Tall Ships Cat – SHERWOOD PARK SCHOOL

On Saturday, We came down to Portsmouth with Jess driving. When we arrived we went and joined the Cat. We introduced ourselves and then we had a tour and briefings on the boat.

We then went for a walk to look for red and green buoys that we would be passing later. We also saw a big Union Jack on the side of a building. When we got back we made Spaghetti Bolognaise and garlic bread. It was amazing! We then left Portsmouth and went to anchor in Stokes Bay for the night. We got to steer the boat on our way there. Then we went to bed.

This morning, we got up and had cereal and then got ready to leave by getting the anchor up. We then had a go at steering the boat. En-route, we looked at the charts and at the red and green buoys again. We then talked about food especially chips as we like chips. We decided we would have pasta and curry at some point.

Once we left the Solent we turned the engines off and hoisted our sails, whilst en-route to Poole. When near, we dropped our sails and motored our way in.

Once we arrived we went off for ice cream of various flavours. Then we had fish and chips and it was delicious. The mushy peas and curry sauce was delicious too.

Thilakshan & Nikhil

Today we woke up in Poole after a good night’s sleep. We had toast and jam and crumpets, some where even plain! Afterwards we got ready and motored to Studland bay where we anchored.

Once ready we put the dinghy (aka dinga – Jessica called it this!) in the water with an engine and then climbed in, 3 at a time with Josh driving, which he was good at. Max was the first one in the dinghy and the first one out on the beach. The ride was really good.

On the beach we threw pebbles into the water which was fun. We also ate our buffet lunch on the beach which was fun. Later Josh (Daddy – said Max!) came to pick us up from the beach and on the way back he drove us all under the boat. Thilakshan and max drove the boat! It was good fun. Once everyone was back on the boat we helped get the anchor up and then helped pull the sails up. We pulled the back one up first, followed by the front one. Later we got the middle one up too. The engines got turned off but we were still listening to Tracy’s music which was good. We sailed to the white cliffs at the needles channel where we started to drop the sails as the wind died down.

We arrived into Lymington and a swan tried to steal our space. It was funny as we could not park with it there so Josh talked to the swan and got it to move but then everywhere Josh went the swan went too. Josh had a new friend.

Later we had sausage and mash with beans for dinner followed by banana and custard or just custard.

We would like to know what biscuits Simon and Chas like, who are joining us later in the voyage so that we can get them on the boat ready.

We all want to say hello to our Parents who we all miss.

Max and Jessica​

Today we woke up in Lymington. Once dressed, we had breakfast which was cereal, toast and crumpets. Afterwards we did the dishes and cleaned the boat.

Once finished, Josh did some theory work and we talked about fire, gas, sinking and what we would do in any of these situations. We also talked about the weather, seasickness and Man Over Board. We then looked at the engines and checked the oil and water levels which were all good.

Once finished we got the boat and ourselves ready before we left.

Once out we hoisted our sail at the back up first. Then we hoisted our front one and did a tack. Since there was not much wind and what there was, came from in front of us, we put the front sail away and just motored.

For a bit of fun, we had a competition to pull/hoist the staysail. We did it in teams except for the staff who had to do it on their own. Josh won but Lindsey was a close second. Jessica decided afterwards that she wanted to try and do it on her own 46 seconds, which was an awesome effort.

We then tried to come into Cowes but they were full so we went and anchored in Osbourne bay for an hour, until our space was available. At 4 we brought up our anchor and moved to Cowes.

Once here we went for a walk and to the shops to buy food for tonight, which was fish finger sandwiches with salad. It was good. Afterwards we all had a cookie each.

It was a really good day.

Jessica, Nikhil, Max & Thilakshan​

Today we woke up and had breakfast. We had cereal and toast which was good. Once finished, we tidied up and then went to the supermarket and bought lunch. It was hot dogs.

When we got back, we got the boat ready all by ourselves for the first time. It made us all proud including the staff. Later we left and put the back sail up first. Since the wind was in the wrong direction for us we had another competition to pull the stay sail up. We all beat our times which was great.

We had lunch and then hoisted our front sail and turned off the engines. When sailing we learnt about wind direction and looking and trimming a sail.

Afterwards we dropped our sails and motored our way to Haslar, during which we looked at the maps. We looked at the red, greens and yellows and used the ruler to get a number for us to use to steer the boat on later. We also each decorated a cucumber of what we thought Chas looks like. It was fun.

Once in Haslar we went shopping for more food as we needed more including biscuits.

We cooked dinner which was curry. It was amazing. Once we cleaned up we got the boat ready and went out and did night sailing. It was so exciting and a bit cold! We all wore jumpers coats and hats. Driving in the dark was the best bit. We had cake and hot chocolate before we came back in.

Finally we went to bed.

Jessica

Today we got up and got ready for the arrival of Chas and Simon. When they arrived we said hello where we presented Chas with our cucumbers that we had decorated for him before we got the bacon sandwiches ready. The bacon was fine and lovely. Once finished, we tidied up and got the boat ready to leave. Once we left, we went to look at the Warship that was moored not that far from us. Then we headed out of the harbour and into the Solent where we pulled our back sail up first. Then we pulled up our front sail and started to head to Southampton, with us all having a go at driving.

Just before lunch we gybed round and headed back. Due to the wind we dropped the front sail and turned the engines on. Whilst we motored back we called up Lee-On-Solent NCI and asked them some questions: ‘Any danger around? What are the weather conditions? Vessel movement? ‘Have any Mayday calls been received today? It was epic! Then we did the staysail competition again, where everyone took part including Simon and Chas. We all beat our PBs and had multiple attempts at it. It was amazing. Once finished we headed back to Haslar where Chas told us we had all been successful with the assessment for our DoE. We felt amazing.

After showers, we had burgers and chips as a reward for all our hard work before Nikhil left us to go home. We were sad to see him leave. After cleaning up we played the after eight game. It was so hilarious. We all had faces covered in chocolate and we felt sick afterwards as we played it 3 times. We all want to play it again back at school.

Just before we went to bed we had a dance to ‘I will walk 500 miles.’

The day was just amazing. Tomorrow we leave the boat and feel happy to seeing our parents but sad to leave the boat.

Jessica, Max & Thilakshan