Monday midday we joined the yacht, our first impressions were we thought the boat would snap in half if we got hit by a wave and quite unstable like it’s been around for centuries. When we all saw our rooms, we thought this would be the most uncomfortable sleep of our life (which it was). Another downside was the others behind the curtain were exotically snoring. When we first set sail from Portsmouth to Isle of wight, Cowes we put up the stay sail and the Yankee it was incredibly fun spiking the Yankee. Ava said, “it was smooth sailing, very enjoyable.” Izzy, Kacie and Elpida enjoyed sitting in the snake pit watching the views especially the sunset setting over the horizon. Flyn’s watch starboard cooked the first meal of the week, which was whipping up a spaghetti Bolognese while JJ’s watch cleared the deck and washed up the mess from the meal Freya said ‘’the cleaning was a traumatic and demanding experience’’. After dinner we had a group lesson on knots and how to tie a clove hitch. 

Tuesday morning, we had an early awakening greeted to the smell of freshly baked croissants and pain au chocolates baked by port watch, starboard cleared up the mess and Flyn was impressed by our efficiency. After port watch prepared the deck, we set sail from Cowes across the Solent to Poole travelling 41 miles with all 3 sails up. Izzy was behind the helm and heaved too stopping the boat so we would gently rock side to side to rest while enjoying our lunch. Later, we assisted putting down the main sail and flaking it whilst being distracted by a helicopter lifting ribs out of the water. We then began to arrive in Poole and pick out houses we liked. 

Wednesday was tragic, the winds were near a gale force at 28 knots. The waves attacked us brutally whilst the rain was drowning us. 

We survived.  

We are now in Yarmouth with beautiful warm showers. 

Izzy, Kacie and Elpida  ​