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)