Thursday 11 October 2012

Wet Thursday

Today four of us got up at 8:10 as we needed to move the boat from the outer harbour and into the place where you refill the boats fuel while the other four had a lie in! About ten minutes later the other four had to go on deck and move the boat again to its permanent docking place! By then it was lunch time and we had YUMMY hot dogs. We were then told that Joe and Krystl had a surprise. We then went for a walk and Charlotte said to Joe “Is the surprise ice-cream?” and Joe said no. We then all said it’s not a surprise unless it’s edible! Then we found out that the surprise was a park and we all changed from 12 year olds to 3 year olds-even Joe and Krystl! After an unusual trip to the park we went to a shop and bought ice lollies to make our trip complete! Our ice lollies were different colours and some of our tongues turned blue! As we were walking back to the boat we saw some of the cutest of the birds ever! They ranged from ducks to swans. We had to feed them! Afterwards we walked back to the boat and were told to wash our muddy shoes! We found out that all the birds and swans had followed us to the boat and wanted some more food. We decided to call the two swans Bob and Jules! We eventually made tea and it was an amazing turkey curry-it went down so fast that it went down in five seconds! Then some of us went to the toilets and found out that Deeanne and Amelie are not the people to tell when your being followed by a stalker because they will run away screaming! It was the best joke EVER! Over all it was an amazing day that we will remember!


By Elsbeth and Rosie. 

Wednesdays photos




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

Wednesdays long sail


We had to get up at 6:45am in the morning! After getting ready we slipped the bow and stern and set off on our 11 hour journey. We saw part of Scotland and we saw St Bees Heads. The wind was not coming from the right direction for us to harness it for power, so we had to use the motor. At lunch we ate jacket potatoes and we then had a jacket potato race. After lunch we then played cards. During, the day Rosie slept for 10 of the 11 hours of our journey. Though the day nearly everyone felt ill except from Emily, the only person who threw up was Elsbeth. Also, Emily started dancing on the back of the boat. Finally, we arrived at Glasson dock at 7pm but got stuck on a bump in the ground. For tea, we had fish (cod), new potatoes, peas and Yorkshire pudding. By Abigail and Trinity.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Ocean day

This morning we had a very early start; we had to be ready to be on deck for 8:30am. Breakfast was short including cereals and milk. We started our 9 hours journey to Whitehaven from Piel Island. The weather was on our side today, meaning we could use the sails more than the engine. As we departed Piel Island we came across the same family of seals that we saw yesterday. We all got at least 20 minutes of sailing each today, getting better and better every time. Today, our group made sandwiches for lunch; while making them it made us feel very sea-sick. We were in the ocean today; this meant we had to use the tether for our first time. Unfortunately, people had forgotten this so they (Charlotte) got tangled up or in Charlotte’s case, falling over. On our 9 hour journey we passed The Lake District; we could see Scotland! Our first and second mate played a game where you had to name all the mountains in the Lake District. After a very long journey we finally arrived at Whitehaven!  After docking we treated ourselves to chocolate and biscuits. J J   Charlotte and Amélie

Monday 8 October 2012

Monday in a snapshot











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

Sunny Monday

Today was our first day on Tenacity. We woke up at 8:00 AM and four of us got to work making breakfast. The meal included bacon, eggs, toast and cereal. After cleaning up we got up on the dock. This is when we discovered our interesting kit of waterproof overalls, coat and life jacket. We also got a tether to attach us to the boat when we’re out of the safety zone. It took a while to find the right sizes and to adjust the life jacket. Afterwards, we learnt two knots, the bowline and the round turn two hitches. For the bowline knot we learnt two different ways in our groups, and then had a competition to see which is faster. Next we had some free time, which included an enthusiastic version of YMCA, dancing and all. The four of us that didn’t make breakfast made lunch. We made ham, cheese or nutella sandwiches. After lunch we got our gear back on and left the marina at 4:00 PM. After a while we put up the sails, which was a lot of hard work. A bit later we all got to steer the boat for a while, which is quite a lot harder than it looks! The first island that we got to had a bunch of seals on it. They smelt disgusting. One girl described them as giant slugs. Three hours after leaving we arrived at Piel island. By this time the sun was setting and there were no other boats in sight. The castle was one of the only buildings on this small island and was beautiful. Next we needed to drop the anchor and stop for the night. We ended the day with a great meal. 

Sunday 7 October 2012

Sunday evening.

Just to let you all know that the girls are safely aboard, have had their first meal together, and are settling in well. The next blog should be to-morrow (Monday) night and will be written by the young ladies. Ian.

Map of Year 8 Voyage 7 - 12 October 2012



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

Thursday 27 September 2012

A note for the parents

The school have asked me to let you know that the course will now end at Fleetwood and not Glasson Dock, this is due to operational reasons. It should not affect you in any way as the school minibus will collect the boys from Fleetwood and should have them back to the school in time for their usual going home arrangements.

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Piel Island

Today we took Tenacity to Piel Island. We also did our first bit of sailing from Glasson dock to Peel Island. We put up three out of four sails: main sail, missen and the genoa we didn’t put up the last sail cause it was naff. We got up at six with team C ie. Adam (Me) Alex R and Leaon L making a simple yet nutritional breakfast of cereal with a wide selection of cheerio’s ,frosties and cornflakes also some toast nutella and jam. We then put on our oils skins and went on deck to lock out of the dock. It took about 15 minutes to lock out then we were off!! We motored for a while then we put up the sails and got up to 7 knots. We have to hook onto a part of the boat with a rope at all times so moving around is a pretty slow process. While everyone sat in the cockpit, Adam(me) Leaon and Alex sat in the front of the boat for quite a while talking about not very much until we stopped just next to Piel Island and had Bacon Butties for lunch. We took the dinghy to Piel Island and got very wet in the tiny slightly deflated rib! We stopped off at the Island and looked around the castle which was pretty cool as we could climb really high We then split into parties and Me , Leaon , Alex and Dan ( the awesome instructor dude ) sat on the beach throwing rocks in the sunset :P While we were waiting at the jetty this loose horse attacked us. We are still not quite sure how it got to an Island. So we came back read our books and had Chicken Korma for Tea.......The End TYPED BY: Adam ABANDONED BY: Leaon , Alex

A few photos

 
 

Tuesday 25 September 2012

Tuesdays blog

Today, we learnt to leave the jetty in the sailing boat to practice berthing. We were tying the boat to the jetty with knots we learnt yesterday. Also, we went out in the rib and Sam crashed twice, Jake once, into expensive, polished, recently refurbished, luxury yachts. (no damage done) All going well, we are hoping to leave tomorrow, very early, at 7:15am (waking up at 5!)We learnt to start, control, understand and rev the engine. Cian, Jake and Alex Y made brilliant breakfast this morning. We made 12 fried eggs, 24 Cumberland sausages and some slightly burnt toast. NOTE: We’ve had a shower every day. Sadly, the one today was the last one of the week due to departure (parents, make sure there is a nice, warm bath waiting for us!) The weather is not that good but we WILL cope. We are on the tail of a depression from the hurricane Nadine from the Caribbean. The highest wind speed today was 34kts. Jake felt in his natural habitat as there was a HUGE pool of condensation all over our room! Got to go now. Sam, Joe and Ben are making Pork Stir Fry. YUMMY!!! Message to Eichi ,we are not going to capsize or sink. Bet your jealous now! Hahahaha Cian, Jake and Alex.

Update for parents and friends.

Good morning, Just an update on what we are doing. The forecast for today is still up to gale force eight and so in the interests of safety I have decided not to go to sea. In the protected waters of the marina we intend to do a few manouvering exercises on the boat and this afternoon get the lads out on our RIB, maybe giving them the oppertunity to helm it. The forecast for to-morrow is more promising and we hope to leave in the morning. The tracker will show you our progress. Ian.

Monday 24 September 2012

Rainy day blog.

Here is our day so far: • There was a toxic waste plant in our bedroom- called J and B. • It rained all day and we were stuck in boat all day. • Safety rules are so interesting! HA HA. • Condensation is dripping on us in our beds. Wet beds! • EICHI the boat has definitely not sunk! Someone would you please tell him that! • Ben, Sam and Joe made the world’s best breakfast this morning! Bacon (Ben), Joe (Cereal) and Scrambled Eggs courtesy of Sam. • So far this is far better than school!!!!!!! • At dinner tonight, it got very emotional. It was Pasta Bolognaise. • Joe is so angry! He cannot find the flare guns! • We tried to sing a Christmas song, in every accent we could think of! It was so HARD! • Adam cried over.............. ONIONS! • Jake and Cain made the best ever cookies! YUM! Just like Dominoes. • Jake would make a very good oilskin model. He literally drowned n the smallest ones we had. Got to sign off now as we are about to eat our Chocolate Fondue dessert. Team “A” (Ben, Joe and Sam). Skippers note: We have had everything from gale force winds to flat calms today, the calm is I suspect because we are in the eye of the depression. That means that the wind will return with some gusto in the near future. Sadly it has poured with rain all day but we did manage to take the lads for a walk, all dressed in their oilskins! With safety being foremost in my mind we have stayed put and it is likely that we will do the same tomorrow. I am however hopeful of getting out on Wednesday morning. Ian.

Saturday 15 September 2012

The A team report

Greetings Landlubbers, the A Team here (Emma B, Emma D and Grace R).   Today has been...eventful, starting with the way too early start this morning!  Walking across lazily to the toilets in our pyjamas wasn’t the funniest thing in the world.  Then at breakfast, with dried Frosties for Grace and Emma B, and some weird shredded wheat thing for Emma D.  Mr Beard got wedged between the table and the bench (with an interesting face on him), fun for all.  Then we set off for the lock.  It took forever to get through, resulting in us talking with an old guy in an army onesie and Fishermans hat on whilst eating bacon butties, nice! I think we all underestimated the sheer coldness of the open sea.  Once we set off, everyone (even Lucy!) went silent for ages, and then Emma B and Grace had a random chat about houses.  After the boat got rocky, most people (Emma D) began feeling slightly queasy and turned Shrek coloured.  Emma D then fell asleep in her bucket (not with sick in), whilst Holly sat at the other side of the boat hugging her bucket whilst snoring rather loudly.  Everyone is okay now though, no worries.  Eventually, we arrived at Piel Island, freezing cold and wet.  Only we didn’t, because the anchor decided to conk out on us, meaning it took us an hour, going round in circles, trying to lower the anchor manually.  Anyway, we got there, and we decided to take the dinghy out to Piel Island.  After the engine on the dinghy decided to have a paddy, we arrived on Piel Island.  After taking several attempts at Bolt photos (usually capturing feet, the sky or random bits of scenery and field, as the camera was on a timer) we headed off to the castle, mainly to freak out the other team.  When we thought we heard them coming, we dived over a wall into the castle, not thinking about how to get out, ending with Emma D on one side, Grace on the other, and Emma B straddling the wall while Grace pushed her over.  Then we went and sat outside the pub and bought some good chips, nice pub, classic, and took millions of pictures of the whole group planking in different places (e.g. the bin, the picnic bench and the flag pole, which just ended in disaster...), along with “lonely” photos and we had some failed attempts at cartwheels in wellies.  The Umm Umm’s were going to go back to Tenacity first, but disaster struck when they realised someone’s dingy had come loose, and drifted about 50m down the sea.  The owner of the said dingy came out and had to get another guy to tow it back to the jetty.  In this time, the Umm Umm’s made it back to Tenacity, and we began talking to the owner of the lost dinghy about the best alcohol he could buy in the pub. Then our dinghy came back, full of murky water, and we pushed off the slipway safely.  All was well. Until the engine decided to conk out on us...again. We decided to use the oars, after much perseverance with the motor.  This did not help, as we drifted past where we had been before.  Mr Beard looked on in dismay as we passed the pub.  Luckily, Emma B saved the day, by managing to restart the motor.  Unfortunately someone (at this point Emma D starts defending herself) dropped the oar, and we had to go about and get it back.  Emma D saved the day; the Emma’s were on a role.  Grace, of course, kept the boat calm and collected during this difficult time.  We all got home safe to a nice bowl of Spag Bol (our Shepherds Pie was way better though).  This is the A Team signing off from Tenacity, over and out.

Friday 14 September 2012

The Um-Um blog

Hi this is Eleanor and Eilidh (part of team Um-Um) from Westholme School in Blackburn. After an early rise we all felt very tired, cold and slightly disappointed that we could not go out to sea because of the strong winds (mostly due to Eilidh). After first impressions we found out there was a lot to do. First we had breakfast, which was second breakfast for some of us. Then we had to scrub the deck which had become very messy with bird plop. Then some of us got to make cookies which is interesting to do without any measuring equipment. Then we got to go on the dinghy and got to have a go at driving it! It feels like we’ve been here for weeks already! Everyone has had more than enough to eat... and we are still eating. Everyone is healthy and well and having a good time. Tomorrow “the A team” will be doing the blog. So hi everyone at home we’re ok hope you are too!  xx


Hiiiii everyone! Its Lucy and Holly from umm-umms! Well, today we cleaned the boat from head to toe, which resulted in a massive water fight with the hose pipe! Tell you what, those tea towels we had spare in the cupboard came in handy! When we’d finally dried off, our team made lunch, resulting in Holly and I nearly burning chicken soup, and pasties! We’ve had a lovely time with the skipper and mate, Karen, renamed Auntie Karen for us two, and Ian! Not to forget the best teacher in the world, Mr Beard, who has to put up with us all weekend! We tied some ropes as well, after lunch, and we started learning all of the important knots, i.e. the noose! Then we played some games, resulting in some disappointing rounds of the primary games, and then we all took turns to journey down the canal in the dingy! However, when me, Holly and Karen went, I was instructed to grab a ladder to stop next to, and I fell down in the dinghy, causing us to nearly miss the ladder, and end up drifting down the canal! This afternoon, our team baked some cookies, which we ended up eating most of! We also ran out of peppa pig sweets while we were baking, some would say we need a quick trip to Tesco! We have also pigged out on the biscuits, and all been limited to two penguins a day well, that’s all for now, we don’t miss you at all! Hahaha only joking, love to everyone at home, see you soon x x x x x

Windy Friday

Good morning,

Just to let you all know that as the wind is blowing up to gale force I have decided, in the interests of safety, not to sail to-day.

We will instead do lots of safety related stuff around the boat and this afternoon will take the girls out in our rib/dinghy within the safe confines of the marina.

You will be able to read the girls blogs each evening on this site.

Ian. (Skipper)

Wednesday 25 July 2012

The last day

We woke to find the rice pudding that never appeared the previous night still in the oven. When removed we found a crispy (burnt) topping of what appeared to be cheese. Considering there was no cheese in the dish it was quite worrying. There were no objections when it was suggested that it be thrown overboard.


At around 10.30 we commenced our return journey, leaving through a channel dredged for submarines. There were no submarines spotted, but a large colony of seals made an appearance on Piel Island. The journey was fairly slow to begin with being totally powered by the motor. Around midday the sails were out and we were bobbing along at a leisurely speed. This however proved to be too fast as when we reached the entrance to the Lune river channel the water level was too low to be able to navigate our way to Glasson. We spent around an hour milling around the entrance until the water was at a suitable height. A short trip up the channel took us back to Glasson where we passed through the lock gate without incident (unless you count the rather irritated swans that got trapped in the lock gate). All that was left to do was to find our berth and clean the boat. This was done efficiently and effectively and we were away for the scheduled 18:00 pick up. I think it would be fair to say that we were all looking forward to a night in our own beds, despite a thoroughly enjoyed trip.

On behalf of the entire crew I would like to thank Ian (captain) and Matt (first mate) for their help, guidance and patience without which we would not have had such a fantastic expedition.

Bumpy old day and no wind

Piel Island was a must if we were to return to Glasson the next day. The prospect of a long day lay ahead with the most optimistic journey time being around 8 hours. This was of course assuming conditions were favourable. They were not. Once leaving the safety of the marina we found that there was residual swell from the bad weather over the two days prior. This made the first leg of the journey uncomfortable. Despite the lumpy seas the wind was almost non-existent barely registering at times and peaking at around force 2s.


This lack of wind meant that the entire day was under the power of motor spare a few minutes in which we tried to sail. In these few minutes our speed plummeted resting about the 1knot mark. This would mean reaching Piel Island after sunrise the next day. Soon after switching the engine back on we were prompted by another boat to tune into VHF channel 13. We were informed we would soon be passing through a military firing range. We were assured we “should be fine” passing through but we would be warned if anything was to change.

The sea became calmer later in the day and made for a fairly uneventful journey and arrival at Piel. The water was perfectly calm in the protected bay around the island which made the evening meal very comfortable in comparison to some of the others we have eaten at sea.

The BIG waves day

We awoke at a similar time to yesterday and the Bow team made pancakes for breakfast. Next, we had to ready the ship to sail as the winds from yesterday hadn’t fully died down; the seas would be rough and as a result the ship could be thrown about on the water. We had to make sure everything in the galley and all our personal belongings were stowed securely to prevent them from falling and crashing around.


When we got out of the lock gates however, we quickly realised the wind and swell was stronger than expected. Soon we were feeling nature’s wrath: force 8 winds, 4m waves and over 30 degrees of pitch. It was becoming obvious that we wouldn’t be able to sail all the way to Piel Island, especially as we would be sailing directly into the wind. We had to swallow our pride and call Whitehaven to let us back in. When we reached the harbour we found out that we had done 0.9 miles in total; we had gotten less than half a mile out!

After a lunch of sandwiches and beans on toast, we settled in for another day at the harbour. We played cards, visited Tesco’s and Sid edited more pictures. Tea tonight was shepherd’s pie with sponge cake and custard for dessert (another 9 from Matt). After dinner we went to bed, and hoped that the weather would improve tomorrow.

Monday 23 July 2012

The lost Sunday

We woke late (or later than usual anyway), as the weather forecast had suggested strong winds for today. We all hit the showers, before returning to the boat for a delicious breakfast, comprised of pancakes (a great effort from the stern team). After eating, we had a discussion with the Skipper, and in combination with him looking out to sea, decided that it was a bad idea to head out of the marina today. The weather forecast was right – the winds were too strong for us to sail in safely.


Having decided this, the remaining crew members headed to the outer walls of the marina and surveyed the condition of the sea. We came to the conclusion that it would have been a ridiculous idea to sail in such strong winds (causing pretty big waves), as proven by the fact that it almost knocked us over when walking around!

Whilst the bow team prepared a lunch of soup and sausage butties, the stern team headed out with Matt on the powered rubber dingy; to practice manoeuvres and the man overboard drill. We learned upon their return, that the highlight was Lewis crashing into the marina wall when, supposedly, in control. After lunch, which went down extremely well, the bow team headed out with Matt to perform the same moves, before returning to the boat (having had relative success).

Skippers note:
having taken into account the weather forecasts and the sea state as viewed from the outer breakwater I decided that it was safer to stay in the marina to-day. We had winds gusting to gale force and very angry looking seas. More luck tomorrow I hope.

Saturdays sailing

With the high tide in Whitehaven being relatively early, we aimed to arrive for 14:00, meaning the crew hauled themselves out of bed at 06:30, and sluggishly consumed a bowl of cereal each, with no time for a cooked breakfast. After breakfast, we all suited up and headed out on deck. After raising the anchor successfully, we motored out of Kirkcudbright Bay (off the coast of Scotland).


Once we were clear of the Bay, we checked the wind speed and decided to unfurl all three sails, before turning off the motor. After an initial gust of wind, we slowed to a tedious speed, causing some of the crew to doubt whether we’d actually ever make it to Whitehaven. With the slow rate we were travelling at, a number of us decided to play cards on deck, and some even resorted to reading!

After an hour or so of almost no movement (or that’s what it felt like anyway), the wind picked up again and we started to move at a decent speed (sustaining 5 knots comfortably, sometimes making just over 6). At this point, we even pretended we were racing two other yachts – one on either side of us.

We eventually reached Whitehaven just before 14:00 and decided to run through the man overboard drill, throwing a bucket and fender overboard as our pretend crew member (we didn’t reach a decision on who offered the least in terms of usefulness and general skill whilst on the boat).

With the drill over, we headed through the lock and moored back in the spot we held two nights before, and waited for dinner, which turned out to be a great tasting chicken stroganoff, cooked by the bow team.

Saturday 21 July 2012

Windless Friday




Sid returned to laundrette at 08:00 on Friday morning to resume the ordeal left uncompleted the night before. A more relaxed morning was enjoyed by all with the opportunity to replenish provisions, at a local Tesco, and take advantage of hot showers once more. Upon departure at approximately midday, after giving the boat a thorough clean, we left the marina finding as expected very little wind. Depending on who you ask this either made for a brilliant day of relaxing, or was very mundane and tedious as there was little prospect of sailing by power of the wind. We were fortunate enough to be blessed by short spells of sunshine in which Charles wasted no time jumping below deck to change into his shirt and shorts. The less brave, or more sensible, of us remained on deck in jumpers and coats more suited to the temperature. Just four hours after departure we arrived at our proposed destination and sent down the anchor. This made the preparation of the nights food much more civilised than it had previously been with the boat settled on calm waters. The prospect of preparing pastry for a treacle tart proved too daunting for the stern team who were quick to suggest alternatives. When the skipper, Ian, put forward the idea of rice krispie cakes (taking only 5 minutes to prepare) they readily approved. With this prepared a relatively blind leap was taken towards the Bacon Bake on the
night’s menu. With the guidance of Mary Berry, Chris and Lewis prepared the dish. When served one of the chefs appeared to have little confidence in his meal preparing himself a sandwich instead. With some hesitancy the crew ate. The end result appeared mostly good with a solid 9 awarded by the first mate and the captain proclaiming he wished there was more! The desert went down equally well with the impromptu addition of Angel Delight most welcome. The night was finished with several games of cards including one new to us all, suggested by Matt who “rang his mate with a PHD in maths” for clarification on the rules.

Friday 20 July 2012

From little wind a good days sailing

Thursdays blog
The day started with a brief motor out of Douglas harbour. We were prepared for a long, bleak day of little wind. However, after leaving the shoreline of the Isle Of Man the wind picked up. Promptly we unfurled the sails and set off to Whitehaven. The wind continued to blow and we held 6/7 knots for an hour or two. However, it was still a long day and with 7 hours to go, a few of the crew resorted to sleeping (in various amusing positions). We also had a broccoli throwing competition as some had started to go off. With Charles and Matt setting a decent benchmark, Kristian stepped up to the challenge. Once he had taken his position he let loose a powerful throw..............straight into the boom of the mainsail. This showered the boat in slightly mouldy broccoli. After this, morale started to drop as a rain cloud loomed overhead. The captain came to the rescue with his homemade orange and chocolate chip cookies. At Whitehaven, there is a tidal harbour with a high tech lock system, and with us arriving at 20:00, we had a long wait anchored just off shore. This made eating Sid’s curry rather challenging as there was a large swell. Some of the crew had to sit on deck to avoid chundering! At about 21:30, we pulled into our spot at the marina, most of us rushing to the showers apart from Sid who rushed to the laundrette (where he stayed until 00:30, washing and drying his clothes). By the time he returned, the rest of the crew had gone to bed and were fast asleep.

Thursday 19 July 2012

The first 3 days

Apologies for the delay in posting these blogs, but we are unable to get internet access on the Isle of Man.

Skipper Ian.

Monday 16th


We set off from Glasson early to a backdrop of bleak iron clouds. The rain didn’t help; soon we were soaked and cold. The seas were rough and unforgiving. Matt (the first mate) was the first victim and many a stomach soon followed. There was also very little wind which led to tedious sailing. The monotony and the long 60-mile journey to Douglas made a soporific combination so we slept a lot, even in the rain.

However all was not doom and gloom. Dinner comprised of a delicious pasta bolognaise, and a simple but tasty Angel Delight, which pushed Lewis’ culinary skills to the limit. At this point we had moored at the pontoon in Douglas and, after a bathroom trip into the town (costing 20p each!), we settled in for the night.

Tuesday 17th

Having awoken at a more savoury hour, we forayed into Douglas again in search of gas, oranges and chocolate. After restocking the pantry, we set sail for a shorter trip north to Ramsey. Unfortunately we had to motor for the first hour as the wind had died down. But afterwards the breeze picked up and we could get the sails out, with a top wind speed of 32 knots.

As we approached Ramsey the dinner team went down to prepare tonight’s meal: Lapskaus and Apple Strudel. Lapskaus is a Norwegian stew made from meat, onions and carrots. It was fantastic! We may have miscalculated the amount need though. Even after Kris had eaten 5 helpings we still had a LOT leftover and half an apple strudel went in the fridge.

We anchored at Ramsey for the night, and a very full crew went to bed.

Wednesday 18th

We didn’t have a destination in mind for today. Instead we concentrated on sailing and doing some more technical work. The wind was much better, and we also had the tide behind us so we had some excellent sailing. We got up to 8 knots boat speed which was pushed up to over 10 knots speed over ground by the tide! However we quickly realised the tide that was helping us sail north wouldn’t be helpful when we turned around to sail into the tide. True enough, our speed over ground was reduced dramatically, but the sailing was still a lot of fun. We managed to get in several tacks and by the end we were fairly confident to tack and trim the sails by ourselves.

At this point the weather forecast turned unusual and an unexpected north-easterly wind was forecast, so we had to moor at Douglas again to avoid a rough night. As we approached Douglas the swell of the sea also became unpredictable and it made steering the boat quite challenging.

Eventually we docked at the harbour and went below for dinner. Tonight was cottage pie and bread and butter pudding which was great. ‘Best so far’, said Matt (first mate). Stuffed once again, we hit the sack.

Friday 29 June 2012

A pleasant last days sail

Today we had a well earned lie in after some hard sailing the day before. We woke up at 10 o’clock to a leisurely breakfast. We got busy baking, making an apple crumble for lunch desserts.


We then set sail for our home port of Glasson. We sailed almost immediately we departed and only dropped the sails at the NO.14 buoy in the Lune River. After motoring into the marina we were finally back where we started.

We then had a relaxing evening with dinner, showers and the regulatory game cards. To-morrow morning we have the cleaning to look forward to and then the bus back to Bolton.

Wednesday 27 June 2012





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

Published....at last

MONDAY BLOG-STARTING OFF.


We started off by having a nice lie in on monday morning, we got kitted up after breakfast and went up onto the deck and simon and kayleigh taught us all how to tie knots so that we could be able to sail the boat. We were then ready to go out into the wide open! We had to go through the lock gates, which was a fun experience; we went straight to piel island but by motor. In the evening when we were anchored in the bay we got the dingy out and travelled to the island to see the castle and also go for a toliet trip!

BY RACHEL 

TUESDAY BLOG BY LIV AND LILY

We started the day by waking up at 6 . We sailed to the isle of man, it took 10hours, but we slept the majority of the way. After we were docked we went to costa and bought sweets from the co-op, with everyone staring at us because we had our red oil skins on. Then afterwards we went to the public toilets to brush our teeth!

LILY AND LIV B;) X

WEDNESDAY BLOG BY TOMINA AND OLIVIA

Wake up call was at 7 for a quarter to 8 start. Theres only one way to describe the weather, grim. It was cold wet and the sea was extremely choppy. The main events of the day were sleeping on deck and steering as everyone felt sea sick the weather improved as the day went on so it wasnt all rain. The toilet proved to be the days entertainment as taking off oil skins whilst in a confined space and keeping balance all proved to be difficult tasks. We arrived in fleetwood port and to everyones delight discovered the showersss! So now we’re all fed and watered feeling slightly cleaner than we did yesterday, and just about to set off to Asda for a tub of Ben and jerry’s for desert. Missing fam, love to all, see you Friday, liv p and tomina

P.s; rita, please pick me up from the layby on friday, im not walking home with all my kit. X

P.s. Clare, don’t worry it was me who called you, being the genius i am did not know how to work the pay phone ! Hehe see you soon, bezzie x

Monday 25 June 2012

Busy old Monday

The girls have had such a busy day that they have not got around to writing Mondays blog. It will be published as soon as it is written. We are heading for Douglas on the Isle of Man tomorrow and we can not get internet connection there so it will be Wednesday at the earliest before we post anything. All the girls seem to be smiling and having a good time. Ian.

Friday 22 June 2012

Thursday Blog-The Last Night

Today‘s start was eventful as it was forecasted to rain but we are sure the morning showers and fresh pancakes (made by Ian and Heather) helped bring the mood up. Lucie, Fi and Elena got the boat ready to go to the Loch, then out to sea. We worked well as a team and did everything by ourselves. We said it would rain and it did, it rained...... and rained...... and rained, until the Titanic moment struck. Everyone was clinging on for life on deck whilst Heather and Amber were rolling around bellow deck making Tiffin, with the help of tuther Ian. The toilet trips were interesting as the boat was tipped far to the right. That was the moment we realised Lucie hadn’t been to the toilet for 21 hours! To Lucie’s delight Aaisha beat Ian at finger flick football, but we don’t think Ian was very happy. Lucie now wasn’t the only looser on the boat. After that we had a lovely sing song to High School Musical, with air grabs from Lucie, Fi and Ian. Lucie was still being bullied because of her love for stationary and One Direction. We then played vegetable, mineral and animal. After we got sick of the game we went round the group saying 3 words each to make up a story. This was showing us what people were really thinking about :/. When we finally got used to the roughness of the sea we were told by Ian that we had to have a quick change of route. This brought a good side and a bad side to the journey ahead. The bad side was that we are going to have exhausting late night sailing, the good side was that we would have a little lie in tomorrow. Heather, Elena, Amber and Charlotte went below deck to play UNO, which left the top deck very peaceful. Elena was angry when she found out that the other 3 had been cheating. When the groups swopped around Lucie, Fi, Aaisha and Vasudha played MASH the results weren’t as everyone hoped. Then they had a feast of sweets with Lucie ending up with a blue tongue. We then decided to do some of Fi’s new best friend, the puzzle book. Every so often the smoke alarm would go off because the carrots and potatoes would boil over. Amber, Heather, Charlotte and Aaisha enjoyed anchoring us for tea. As we are having our last night on the boat we shall say...... TENACITY OF BOLTON OUT!!!!! By Fiona Hazlitt and Lucie Hardman P.S. Thank you to Ian, tuther Ian and Cath for a great trip and the amazing experience we had! <3

Wednesday 20 June 2012




Wednesdays Blog

Today it has been the first day we all have had a shower since being on the boat. We (Heather and Elena) were supposed to have ½ an hour at the showers; however we went slightly over, to an hour. Luckily, we thought of a very realistic excuse, that we had been abducted by geese and robbed by seagulls.


Then we all tacked north towards Workington and to pass the time Amber and I (Heather) gave Elena a lecture about the importance of bum’s because she was complaining about the ones around her. She has now overcome her phobia of them and now knows if she didn’t have one she would die in several different ways.

For lunch it was our turn to make sausage butty’s. Which went down very well. Once we got to Whitehaven it was time to clean the boat;

Lucie- Hovered

Amber- Polished and hovered

Aaisha and Vasudha- Cleaned the galley

Elena, Heather and Fi- Washed the decks

And Charlotte had the best job of all, cleaning the bog :D......>.< However, some people found that the decks were cleaner before we started cleaning (including us).

As a treat for our hard work we all got to go toooooo..................................TESCO!!!!!!!!!!!!!XD. We got to spend a whole £3 each :o. However, again we stretched the limits and spend an extra 9p :O! We all went to the bargain prices and only found out once we bought them that we saved only 8p -.-

On the way back, we went to the loo, where Elena got her new nickname ‘ Ploppy’ ............ enough said. After that we went to the beach in our wellies and 5/14 filled up with water (including ours).

After a long day we decided to have a calm game of gambling (with the washers), which soon turned into a heated battle to win the price..................................of satisfaction :D YEHHHH!!!! Well done Charlotte!

For tea we had Spaghetti Bolognese and fruit crumble. Which was FAB! However it would have tasted better with margarine AND unsalted butter! Amber ;-).

Well that’s all folks, and as they would say on the walkie talkies, TENACITY OUT!!!!! (For now :-P)



By Heather King and Elena Payne.

P.S. Hi Mum! xxxx




Tuesday 19 June 2012

Great day but no wind

Monday morning was a beautiful day. It was a perfect day for sailing, as the sun was shining. After a few showers, Ian showed us our journey for the next few days on a big map. We all got into our salopettes and lifejackets and prepared the boat so we could sail to the Isle of Man. We set off at high water and after an hour and a half, we were on the sea. After eating some yummy sandwiches, we had a chance to steer the boat. Elena and Heather began to make jacket potatoes for lunch and after eating them, they decided to bake some cookies. We had to drink a lot through the day and at around this time some people were bursting for the loo. It was time to come over the hurdle of using a boat toilet. While we were getting to grips with this, Heather had an incident in the kitchen- she dropped a batch of cookies on the floor!!However, after cleaning up, we ate some very good chocolate chips and orange cookies, yum yum! By now, we understood that sailing included a lot of sitting and waiting. The wind speed rose, so we put up a sail had a little snooze followed by some funny jokes and impressions. All in all it was a great day and when we finally reached the Isle of Man after nearly 10 hours of sailing, we were shattered. We had a really nice curry made by Ian, watched a massive ferry coming into the dock and went to bed thinking about our next day of sailing...






TUESDAY WE SAILED!



To start off the day we decided to give everyone nicknames; Vasudha-plaity. Aaisha-clumsy. Heather-bracey. Elena-chatty. Fiona- sleepy. Lucie-Happy. And us, Amber-wimpy. Charlotte-Burny (she burnt the first day after putting 3 lots of suncream on.) We got up extremely early.... Oh My God. At this point we were still at the dock on the Isle of Man. The 4 of us in our room (Amber, Charlotte, Fi, Lucie) weren’t making breakfast this morning, so we had a trip with Ian and Cath, we looked like a dysfunctional family, and yes... people were looking at us. Ian and Cath wouldn’t let us get a pet, although we all know we had the best points in the debate. We decided not to go in Top shop, as we were a crime against fashion in our wellies and scruffs. When we got back to the boat we left the Isle of Man longing for a boat pet and a Top shop outfit. Once out of the harbour we travelled using just the sails, which saved money even though we were going at the same speed as when we were using the engine. Today the weather has been even nicer than yesterday so, of course, we all sunbathed, even Burny who was obviously wearing her second lot of sun cream. After around an hour on the sea it became choppy. Wimpy, after screaming and grabbing onto everything around her, found out the best way to keep on board was splatting onto the floor in a starfish shape (see pictures.) Later, after 3 hours of sailing we stopped for a boat picnic near Ramsey; we had sandwiches, crisps, apples and juice. After dinner we went fishing... but it turns out fish don’t like leftover sweet corn. Finally we set off again and once again, sleepy dozed off and surprisingly chatty actually stopped talking and fell asleep! Plaity and Clumsy were downstairs making our tea, that just left Wimpy, Burny and Bracey seen as Happy seemed in her ‘happy land.’ We decided, as we were the best singers on the boat.... obviously. We decided to have a sing along. Which included old McCharlotte had a farm, instead of animals we used people on the boat. It was hilarious! Along with some other awesome sing songs and of course Ian’s ‘brilliant’ jokes. Sleepy and chatty finally awoke so we had to repeat all the songs again, although Ian complained, we all knew he secretly loved our singing. Just saying, Ian’s hat was awesome.

Monday 18 June 2012

Monday morning and we have 8 happy girls, breakfasted, showered and ready to go to sea.

We are heading for Douglas on the Isle of Man to-day and potentially Ramsey to-morrow. We are unable to post blogs from the Island so it may well be Wednesday before we are able to put the girls writings up for you to read. You should be able to follow our progress by clicking on "current location" on the top left hand corner of this page.

Ian.

Thursday 14 June 2012

Early, early start

It still remained a mystery whether we would get woken up at half 7 or 4 o’clock in the morning the night before, anchored at Piel Island due to unreliable wind. We soon found out when kath’s feet were in our faces at 4 o’clock in the morning whilst she wiggled the anchor in. It was extremely noisy. Charlie and Alex stayed up to help sail the boat while everyone else stayed in bed and went back to sleep. As the rest of the bow group (Abbie, Natasha and Lucy) went to sleep, we were soon woken up as the sea was very rough. The awkward moment when it’s rocky at sea and you’re on the loo :L Sometimes it felt like you were about to fall out of your bed. Charlie managed this even when there were no waves. She accidently dived head first off the top bunk where she was sleeping ending up face planting the floor and lockers on the other side. Abbie was pooing her pants thinking Charlie had died because she didn’t move for like 6 seconds, whilst Lucy and Natasha were wetting themselves with laughter with Charlie. Charlie spent the rest of the day complaining about her boobies ;0.


The next time everyone appeared, it was 8 o’clock an hour after we were told to get ready. ;/ we sailed into Glasson dock and waited for the lock gate to open. When we attempted to sail to the next lock gate, we soon found out that the depth had dropped since we last made port in Glasson dock so we got stuck more than once in fact. When Ian finally found a clear path we sailed our way into the lock gates, waited for them to flood and made port in our usual spot. For breakfast we had a full Monty- bacon beans and scrambled eggs as well as lots of toast. They told us the plan for the day was that we would split into two groups. One would go for a walk, the other would drive the dingy. Grace and Liv were split up much to their disappointment ;) unsurprisingly they still managed to communicate over the marina when we were opposite finishing our long walk. We had lots of fruit and sausage butties for lunch. We found out that when grace and Lauren were driving the dingy, the father of a swan family had attacked them ;D afterwards Liv and grace were re-united and practiced their dance routines and sang on the deck whilst calling each other Tarj and Sanjay. Lol awks!

Later at night, Matt packed his bags and left as Patterdale hall was short staffed  he seemed pretty glad to be honest! (Not surprising...). So sad because it’s the last night we are sleeping on Tenacity and the last full day on tenacity :’( we all made lots of new friends and had loads of fun, maybe toooooo much fun ;) mwuahahah. By Abbie Gregson and Natasha Bagnall.  <3




Wednesday 13 June 2012

A cold sail

After a so called early night’s sleep in Whitehaven, we woke up and prepared the knots and fenders for switching moorings and replenishing our rather depleted water supply. We headed out into the sea, not really sure of where we were going to go until a weather forecast was confirmed, so yeah that was interesting. After passing our pet rock, the frog, opened out the sails and carried on going south, down the Cumbrian coast. Travelling further southwards we were allowed to steer the boat our selves- without crashing- as we were taught how to use the compass and what the rudder degrees box was used for. It was absolutely freezing- literally. So most people went inside we were probably the only ones who stayed out for the whole journey- oh yeah, we still have all our fingers and toes. As we were sailing peacefully, along came these absolutely humongous boats that sent enormous waves crashing towards us making the boat rock like crazy! Meanwhile, below deck Grace and Liv were busy making orange and chocolate cookies- so they went everywhere when the boat rocked... yeah. Also they pulled a prank on Matt by substituting the baking powder with chilli powder so his head very nearly exploded because it was jam-packed! We decided to anchor at Piel Island, where huge boats keep passing us- so trying to sleep is going to be fun... Finally we had Spaghetti Bolognese for tea!


So yeah seeya Alex and Lauren ^_^

Tuesday 12 June 2012

It was an early start this morning, up at 6am and leaving the harbour by 7am. It was a 9hour journey from Fleetwood to Whitehaven, so we got here at 3:40pm. The journey was long but fun including lots of singing, I sailed from 7:30 till 9:15 and Lucy from 1:50 till 2:10. Due to a late night on Sunday we were quite tired so Liv and Grace had a 2hour sleep and I fell asleep on someone for an hour :/ Awkward. The hand shapes from our head torches and the boats parts that looked strangely like camels were one of the many reasons for our late nights...don’t ask.


Once everyone had woken up we had our lunch and carried on sailing toward Whitehaven. We finally got here and we (‘the bow group’) had a shower and got attacked by a goose, whilst the others (‘the stern group’) made dinner. We had our food and have sat down to write the blog.

Tomorrow won’t be quite as early (7am) and we will be heading back to Piel Island. Hope everyone is okay and we miss you lots <3xoxox

Goodnight and we’ll see you soon,

By Charlotte.S and Lucy.M




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



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

Monday 11 June 2012

First day frolics

When everybody gathered on the boat on Sunday afternoon, we decided we would stay at Glasson Dock for the night and make our way to Fleetwood on Monday afternoon. Monday morning came and everybody was ready to learn about how to tie different types of knots and how to set the sails up. We put tying knots into practise when we got the boat ready to leave Glasson Dock and head through the lock before heading out the Lune Channel and out into Morecambe Bay.


We didn’t use the sails today because we had to arrive in Fleetwood by 7pm, but we are very excited about using them tomorrow. We let Ian and Matt helm the boat as we enjoyed the view and had a great laugh. We soon arrived in Fleetwood where we docked the boat and used all of our knots knowledge again. Whilst the other team prepared dinner our group went with Matt to the toilets and made up a rather special dance which we did down the bridge #YOLO. So far we have really enjoyed what we have been learning over today and hope to use our knowledge in more sailing, and hope to get the best experience out of this week! Missing both of our mums and dads loads love you!

Olivia Gould and Grace Ball ;-)<3

Thursday 24 May 2012