dinner, but then there was a change in plans, we had received a mayday call of 2 divers who had been diving and only one had rapidly surfaced. So then Adam (skipper) called up the coast guard and said “Coast Guard, this is the tenacity of Bolton, we overheard the search for the lost diver and wondered if we could be of any assistance. The coast guard then told us to standby and then we were told to communicate with the Swanage lifeboats and they gave us coordinates of where to search for the diver, after a few hours of searching we had no luck and the coast guard appreciated our help but they didn’t need our help anymore as they were moving the search to out to deeper parts of the sea as the tide was going out. Finally we then headed back to stud land bay to anchor for the second time. After that we had pesto pasta for dinner which me and Rachel (Watch leader) cooked, we went through 2kg of past for 11 people. Overall the day was very, good sunny weather and the winds were perfect.

Adam

On Wednesday morning we awoke to a nice day with a cool breeze along with hot toast and even some fried bread, delicious, then we all rushed on deck at the shout of dolphins. Sadly I only saw a couple but it was still cool. Then some of us went swimming, careful to avoid any lurking dolphins. After we headed inside to dry up and hang our wet towels and swimmers either on our bed curtain things or on the rails on deck, we then set off sailing for a long day of sailing with few turns at all. We ended up quite far off shore in order to avoid some rough sea.

When we arrived at Portland after a few hours we could see some military cargo ships off to port. We then ate spaghetti bolognaise but with rice and peas as we’d already eaten all the spaghetti but it was still very good. I think it was the first meal we didn’t finish though as there was so much of it.

Seth​