Tenacity Round Britain Voyage – Hartlepool to Ipswich leg.

Saturday.

0530 is not anyone’s idea of fun but the tide dictated that we set off then on our southbound voyage, having learnt to slip lines the night before.

The North Sea was sloppy and lumpy despite the fact that there was no wind to sail. This most unfortunate state of affairs continued all day with the result that Sam heaved both early and constantly (not a great introduction after Michael had spent the last week selling the trip to him) and Michael felt pretty awful.

Eventually we were sent below to recover leaving the unanswered question of whether we would put into Hull or battle on straight to Lowestoft.

On waking – feeling very refreshed – we found out that we were continuing on the epic journey and settled down for a watch together with a terribly romantic sunset over the regimented rows of freighters and tankers: all that was missing from the oily water was a bottle of champers (rah rah! – S.). Sam was determined to see through his first night watch which included frantically pressing buttons on the auto helm (George) in order to avoid objects both big (tankers) and small (propeller-destroying lobster pots). Happily, he was wide awake having slept through the morn, in contrast to Michael who charted a respectable 8 ½ hours sleep. So, whilst Michael went below at 2200, Sam spent another two or three hours on watch learning about night navigation and checking various light signals on the chart with Mate Ian.

At 0600 on Sunday morning, our waking saw the Norfolk coast rearing unexpectedly from the still calm seas. Pleasingly, we were moving rather faster than expected due to some luck with the tides, so by about 0800 we saw Great Yarmouth and proceeded down the Yarmouth Road (the channel outside that town) past several wind farms until we sighted Lowestoft at about mid-morning. The Ian’s took us into harbour with Michael and Sam manning the lines.

We have had very little sailing so far due to light and contrary winds, but the forecast is promising better conditions so we must hope that, for once, it is accurate.

Sam Hardy, Michael Durbar,Ian, and Ian.

Inverness to Hartlepool

We are pleased to say that Tenacity is back on track in her “around Britain venture”, despite the days of northerly gales that slowed her down. We left the Caledonian canal on Monday morning and motored out in the sunshine but no wind. It will come outside the firth we thought but as we got out the only weather change was that we lost the sunshine. After 15 miles the NW5 kicked in but so did the big rolling seas. After a full day we decided to pull into Fraser burgh at 22.30 for an overnight kip. We were the only yacht amongst the fishing fleet and commercial coasters but everyone was most helpful and friendly. Off again early in the morning the seas were still up but not as ferocious as the day before and as the day wore on the waves subsided. A good northerly wind meant we made good progress but the wind also eased and by 3am we were down to 1 knot and the “iron topsail” was deployed. The engine remained on until 4pm the next day before the wind filled in from the east giving us a great close hauled sail into Hartlepool where we arrived at midnight.

We have seen very large seals in Fraserburgh and have had dolphins swimming alongside the boat. After an enjoyable passage the crew of Liz, Ed, Craig and Ian are all smiling. Now for a few odd jobs before we set off again with a new crew on Saturday.









Above afternoon tea of scones and below right Craig takes it easy in the afternoon sun.



Sunday 24th July - Time to head home

Its been an amazing journey, with so many different parts to it, it feels like we have been on board Tenacity for weeks. We have learnt a lot along the way, not just about sailing and learning to run the boat, but also about food and cooking. Everyone loved baking and enjoyed making cakes, and even more we enjoyed eating them! Everyone really enjoyed the night sailing, and would love to be able to do that again. It was so lovely with just us and the sea and the stars, and a really rewarding trip around the Isle of Mull. We decided the things we have missed the most while we have been away included our own comfy beds and some private space.

So here's an overall summary of our trip - in no particular order:

'Am on a boat'. The Tall Ships in Ullapool. Getting strange looks due to our team matching hoodies. On our first day, 'there was chunder everywhaereee'. The cup of tea marathon had begun. 'We're all dooomed'. Our new friend 'Stornoway Coastguard, Stornoway Coastguard, Stornoway Coastguard'.

'What you doing?'....'Baking a cake!'

They're charts, not maps. Speed record for Tenacity in the Sound of Sleat 9.7! 'Welcome to Eigg' a greeting from one of the islands 78 residents. Connor helped make the boat, oh no, we're all dooomed. 'Sail, sail, sail your boat'. Walking to the coop in our oilies. TV voice overs. Too much giggling, or maybe not enough! 'You can never have enough self raising flour!!' The Mexican Revelation. Saved from the Loch Ness Monster because of our morning porridge. 'We're all dooomed'. But we finished it all off with a refreshing water fight.

So that just about sums up our adventure....

Its now time to say goodbye to Tenacity and for us all to make the journey home.

Many thanks, and happy sailing to the next crew xx

PS s'aight!!!

Some other pictures from our trip.....

 

Saturday 23rd July - Hunting for Nessy

Tiredness is setting in, and we all slithered out of our beds early for the last full day on board Tenacity. Moving off our mooring our day started with a set of locks taking us down towards Loch Ness. We all had busy roles to play, even at this early hour... Amrit heroicly used the roving fender, while Roxanna wildly giggled and managed the bow line. Charlotte craftily walked the bow line of the boat between the locks. Connor masterfully mastered the stern line on the boat, while Alex cunningly chilled out; walking the boat between locks and making friends with a passing black lab dog. Nicola defended the boat's stern with her friend the fender. Nabila worked below in the galley, squawking with glee while making the cooker gleem, and James squirmed in the heads, but left it imaculate... for which we were are all very greatful.

Loch Ness gave us a break from the locks and a chance to coil up the ropes and keep our eyes peeled for Nessy. Unfortunately the greying weather had kept the olde Nessy below and hidden in the depths so we didn't get a chance to say hello. And before we knew it, we were heading back into the canal system. Here we had some interesting navigation as the river falls straight out of the canal and we decided Tenacity may not make it down the rapids, so opted to stick to the canal.

A stop for lunch saw a return of the sunshine and we took a wee wander along the lock as we waited for the lock keeper to let us on our way. We read about Mr Telford who designed the canal many years ago - over 200 years ago in fact...and we found a patch of juicy wild raspberries.

Underway again, we neared our final destination. Jean from Inverness stopped to say hello while we were refuelling the boat. She has been following our progress on the blog and her brother use to go to Bolton School. A big hello to Jean, and many thanks for coming to say hello to us.

The final stretch of canals and locks saw our arrival in Inverness and the end of our journey. But we still had work to do, cleaning the boat and scrubbing the decks in the sunshine.

Its been another long day on Tenacity, and we were all ready for an evening meal on deck, which included all the food left on board and homemade guacamole. We are just eating chocolate fondue before we head towards our tiny Tenacity bunks for the last time.

Goodnight
Love Alex, Amrit, Charlotte, Connor, James, Nabila, Nicola and Roxanna x x

Friday 22nd July - Caledonian Canal

We all found it hard to get up this morning, but a large dish of porridge and some sunshine set us on our way. We headed into the Caledonian Canal, realising very quickly why we had been practicing rope throwing...and putting our skills to the test in the first of many locks.

Our first main challenge of the day was Neptune's Stair case, a series of seven locks that we moved up. We managed this task sucessfully as a full team, all the while looking over to the cloud free summit of Ben Nevis which still had patches of snow towards the top.

The canal proved more challenging and rewarding than we thought, and we soon reached our first loch, Loch Lochy, to eat a well earned lunch on deck in the sunshine. Before long we were back in the canal and working our way carefully through the locks.

Moving into our second loch of the day, Loch Oich (known as Loch Oink to the crew), we saw a boat that was covered in plants..the owners had their own garden on board, very cool. We were also joined by a swan who followed us off the loch and into the canal, flying along with the boat.

Our last stretch of canal brought us to the top of
Fort Augustus and the end of our day. A long day again on the boat, and a lot of work for us all. All crew enjoyed their day and the challenge very much.

Once the boat was tied up, we took a short walk to look at the locks we had to head down tomorrow to reach Loch Ness. Then we all decided it was time for a real treat - our first shower in a week...magic.

Love a clean and happy Tenacity crew x

Thursday 21st July - Loch Linnhe

After yesterdays adventure into the early hours, we opted for a slightly later breakfast this morning. We lifted anchor and headed across Kerrera Sound to Oban, where we headed ashore for the first time in our journey to stretch our legs and restock supplies.

Before leaving Oban we did some more rope work skills and practiced rope coiling and throwing, this was in preparation for tomorrows canal work.

We put up all the sails and headed north west towards Lismore. We intended to sail through the Shuna Sound, but we lost the wind and had to motor through and into Loch Linnhe.

Our final patch of sea on the west coast was accompanied by sun, porpoises and a few seals. As well as lots of cake...dolphin watch made home made sponge cake with yummy chocolate icing, and turtle watch made scrummy chocolate brownie. We headed through the tidal gate at Corran Narrows, and towards Fort William. It was a peaceful evening and the mountains looked lovely, looking into Glen Coe and up at a cloud free summit of Ben Nevis, lit up by the setting sun. We headed past a group of small dinghies having a fun evening sail.

We tied up at the head of Loch Linnhe and the start of the Caledonian Canal, ready for the next stage of our journey. We are off to enjoy and earlyish night after another enjoyable day.

Love the Tenacity cake bakers x

Wednesday 20th July...Around the Isle of Mull

It turned in to our longest and best day yet. After leaving Tobermory we aimed to not have to use our engine again at all today.

We sailed around around the north end of Mull, looking back towards the Isle of Skye, Eigh, Muck and Rhum and our adventure from the previous day. Under full sail we headed towards the Treshnish Isles, a group of wonderful shaped islands. We then headed for Staffa, seeing porpoises and puffins along the way. The amazing sights of the rocks of Staffa in the sunshine entranced us all. We jibed around the south east corner to look at the organ piped basalt columns and into the depths of Fingals Cave, the inspiration for Mendelsohn's Hebridean Overture.

We ate lunch on deck and worked our way towards the azure and turquoise waters of Iona, an island steeped in Celtic history. We sailed into an anchorage in the Sound of Iona, and enjoyed a rest on deck in the sun, while indulging in afternoon tea and cakes.

Raring for adventure, dolphin watch raised the anchor and set sail, while turtle watch headed below to bake bread and cook tea. We ate again on deck, with the sun on our stern and looking at Ben More off our bow, as well as using all four sails to make a satisfying speed of 7.7 knots.

The wind and our speed decreased significantly, but we stuck to our plan of not using the engine. The sky came ablaze over the Paps of Jura in the distance, as the sun quenched itself in the orange and purple sea. We learnt about looking for lights at night, and what the different signals meant. But our speed continued to decrease. So we ate cake and enjoyed having the time to look at the moon and stars, looking at Ursa Major and Polaris, and traced out the serpent like constellation of Draco the Dragon.

With our end in sight, the wind finally disappeared...a strange concept to us after the last few days...and for the first time on this trip, the sea state changed to smooth. After a long time of persistent sailing/floating we gave in and resorted to the engine for the last stretch. Ghosting Tenacity into Horse Shoe Bay on the east of Kerrera, the sun was almost ready to rise again. We lowered our anchor, sorted the boat and headed towards our much needed beds.

Love a slightly sleepy, fair weathered Tenacity crew x

Wednesday 20th July - Off to circumnavigate the Isle of Mull

Turtle Watch

Up early, engine checked and anchor lifted by 7.30am. We ate breakfast on deck while heading out into the Sound of Mull. Our plan for the day is to circumnavigate the Isle of Mull anticlockwise, with the crew working in their two watches and running the boat. We have just pulled into Tobermory to take it easy with Edie McCready and have an adventure with Archie the Inventor. As well as fill up the water. Then we're off....

Wish us luck x

Tuesday 19th July - Eigg, Muck (and Rhum in the distance)

Dolphine Watch

After an early start with pancakes for breakfast, the crew took charge of the boat and set out on their plotted route. With Connor at the helm Nabila, Amrit and Alex raised the anchor. We then split into two watches...dolphine watch and turtle watch, and worked two hours above deck, then two hours below deck. Following our course we headed south. We ate a second breakfast on route, and headed to the Isle of Eigg, where we dropped our anchor, took in the view and ate eggs for lunch!

After some further planning we headed south again to the Isle of Muck. Here we had an early tea, but chose not to opt to eat muck. Refuelled and ready for adventure, we headed off again, eating Charlotte and Roxannas homemade banana and chocolate cake along the way.

James and Nicola sang to us, while we worked our way around the Point of Ardnamurchan...the most westerly point of mainland Britain. We were followed by numerous birds along the way...terns, shearwaters, gannets and much more. Under three sails we headed towards a patch of sun in the distance and had to deal with a surprise man over board drill...careless Bob the giant fender had fallen overboard again! But as an expert crew we rescued him in no time, got the sails back up and carried on our way, feeling rather pleased with ourselves.

We came into Loch Na Droma Buide, through a narrow entrance where we could almost touch the rocks on either side and dropped are anchor. But, just because we could, we did all of the above under sail, with turtle watch working the decks while dolphine watched worked below making supper and fresh bread for breakfast.

A long, but fantastic day at sea...and we are all loving running the boat. Time for a evening planning session, to work out where tomorrows adventure will lead.

Love from,
Turtle watch...Charlotte, Amit, Roxanna and Alex.
And dolphine watch...Nicola, Conner, James and Nabila
X

Monday 18th July - Isle of Skye

A brilliant day adventuring on our boat.

We had an early start, with a good breakfast on the table for 7am. Everyone was booted and suited, on deck and full of anticipation for the day...but these fears soon disappeared, and were replaced by some great high points for our day. We left Portree on the Isle of Skye in fog, but found we were pleasantly surprised as to how well we all felt when we headed back out to sea - our first high for today, sea sickness seems to be a thing of the past.

Our route took us south towards the Skye bridge and the Kyle of Lochalsh. We raised all four sails on Tenacity and sailed out of the fog into blue skies and lots of wind. Our second high of the day was sailing under the Skye bridge, with all four sails still filled with wind.

Heading down the east of Skye near Kyle Rhea we had our third high of the day - numerous large grey seals swimming along with our boat. And then the ultimate height of our day...sailing on a broad reach we hit an all time Tenacity high of a speed of 9.7! That's 9.7, and that felt fantastic.

So after a wonderful day on the boat we dropped our anchor in Loch Na Dal in the Sound of Sleat and have just eaten fresh scones on deck. We still have a busy evening ahead... learning more about working on deck, and settling down with the charts to plan our passage for tomorrow. Its been a busy old day, but we are are all feeling very positive and happy.

We are all looking forward to our evening meal and excited about where our adventure will lead us tomorrow....

Speak soon, love from all of the Tenacity crew x

Sunday 17th July - Heading to Portree

We stayed last night by a small island called Caolas Eilein Ristol, after a well earned evening meal, we continued our planning for the rest of the trip. We listened to the weather forecast and realised we may need to look at changing our plans for Sunday.

After a good sleep and breakfast, we looked again at the current weather forecast. We realised the weather was worse than we had hoped for, and the wind was coming from a direction that would not allow us to make our planned journey around Cape Wrath. As the weather looked set to stay bad into the week, we decided to work with one of our alternative plans. We are now heading south to Fort William, to use the Caledonian Canal to travel across to Inverness on the east coast of Scotland.

So, we raised the anchor and very soon after had the sails out and headed out to the open sea. It was a little rocky to say the least, and several of our crew suffered with sea sickness. But between us we worked the sails, maned the helm and helped to plot the route. Portree on the east coast of the Isle of Skye was a welcome sight, and our destination for the day. We haved dropped the anchor and just eaten a much needed pasta bake. Its time to put on our pyjamas, eat some cake and have a planning session for tomorrow. We are looking forward to an early night and another day of adventure tomorrow.

Catch you soon...the crew x

16th July 2011 - Ullapool



The Crew in Ullapool

 Hello from the new crew of Tenacity...Connor, Nabila, Roxanna, Nicola, Amrit, Alex, Charlotte and James. We made a long journey yesterday from Bolton to Ullapool and stayed the night in a youth hostel, over looking the visiting Tall Ships. After a visit to the super market, we headed down to the pier to meet David, Max and Dawn. We took all our things out to Tenacity and have spent some time sorting the boat ready for our adventure. We plan to leave Ullapool tonight and head north. Over the next few days we plan to sail around Cape Wrath to the Orkneys...it could be a wild adventure!

Keep an eye on where we get to on the map and we'll post another blog as soon as we can.

See you soon...x

Leg 2 Ullapool to Hartlepool

Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/

15th July 2011

Our last full day entailed heading back across the Minch to Ullapool, an enjoyable last sail to finish a super voyage from Glasson.  On our arrival at Ullapool we were greated by the sight of a number of Tall Ships anchored up, making us feel very small!

We wish the on coming Gold D of E crew from Bolton School all the best in their aim to sail to Hartlepool.

Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/

14th July 2011

We set off about 09.30 for Scalpay, a little village on Harris near Tarbert.  The engine had to be started and we motorsailed after a lack of wind.  Nick lost the best fishing line overboard, so Russ, who at the time was fixing the oven door, set to work with Karen to make a new line out of bits that we had found.

The shelter of the little harbour at Scalpay was welcome, and we set about cleaning the outside of Tenacity before going for a little walk, taking in the sights like the pier made out of a sunken concrete barge and the Scalpay bridge over to mainland Harris.

On our return to Tenacity we found that she was being admired by local mariners and they enjoyed a quick tour of her.  Sausage Korma was on the menu for tea as we had run out of chicken!  The crew also got a chance of a shower after dinner before bed.

Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/

13th July 2011

The crew arose later than on previous occasions and got ready for a trip ashore to the Coop and showers at the swimming baths.  The baths were closed when we got there but we got all that we needed at the supermarket.

On the way back to the jetty Dave the skipper fell off the pavement and injured his ankle.  Nick ran back to the Coop for frozen peas to put on it before we could get back to Tenacity to properly sort it out.

We then brought Tenacity to the jetty to fill with water from a fire hydrant.

Sic hours of cruising up to South Uist followed, we had dolphins leaping at the bows on passage.  On arrival at Loch Skipport Steve took Tenacity to the anchorage at the head of the Lock and expertly made her safe for anchoring.

The dinghy was then launched and Paul, Nick, Steve and Russ went ashore for an adventure to a disused cottage and around the shoreline for couaght fishing line.

On return fish and chips were waiting, and as the sun went down a piper could be heard playing on a neighbouring boat.

Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/

12th July 2011

The crew awoke in the mightly shadow of the Abbey of Iona, in Martyrs bay, where the vikings murdered the monks of Iona hundreds of years ago.  Straight away we set off for Barra, via Gunna Sound, the channel of water between Coll and Tiree.  Here we encountered a dead calm and we spotted a basking shark; the first of many for the day.  We anchored for lunch, andwhilst at anchor Russ caught a Pollock which skipper Dave 'sorted out' - he appears to be a secret fishmonger!

During the afternoon we set the autopilot again to steer a course to Barra and the crew slept, read books and Steve and Paul had a go at learning light signals with a pack of navigation cards that Dave had brought along.

On our arrival at Castlebay the anchor was dropped and the crew went ashore for a mooch and a visit to the pub.  At the pub there was some live music on - a traditional bagpipe player and backing instruments of accordian and flutes.

We all returned to Tenacity for our evening meal and chocolate fondue. Yum!  Again we all fell into our bunks and were asleep in seconds.

Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/

11th July 2011 - Russ's Birthday

We got up at about 08.00 and went outside to beautiful weather again.  We set off immediately and had a bacon butty whilst heading for Colonsay via the Sound of Islay, the stretch of water between Islay and Jura.  We passed three CalMac ferries and saw some of the famous Islay distilleries.  More sailing followed and at Colonsay we came alongside the ferry pier, ate lunch and went for a walk on this remote, but beautiful island.

We then carefully maneuvered out of the shallow bay and set our heading for Iona near the Island of Mull, on which a monastery was founded in the 7th Century.

For tea we had sausage and mash - a special request from the Birthday Boy!, we also had a chocolate gateaux to celebrate.

Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/

10th July 2011

Today we had a bit of a lie-in, we went back up on deck for breakfast in the sunshine.  After clearing away we had a go at some 'Man over Board' drills before sailing for ten minutes and having to put the engine on as we passed a HSS sea cat mid channel

Our afternoon was spent motorsailing across the Firth of Clyde towards the Mull of Kintyre.  The wind had died completely as we made this passage leaving us to motor around the Mull of Kintyre.  The sails came out again soon after as a fair breeze pushed us along towards our evening destination of Gigha.  However, as we entered the channel to take us to our destination disaster struck as the hook that holds the mainsail tack in place sheared leaving us without an operational mainsail.

We did manage to anchor safely and drank a mug of hot chocolate before heading to our bunks.

Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/

9th July 2011

At first light all were on deck as we struggled to keep course round the point of Ayre off the Isle of Man.  The seas were rough, which added to the excitment and also those falling foul of sea sickness!  We sailed on up to the Mull of Galloway where we anchored for lunch and a power nap whilst waiting for the tide.  After recharging our batteries we headed around the Mull and up to the shelter of Loch Ryan where we anchored in an area named 'The Wig'.

As we were coming in, however, we briefly ran aground which was scary in the dark.  After crumble and custard we fell into our bunks!

Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/

8th July 2011

After all of the crew had boarded we went through a safety briefing from our skipper David, ready to set off on Tenacity's first round Britain adventure.

We set out for the sea lock at about about 3.00pm after a little waiting in the bottom lock, navigated out of the Lune Channel.  Behind us we could see a fierce black storm cloud.  Then it was a straight crossing to Ramsey on the Isle of Man - well almost, as we had to carefully navigate through a few windfarms that are now springing up all around our coasts.

The Fierce Black Storm Cloud!

We all then had the experience of night sailing and in watches we took turns at sailing and navigating and sleeping!

Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/

Around UK Leg 1, Glasson to Ullapool

Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/

Oakham School Gold D of E, 6 July 2011

Wednesday started with a tough night with Tristan and Emily on the helm and Richard navigating round the top of the Isle of Man.

With a prevailing South Easterly wind it was an upwind sail with the waves pummeling the bow. Even so a top speed over ground of 8.4 was reached. Constantly taunted by the light from England and the ever present wind farms it was a long night. After a 4 hour shift Toni, Jenny and Georgia went up for their shift giving us a much needed rest. 2 hours later though the great white telephone reclaimed Jenny and the first three went back up for another shift faced with the task of navigating the dreaded windfarms. Rain and fog dominated the area making navigating a nightmare even for rad nav Richard. The group slowly began to lose their sanity, Tristan raving about a steak sandwich and a pod hammock filled with warm water that you can sit in… While steering was easy enough, figuring out what was in front of us became a challenge with Emily confusing boats for cardinal buoys and thinking the turbine stands (which looked like aliens out of War of the Worlds) were power stations or oil rigs…little wrong there. Finally at 10:30 we arrived at Piel Island on Jenny, Toni and Georgia’s watch. After a long snooze and satay beef wraps for lunch we went ot explore the island. We met the ‘King’ of Piel and his many fluffy dogs. While we were refused a ride on a visitor’s helicopter we got to take a look at the castle and spend some time in the sun. After a simple dinner Tristan and Jenny brought out the big guns and attempted to make mars bar madness ( chocolate rice crispie treats) and despite the stale rice crispies, they were a total success. Tomorrow we head home but for now,

Many Thanks,

Emily

 

Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/

Oakham School Gold D of E Day 3, 5th July

Day three began at midnight – nothing more, nothing less. The weather was still and pleasant, if not a little chillsome, especially in the early hours. Each group took at least one 4-hour night watch, and with each the Isle of Man (Douglas in particular) got ever closer. By 7am we had arrived after a rather long and tedious period of no wind and low average speeds. We anchored off Derby Haven and went to sleep until 10am. When we awoke for our shore trip to Peel on the other side of the IoM the weather had changed a lot: the wind had picked up greatly and there was a large swell present. One or two members (Jenny and then Toni) took tactical chunders, but only Toni was able to recover relatively quickly – Jenny’s recuperation took a lot longer! Other eventful moments included a synchronised flying lesson by Tristan, Toni and Emily across the cockpit following a particularly large wave, and Tristan receiving a high five to the face from a table in the middle of his snooze.

At around 3.30 we mopped up the remnants of our technicoloured yawns and went for an explore and for supper in Peel, and set off again at 6pm at a record speed (by Georgia) of 7.2 knots!!!! We, Jenny, Toni and Georgia, are currently on watch heading back around the top of the Isle of Man and towards home.

Jenny is preparing for her inevitable reunion with the toilet.

Richard, after plotting a series of excellent courses throughout the voyage, is catching some Z’s in preparation of being the only one with a strong enough stomach to fully take on the Irish Sea.

Georgia is on the wheel (and also the rum).

Toni is manning the radio and the charts.

Emily and Tristan are slacking/playing fruit ninja!

Many thanks,

Jenny x


Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/