Today we travelled from London to the Gunwharf Quays Marina in Portsmouth. It took us three hours by car, so we arrived at 12:00.

We met Paul (Skipper) and Mike (Watch Leader) and they introduced themselves. Later, we also met Alex (Mate). While the boat was being prepared, we walked around the marina. When we were back on the boat, we were taught the important safety rules and where everything was. Then we learnt how the engine works.

While we were on the boat, we learnt how to tie a clove hitch knot, which was very useful for attaching the fenders. Most of us learnt how to steer the boat and got a chance to practice doing so. We also learnt how to coil ropes.

Once we got to our destination, we tied up and went to eat. For dinner we ate fajitas, which were good.

Now we are going to eat dessert and play a card game of sorts. Later, we will sleep in our berths. Tomorrow we are going to sail again, we are very excited.

By Frida and Ines.

At the start of the day, we left the port of Warsash, at around 10:15. There was a bit of wind and the tide was against us, but we managed it. After leaving port, a couple of people had turns at taking the helm, including me and it was great fun.

After we had handed back the helm to the Mate, Alex, Michel appeared from below deck and had cakes, which were exceedingly good, just as the box of Mr Kipling’s said they were. This was at around 11:05, so we sailed a little bit more, and stopped for lunch at around 12:30. We had some lovely hotdogs.

After we had finished the lunch, we decided to raise the Headsail and mizzen, however, there was not much wind, and not for too long, so we took them down at 13:35 and began to head for Yarmouth.

We reached Yarmouth at around one hour later, where we left the boat and took a little stroll down to Yarmouth pier, where we all bought some lovely ice cream. Then, with ice cream, we headed down Yarmouth pier, which was very nice.

We headed back to the ship and didn’t do much until dinner, which was fish and chips, amazing!

After dinner, we walked down to the marina office and facilities, where all of the crew had a much-needed shower. Finally, I sit down to write this blog about what we’ve done today, goodnight!

By Thomas.​

Today we started off in Yarmouth and then we set sail down to the Needles Lighthouse. We then turned into the North Channel, it was slow because the tide was against us.

We saw six helicopters above us passing by and we got to steer the boat. We then came into Lymington, where it was hard to park the boat.

After, we all packed up the boat and went on a walk to Tesco for snacks and dinner supplies. We checked out the showers and bathroom on our way, they weren’t as good as Yarmouth.

When we got back, we started to prep dinner by cutting chicken and onions. The onions hurt all of our eyes. We had chicken curry with naan bread, it was delicious.

Today, the sky was cloudy and not as sunny as yesterday as there was low pressure, so we didn’t get to witness the sunset for taking down the flag, yet it was still fun. We came back inside to play an escape room game in the warmth. Then we all went to bed.

By Olive and Elsie.

Today, we started the day off at 08:00. It was much better weather than yesterday, the sun was shining and the wind was strong for sailing. To begin with, we attempted pancakes, which failed miserably, so we settled for toast. Then we did our normal to-do list, check the engine, take the sail covers off, take the instrument covers off etc.

Our plan was to head towards Cowes on the Isle of Wight. We began with the motor on and then we put the sails up. The wind was stronger than previous days and we were able to sail to Cowes. Just before we arrived, Tom dropped the roving fender and we had to circle back on ourselves to retrieve it. Next we went to get diesel – the man that owned the shop was not impressed by the amount of time we were taking.

Finally, we got to Cowes and were able to relax. After 10 minutes, we went on a walk to the beach, which led to collecting pizza from Sainsbury’s.

Coming to the end of the day, we had a game of ‘spoons’, which Frida won. We planned tomorrow and set ourselves the jobs to clean the boat. We have now just come back from the showers and are planning to go to sleep.

By Frida and Ines.