By Starboard Team.

Today was our first day and we learnt about health and safety, sides of the boat – starboard and port.

Tom was at the helm today, it was a very good experience, and it felt cool to be in charge of such a big boat. We learnt how to use winches, and we practised using the running backstays.

We cooked dinner together, which taught us how to work as a team, and it was a very different experience cooking on the boat, not having enough space.

We learnt how to slip off the pontoon, using mooring lines, and how to coil them after departure and put them away into the sail locker. We learnt how to bring fenders in and not to lose any, and the knots for them.

Overall, a great day and lots of new experiences, and we really enjoyed it.

Even though the day began with a significant downpour, our spirits were not disheartened by the foul weather.

We learnt about different positions of the sails and how to identify them in real life situations.

We tried tacking multiple times throughout the day and I enjoyed trying each role. I was also quite nervous to steer the ship from the stern but actually found it very enjoyable. Everything today was a unique, fun experience and I have never done anything like it.

Today I went up the steps on the mast which I found cool because it was very high up and I folded the middle sail with the help of 2 other tall friends.

Dinner was lovely, it was comprised of warm garlic bread and spag bowl. I cut the onions and I haven’t cried like that in a long time.

Kacper, Kasia, Mia, Xav, Hugo

We started off the day waking up to some strong winds realising our current sails were too big for the conditions.

We learnt how to tell the weather and how it is measured in forces. We changed our Staysail to the Storm Staysail which was much smaller.

It felt like we didn’t have as much to do today because we were sailing downwind with less tacking. Then we were also taught how to tie different knots like a bowline, clove hitch, round turn, two half hitches and a slip knot. There was some spare time to explore Cowes, it was a really nice town with a wide variety of shops including an art gallery and loads of sailing shops.

Then we had a chill evening in the saloon playing top trumps with fish and chips and our group playlist playing. The food was a big morale boost thanks to our crew who helped us cook it all. We also participated in a royal navy tradition where we lowered the ensign together.

All together a great day, despite the wind we managed to sail and perform a tack in the storm.

By Tom, Phoenix, Otto, Matthew & Harry