Monday 2nd August Crew collected foul weather clothing – oillies and willies, and further safety briefings were conducted. In the afternoon we practiced coming-alongside drills in the marina and set off into the Solent for some sail training, practising man-overboard drills and tacking the boat. Sailed down the Solent to a mooring buoy at Yarmouth were we stayed for the night. Supper on board whilst under way and beating upwind, which was a new experience for some!
Tuesday 3rd August Slipped mooring at 0500 due to tides, which carried us out of the Solent past the Needles and we continued across the channel heading for Guernsey. A lot of important teaching and learning was conducted on the passage to the Channel Islands. We arrived in Guernsey at around midnight, so the novices had their first experience of night sailing.
Wednesday 4th August Day spent resting in Guernsey as weather was inclement and the crew were tired. Crew spent the afternoon ashore and had a crew meal out in the evening, which was much enjoyed.
Thursday 5th August Slipped mooring after the morning shop and made the most of the tide by setting sail for Jersey. More sail training was conducted on the way, including intentional gybing and rigging a preventer to protect crew from the effects of accidentally gybing. Passage was spent running downwind. Night berthed alongside in Jersey and crew had evening off the boat.
Friday 6th August Slipped mooring at Jersey at 1200hrs and began a passage down to Ille de Brehat. The wind shifted slightly en route making it a longer journey than planned, ending up at 11 hours in total. Dropped anchor on arrival, giving the novices a chance to see how it worked and get stuck in. Anchor watch was conducted through the night.
Saturday 7th August The morning was spent conducting dingy drills. This is an essential part of competent crew and each of the novice crew members had to row. Unfortunately the tide was quite strong and the girls got swept quite far out, but they got back eventually! We pulled the anchor up at lunchtime and began a short passage along the coast to St Quay where we moored for the night.
Sunday 8th August Departed St Quay in the morning after a trip to the bakery and planned a route for the day up to Sark, one of the smaller Channel Islands. However due to the wind shifting whilst we were under way the skipper and mate decided that conditions were perfect to push on round the French coast to Cherbourg and we continued sailing into the night, providing good experience for the competent crew candidates and getting everyone settled into the watch routine.
Monday 9th August We arrived in Cherbourg at 0230hrs. Having rested we spent the day ashore, stocking up on supplies and paying a visit to a nuclear submarine museum at Cite de la Mer. Having discussed possible options with the skipper and mate it was decided that we should plan on making the channel crossing that evening before the foul weather took too much of a hold. Began channel crossing at 1800hrs. Weather was unpleasant and winds were up to 20 knots.
Tuesday 10th August We continued our channel crossing and arrived in Portland at 0600hrs. Day spent resting ashore in the picturesque seaside town of Weymouth. Everyone was back on board for a supper of stir-fry followed by Eton mess, feeling much better for having some time ashore!
Wednesday 11th August Slipped mooring in Portland at 0900 and began to work our way back along the English coast to Gosport. The route was dead downwind so we used the spinnaker to make the most of the wind and to show the crew how to fly it. Stopped off in Swanage for lunch and we dropped the anchor, letting the novices take the lead this time. Skipper allowed us to go for a swim from the boat in the afternoon and the day’s good weather was enjoyed by everyone. Continued round the coast in the afternoon to get back to Gosport for 2300hrs.
Thursday 12th August Spent the day laboriously cleaning the boat so that passed inspection on handover at 1600hrs. Crew spent the night in the Officer’s Mess at Fort Blockhouse and went to Portsmouth for a crew meal in Las Iguanas.