To commence this voyage, we began by making our way to Ipswich from all corners of the United Kingdom.

Initially, we entered the Marina and, some better than others, navigated our way to the mighty yacht. We boarded the vessel and got a first impression of what the next 7 days would entail.

It was fantastic to see that everyone in the group was thoroughly engaged with crewing the vessel from the get-go; we found our beds, unpacked our kit and got acquainted with the boat.

Shortly after our initial briefs, we rigged up the sails and left Ipswich Beacon Marina.

We learnt various skills such as knot-tying and fender-positioning. After traversing the lock, we gained an authentic perspective on the duties upon a yacht while moving. A handful of the eager participants were selected to helm the yacht. One participant declared boldly: “Twas an eye-opening experience!”

We were then divided into our watches (groups) and were given our first tasking of the trip.

Our watch leader aided us in cooking the first meal of the trip which was a privilege for our watch and a sentiment which threw us in at the deep end and enabled us to truly bond as a watch.

Eating dinner together allowed us to bond further as a family, and in due course we said grace to commence the feast. Bon Appetit!

We have the absolute pleasure of disrupting our sleep in the name of safety. Anchor watch is another of the duties that we as the crew carry out.

What we know as ‘sentry-posts’ have now been crafted into a similar concept. We look forward to envisioning the White Cliffs of Dover tomorrow which means an early start is imperative. 06:00

Yours truly

Port watch

Today we had an early rise when we woke up at six in the morning. We quickly got ready and dressed and began to prepare the boat for departure.

By 0635 we had departed from the anchorage and continued our journey. Hoisting the mainsail at 0720, we quickly increased speed as we sailed for Dover.

Once we started off, we ate breakfast, a selection of cereals with milk. A few people stood at the top of the bow of the boat to look for multicoloured buoys and other ships that our skipper may not have seen.

The journey was long but calm with many of us taking turns to steer along the white cliffs of Dover whilst some took the chance to take photos off the side of the boat. We also hoisted up the spinnaker pole and climbed up over the cyan sea.

Finally, at 1616 we were given permission to enter Dover and passed through the Marina’s entrance, lowering our mainsail inside.

We used the motor to position ourselves safely alongside a berth and finally could walk on dry land for much needed showers at 1655. It has been an enjoyable but long day.

By Cosmo & Hannah (aka Breeze)

We started the day off in Dover with an 0600 start. We woke up and got the ship ready before departing the marina at around 0630.

This included putting the main sail up and packing away fenders and ropes.

Straight away the slightly choppier conditions became apparent with one member even being sick however several of the crew found salvation in sleep and once we were under away many people rested up.

For food to start we all had a bacon bap with many of us having room for a second which undoubtedly helped ease everyone into the day. Once we’d been traveling for 20 miles, we made our way across the TSS (traffic separation system).

Once halfway across TSS and in the separation zone, we put down the head sails and took the chance to motor upwind. We then cut across the second part of the TSS and headed directly for Dieppe avoiding fishing ships along the way.

We were temporarily saved from the intense sailing with lunch today at around 1300 with tortellini on the menu today.

We came into Dieppe port at 1850 and started getting the ship to bed. We had to rush to customs to get our passports checked in time however once back we finished getting the boat to sleep and got ready for dinner, sausage and mash tonight!

Once all cleared up we were done for the day at around 2200 boat time 2300 French time.

The sailing today was rougher than yesterday with the crew getting thrown all over the boat. Up until today we were predominantly dry however today was not the same with some crew members getting fully drenched as the waves crashed into the boat.

By Matt

We woke up at 8.30 boat time. After a nice lie in we ate some lovely French pastries, our skipper bought for us.

For the majority of the morning, we had some relaxing knot tying lessons with Donna and Thea as well as some lessons on safety and mayday calls, safety with boat collisions and highway etiquette. JJ also taught a lesson. (JJ made us write this).

We then had some free time to explore Dieppe and learn about the Dieppe Raid. Abrailam Duquesne was a lieutenant general of “des armes navals” during seventeenth century France. We then had some slushies which were delicious.

There was also some time to go to the beach where Hannah lost her phone temporarily to the sea.

We’re now about to go to a fancy restaurant and eat some delicious food.

Au revoir, a beintot 😊

Jessie-Mae, Cosmo, Tom.

We had a very early start on Day 5 in order to go through customs. Despite the early start at 6am local time, we managed to find ourselves an hour and a half behind schedule.

It was a slow start, but the pastries bought by Paul quickly raised our spirits. What began with a calm departure from the charming French port, but this quickly turned into a memorable test of seamanship and resilience.

At around 11am, we had a lesson on flares, and it was interesting to learn of the different signals and uses each one had.

Afterwards, many of us found ourselves rocking to sleep as the waves thrashed into the yacht. However, I and Jessie decided to venture through the adversities to the bow end of the boat.

The bow lifted high and dipped dramatically inviting huge volumes of water down our jackets. After a short time, we were already soaked through, but the thrill was worth the discomfort.

For lunch, we had hotdogs which weren’t hot for very long, but still delicious, nevertheless. We tried to run a drink round, but the yacht had heeled so much that we had to hold the mugs sideways up the stairs!

After lunch, we put the sails up and began to go into watches at 1500. We had 3-hour shifts – the first from 1500-1800 (Port), and so on until midnight.

When we arrived on the Isle of Wight, it had become a mission to find a space to park the yacht as our space was stolen!

Even though we were all tired, wet, hungry and cold, we ended the 17-hour journey with sensational chicken broth and bread rolls.

We finally went off to bed at 0200 ready for a much-needed lie-in.

Yours Truly,

India and Jessie

After an intensive day of sailing, we finally went to bed at 0200. Skipper gave us a lie-in until 0900, which was gratefully received by all.

After waking up, we were greeted with a delicious breakfast of pancakes with an assortment of toppings.

After breakfast, we got harnessed up and started the mast climb. We took it in turns to sweat each-other up the mast and take photos from the top.

Halfway through, a border force ship showed up and kicked us off the pontoon. We had to hastily deploy the fenders and slip the mooring lines and move to a different pontoon, so the Border Force had enough space to moor up.

After a lunch of jacket potatoes, tuna, cheese and baked beans, we rigged up Challenger 1 to sail into the Solent to practice tacking and gybing.

After successfully tacking multiple times, we did a few gybes before heading back to Cowes for tea and biscuits.

Skipper bought us an amazing dinner of fish and chips, which we shared around the table together, and reminisced on the highlights (and lowlights) of the trip.

Yours sincerely,

Hannah G + Cosmo