Battle ships and no wind..

Wake up call was at 7am, this was a shock to everyone system as the night’s sleep wasn’t the best. Mollie and Lottie, even though they spooned all night long, still managed to freeze their bottoms off. Max very kindly began to make a lovely breakfast of porridge and a round of fruit (bananas being the favourite) were handed to everyone. Faces were very miserable as we ploughed our way through breakfast. Ian asked us to rate our sleep out of 10, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. Many 2’s and 3’s were shouted across the table. After breakfast was cleared away, we all got changed into our warm clothes, Annie and Lottie having over 3 layers on. We all then made our way on to the top deck.




After the very early start, we brought the anchor back up around 9 o’clock and were then off again on another days adventure. Half an hour into the journey Mollie and Lottie were wondering what time it was, thinking maybe 11ish and were very disappointed to find out it was in fact 9.30am. It was a very chilly start and we were all huddling together trying to keep warm. Rehana decided to go down and put the kettle on and brought up the first (of many) rounds of warm juice and brews up to the top deck, this brought smiles to everyone’s faces. When Annie was given the job of steering, Mollie and Lottie decided to do a bit of revision and the BIG folders were brought to the deck and they began to chant RS unit 1 key terms. The sun was blazing and the sun cream was being applied. During this time, Rehana was again, very busy downstairs in the kitchen beginning the lunch. On the Menu today was Jacket Potatoes with a choice of tuna mayo with sweet corn, beans or cheese. Due to such an early start, stomachs were rumbling around 10.30 and so snacks were being tucked into including Mollies Thai Style mug shots which turned out to be loved by many. We dropped the anchor for lunch at Loch Ranza at 1pm, the scenery was very beautiful.



Half an hour later everyone looked like they hadn’t been fed before as all plates looked like they had been licked clean. (Annie was very happy as this meant less cleaning). Max pointed out the seals that were lurking around surrounding rocks however, many were in fact shiny rocks that were apparently moving. We lifted the anchor at 2pm and left Loch Ranza.



Mollie and Annie were very excited at this point as Max was going to show them how to make Soda bread. Annie really did get ‘stuck in’ and had dough mixture all over everywhere (including her hair which turned out to be a nightmare to remove). This took no more than 5 minutes to prepare and half an hour later was ready to be eaten. Annie found apricot and blackcurrant jam which went down well with butter melted together on top of the bread. Unfortunately we forgot Maddi didn’t have a taste of the bread and so Mollie very kindly gave her, her bread. This turned out to be very messy as there was still washing up to be done from lunch and now more from the bread. The kitchen at this point was very chaotic with pans everywhere. Meanwhile, everyone else was up on deck sunbathing and helping out with the sails. The wind by this point had picked up a little and so Max decided to put the sails up and turn the engine off.



Around 5 o’clock all the kitchen was cleaned and tidied away. Mollie and Annie then swapped with Rehana and Maddi who then went below to begin dinner preparations. On the menu for tonight was Pork with rice and stir fry which went down extremely well and seconds were eaten by everyone. Lottie took over the wheel and steered us into our stop for tonight which is Caradale Bay. Everyone was very excited as Ian told us that the plans for tonight are too get the dingy down and go across to the beach. Mollie, Lottie and Rehana helped to bring the dingy down to prepare for tonight. Ian gave them a us a quick run around tenacity to get the engine warm. We all took it in turns to steer which was fun. Mollie and Rehana were professionals. However, when it came to Lotties turn, unfortunately it did not come naturally to her as Ian asked her to to point at Tenacity (meaning point the steering Tiller at the boat). When we realised we were turning around, we realised Lottie was pointing her finger at the boat rather than the Tiller. When we got back on Tenacity, dinner was ready and waiting on the table. I have to admit it did smell delicious.



Right now it sounds like there is a lot happening in the kitchen, as people are screaming and laughing. Lottie and Rehana have just gone through the process of cleaning the ‘heads’ which are known as the toilets to us with Max. The rota has been wrote for the week for who is going to clean the toilets and make all the meals so hopefully no quibbling is going to happen.



We now look forward to a lovely night on the beach and a busy day ahead of us tomorrow.





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