We sailed today

We finally got out on the water to sail. Breakfast resulted in a piece of extremely burnt toast that was relished by a hungry swan and some moorhens. After eating some lunch we decided to begin a cordial-based drinking game which ironically resulted in a spillage. We set sail after doing some map work and learning how to operate the sails. The weather improved from the previous day. We enjoyed the delightful view whilst waiting in the lock. It was a pleasant sailing experience... until we started sailing. To begin with we had a sing-song-session in the bow of the boat to distract us from the bumpy ride, everyone got wet or splashed. After a few hours on the boat, a few of us started to feel rather under the weather; this featured the infamous sick bucket. Vicky (aka Captain John), Than (aka Captain Greg), Suzie (aka Captain Rolf), Ailish (aka Captain Randall) and Hannah (aka Captain Keifffph) had a go at steering the boat which proved to be a difficult task. Shout out to Suzie who made a ‘meeeaaaann’ curry, even Hannah downed it. We anchored at Peel Island and we plan to sail tomorrow morning to Whitehaven to do the much anticipated shopping trip to Tesco.

And a good night from us.

Very windy Friday

We awoke with a fright, it was apparent Vicky had transformed into the Michelin Man; her face rather puffy from what we presumed to be an allergic reaction. After showers and the application of our faces to make us look presentable, we attempted to scramble eggs. They were good considering it was Hannah and Ailish’s first time. Then we put on our oilskins (we’ve learnt the lingo!) and went up on the deck. We spent the next few hours learning the ropes and meeting the buoys (who prefer to be called Fenders!). We learned a number of knots including: Figure of eight, Clove hitch, round turn and two halve hitches and bow line. After a gourmet lunch of sandwiches and crisps, we cast off on our adventure...........around the marina; we couldn’t even reach the fuel pump due to torrential rain and whipping winds. So Ian the skipper decided to postpone our journey and therefore we cracked open the hobnobs and picked up the penguins while Suzie and Ananya made us a ‘mean’ cup of tea, hot chocolate and coffee. During our tea break we played an assortment of card games including cheat and whist. Ananya and Vicky couldn’t cheat for their lives.


Without realising it was already tea time. Ananya and Than took charge of the cooking and although ingredients were limited, they managed to scrape up and put together a delicious feast. Thanks to Ian’s last minute tomato sauce the meal was completed...... a taste sensation. Then Vicky almost ruined the chocolate for our fruit fondue, thankfully it was rectified. We finished our meal with a chocolate fondue which Suzie referred to as a ‘bad boy’.


We ended the day with a walk where we watched the sun set over the estuary. After our shower’s we were all tired and so quickly fell asleep.

A note for the parents.

Just to let you know that the wind was gusting to 32 knots in the marina and blowing a steady force 6 this afternoon. As it would have been right on our nose I made the decision in the interests of safety to remain in port. We will try to escape to-morrow on the afternoon tide and hopefully get some good sailing.

Ian.

Our arrival at Glasson Dock

After a short and exciting coach journey yesterday, we arrived at Glasson Dock to board and meet our instructors. We explored the surrounding docks and boarded Tenacity. Firstly we got to know our instructors and then we bagged our beds. Unfortunately due to us arriving late we were told that we couldn’t leave the dock for another day because of tide times. This gave us time to try on our oilskins and lifejackets, and plan our meals for the second half of the trip. We have learnt lots of new skills already, including Ailish and Than’s first time making hot drinks (the hot chocolate was rather lumpy!). We decided to play a card game which was very beneficial because it helped us team build. We finished the day with a nice meal of bangers and mash and chocolate gateau for pudding.

Map of Silver D of E voyage, 27 June - 3 July 2013

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

Ahoy there,

Today we had a luxurious morning; this was because of our great lie-in of 9:00am! Ha Ha! We had a relaxed breakfast on deck having lots of toast and cereal! Then we climbed into our huge oil-skins (waterproof clothing) so we could hop into the dingy and go over to Piel Island, which everyone’s been looking forward to. Once we’d managed to get off the slippery jetty (safe and sound) we headed over to the castle (or what was left of it) then sat down on grass to eat our bacon butties that Hermione, Amie, Amy and Ciara made, thanks guys. After we had an enjoyable game of hide and seek, then we were walking back and found two pigs that everyone found cute and a white pony that scared Amie quite a lot! We all headed back to our dingy to go back to our much loved Tenacity. Came back to a pile of washing up when Cerys picked Krystl,s nose which Cerys claims was an accident, no only joking, it was just a punch! Funny times. Maisie and Zoe pulled in the anchor which was a struggle, and finally we could set off for our long journey to Glasson Dock. We entertained ourselves by silly American, Irish and Scottish accents, which were all very impressive (especially Cerys’ manly Scottish accent) as well as baking an amazing chocolate cornflake cake made by all of us (team work!) also telling each other confusing riddles and Amy managing to explode milk into her face. Then Maisie, Zoe and Cerys made a fantastic tea of fish and chips!!!!!

Looking forward to seeing you and hopefully you’ll have open arms to your hyper children and all of their dirty washing!!!!!!!! Ha Ha!

See ya tomorrow! 

Maisie, Zoe and co (following tradition)!

The voyage to Piel Island

This morning we got up at 7:30 which was easier than yesterday (6:00AM). We had a quick breakfast where we just put all the cereals on the table on deck and chose which of them we wanted whilst Krystl made toast.


We then reversed out of the dock which Ian said usually doesn’t go very well as the boat doesn’t steer very well backwards so it doesn’t like going the way that you want it to.

We sailed all day from then but as we were in the middle of the sea there wasn’t much to see and no one was in the mood as it was very rough, everyone was tired and feeling quite sea sick. Steve made us some sausage sandwich’s to try and perk us up. We happily ate them and then a few people went to sleep on deck.

After we had all caught up on some sleep and were feeling better Maisie and Zoe made lunch which was jacket potatoes. This made everyone feel better and we all cheered each other up throughout the afternoon by asking each other riddles, singing and telling rubbish jokes.

As we arrived at Piel Island we saw lots of seals. Then we tried to put the anchor down and had a few difficulties but in the end we managed. After the anchor was down we could all relax. Then Ciara, Amie, Amy and I made tea which was curry and rice.

We now have time to chill out for the evening before going to bed for the night and having a long sleep as we have a lie in tomorrow.

Hermione, Ciara, Amie&Co.

A few photos from earlier in the week.

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

Tuesday long sail

The next day we had quite an early start of 6 o clock. We were in Glasson basin so had to get out of that. We set off through a channel to reach the sea. We helped with all the ropes as we had been taught the previous day and got ourselves through the gate. We used the engine at first to give us a boost to get out and also to make sure we got to our next destination on time. We were all taught in twos how to get the sails out and how to adjust them throughout the day. We were taught a trick to help us with the sails. It was to adjust the sails in a special way making sure they are not flapping to keep the boat going in the direction wanted and only having to touch the steering wheel about ten minutes at a time. Once we were in calm sea we all had a go at steering and learnt some of the things to keep an eye out for while steering like bearings ect. We had a snack and whilst the boat was going smoothly we all sat and sang one repeat after me songs. It was really hot and all had a sunbathe whilst we were singing and all got a nice tan. Some of us burnt a little bit which need to watch over the week. The boat was still going nice and calmly so Ciara and Amie went to start the chocolate Tiffin and other girls came and helped during the course of this. For lunch we had a range of soup, bacon butties and biccies, we also love tea so had lots of this. We were really naughty today and couldn’t stop eating but a fed and watered sailor equals a happy sailor. We then came in to white haven marina and whilst Ciara, Hermione, Amie and Amy made the tea, Zoë, Cerys and Masie went to Tesco to get some more chocolate and sweets. We all chomped away at our tea and all had seconds, it was that good if we may say so ourselves. This is one way to keep our crew quiet. We then went on a walk to calm ourselves down before bed after all the food we had eaten. This however didn’t really work as we have a very loud and hyper crew. We all settled down into bed to get an earlish night for the following day hoping we would get a bit more wind!! Amie, Ciara&Co

Still waiting for the tide at Glasson Basin

After being left by our parents we made dinner which was sausages, gravy and mash. Gravy was spilt on a couple of tracksuits, but everything was fine. We then had a walk, losing the ball (which we named Wilson) on the way, and had lots of races on the roads, watching out for cars of course, and then played on the playground before leaving and having a relatively early night. We woke up early-ish, despite Amie’s alarm clock failing to start, and had breakfast which comprised of cereal, toast and bacon rolls. We were then lucky enough to go and catch a shower in the marina, which is quite a rare treat. Soon after we went up onto the deck and learnt some knots, because we weren’t able to set sail yet. The knots were called “Bowline” and “Round-turn and two half hitches” and also an “OXO” knot afterwards. We then learnt how to tie up on the mooring and how to leave the pontoon. We went around the harbour for a bit, as we were practising for when we set off. We had a quick tea break, and lunch before actually setting off for Piel Island; we didn’t even get close because as soon as we got through the lock gates we got stuck in the mud, as it was a very low high-tide. No matter how hard we tried (2 hours worth), we couldn’t manage to leave Glasson Basin so we ended up tying up for the night in the basin. We then had a delicious tea of spaghetti bolognaise, made by Zoe, Maisie and Cerys, with guidance from Krystl, which we ate on deck. We now have to get up at 6AM to catch the proper high-tide so we can hopefully get to Piel Island by lunchtime, possibly earlier. Amy, Cerys & co.

Waiting patiently for the tide at Glasson Dock

Map of Girls Year 8 voyage 16 - 21 June 2013

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

Lazy Thursday

This morning Maisie, Ruby and Molly were very lazy as they stayed in bed till 11.30, even the engine didn’t wake them up, whilst the other group were up at 10.30 docking the boat without the other girls. Luckily they woke up in time for breakfast and made it for everyone else too. Time passed very quickly and everyone got dressed. Rebecca, Millie, Jess, and Harriet started their trek to the park, whilst Maisie, Ruby, Lauren and Molly travelled to the park in a dinghy. It was a near death experience as Molly let go off the rope and it nearly got stuck in the propeller, but birthday boy John came to our rescue and plunged his hand in the water to fish it out. Soon after that Ruby crashed the dinghy into another boat and Maisie and Lauren screamed with fear. Meanwhile the other group were stood in the rain and could hear Maisie singing. When it came to Maisie’s turn to steer she drove everyone into the swamp and Ruby and Molly collected the lilly pads, whilst Lauren was squealing.




Nice cake



Johns cake was not so appetising

When we arrived at the park the group went over to play football with Wilson the football (from the film Castaway). The teams were Molly, Ruby, Becca and Jess (A) and Millie, Harriet , Maisie and Lauren(B). The score came to 7-2 to the A team. There were many accidents as the grass was wet. Millie, Jess, Harriet and Becca had their go on the dinghy, whilst the others went for an ice cream in the park. Millie was the best driver and Becca nearly capsized the boat on her birthday and she got everyone’s bum wet. It was very cold but surprisingly the water was warm enough for a swim. There were numerous games of cards. During that time Molly and Ruby were cooking some fish and chips. They attempted to write Happy Birthday in ketchup for John and Becca. It turned out looking like it should be saying Happy Halloween rather than Happy Birthday, so this was left for Maisie to deal with. Maisie and Lauren worked hard at the washing up. Meanwhile Becca was busy at cutting her cake for everyone to enjoy.



Happy Birthday Becca.



Being back at Glasson Dock is like being back at home. It has been an amazing experience for us all and we can’t wait to come back for some more fun. Thank you Ian, John and Charlotte for everything.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN AND BECCA!

By Molly and Maisie

Wednesdays voyage home

Yesterday (Wednesday) was a long day, Lauren, Millie, Becca, Jess and Harriet all got up at 7:30 to go and explore Douglas. Meanwhile Ruby, Molly and Maisie stayed in bed for a lie in. They got up at 9:00 by which time the other girls had all been showered; although we only got 4 minute showers which was very hard to do and were already exploring the town.

The first girls were on a mission to find a Costa coffee as were the second girls, so when we finally saw one at the end of the high street we were literally jumping and screaming for joy. We all feasted on milkshakes, muffins, toasties and more. After Costa both groups had a walk up and down the high street, we were all happy to get back into civilisation. The second group of girls found a telephone box and rang home which made them happy. However, the other girls did not think to go to a telephone box and instead went to a diner to get some take out chips, even though they had had a enormous Costa breakfast. To finish a lovely morning both groups went for a walk along the prom in the sun which was very hot!

Once all the girls returned to the boat we needed to get going immediately to start out 10 hour voyage. There was one problem, however... We had missed the first bridge opening as our boat was hard to manoeuvre! Luckily the harbour patrol towed us off into a better position so we could get through the bridge. After we’d put up all of the sails and prepared the boat for the journey we could relax in the sun, group one were lying down at the front of the boat enjoying the calm sea.

After yesterday nobody was particularly looking forward to the ten hour journey ahead of us but the sea was a lot calmer and the weather was warmer which made the trip much more enjoyable for everyone. We even managed to get through our journey without Ruby or Jess being sick! As we were able to go down below lots of different games were played and lots of magazines were read. We took shifts in driving the boat and keeping a lookout but thus helped to pass the time.

Then, we received the bad news that we would have to sail for an extra three hours all the way back to Glasson Dock as the weather forecast had deteriorated and being at Piel Island would make it difficult to sail back the next day. This new update would mean we were going to be sailing until the early hours of the morning! The next few hours passed slowly but we persevered until we could see the English horizon. Jess decided she loved steering and carried on her shift for most of the night. Lauren and Maisie kept lookout while everybody kept themselves warm below.

We had to anchor 3 miles off the port of Glasson because the tide had not come in yet. However the hour passed quickly as we sang happy birthday to Rebecca and John who both turned another year older at midnight.

Finally we got back on deck and all helped Ian sail the final few miles into Glasson Dock, we were all relieved when we entered the first lock and fell asleep as soon as we got in bed. At this point it was about 3am and we had been sailing for 14 hours which felt like an eternity. Plus, majority of us had got up early too. Even though we had worked hard it had been a fun day filled with new experiences, we were all proud of ourselves as we had sailed across the Irish Sea and back in two days!

We are looking forward to going out on the dinghy today.

By Lauren and Ruby

Big sail to Douglas

We woke up at 6.00am, to find that we had to put up all the sails up by 6.30am, ready to set off on a 10 hour voyage to the Isle of Man. Travelling on waves which were very uneven tipping the boat on right angles to the sea, leaving us hanging on for dear life! This turned out to be very challenging for some especially for some who were sick, in total of 9 times.


Whilst everyone was sleepy our 2nd mate, came up with a fun idea of a sing song of well known pirate songs including Millie, Rebecca and Lauren. We later stopped singing our songs as they were becoming boring and annoying for others.

A flock of greedy seagulls came to the boat in search of food but luckily for us, Molly saved the day by warding them away by swinging at them with a lifesaver belt. She later fell asleep on guard duty.

Rebecca managed to steady the boat whilst everyone went to the toilet. Everyone had a chance to sail the boat even though it felt like we were going in circles passing the never ending wind farms. The scenery didn’t change until 2 miles out from the Isle of Man as of the poor visibility due to the fog and low clouds.

Arriving in the marina of Douglas 10 hours later, we were all overjoyed with the views of shops, showers and stable land. We jumped at the opportunity of reaching dry land by running up the vertical ladders.

We are all looking forward to a nice long lie in.

Windless first day

The past 24hours has been a very memorable, hectic and a funny experience. We woke up at 7.00am in the morning, which I can say was not easy for some. We set of to leave the docks at 11.00am, it took an hour to get out of the lock as we had to wait for the water levels to even out. We all took turns to steer the boat separately. This was a scary yet exciting and new experience for some.

Whilst making tea and hot chocolate for us all at night, Maisie Ruby and Molly managed to flood the kitchen they later realised that they had left the tap on since lunchtime. Jess and Harriet were given the job of pumping out the water from the kitchen.

On Monday morning everyone found out that this was there last shower till Thursday, we realised that we would have to put up with the smell of 11 people all in the same boat

At 3o`clock we learnt about the sails as we had been using the engine power to travel. It had been fairly windy until we put up the sails. Putting up the sails took half an hour and straight away we had to put them back down again.

Group A- Millie, Harriet, Jess, Becca and Lauren had the task of making Monday nights breakfast and tea. For tea we made a traditional dish of sausage and mash followed by chocolate chip pancakes. It took us 4hours to make tea and wash up realising we still had to make pancakes. The pancakes turned out burnt but this wasn’t a problem as we topped them with everything but the kitchen sink.

We have ended up anchoring in Fleetwood as there was a prediction of too much wind(20mph) in Piel Island.

We are all looking forward to the rest of the week ahead of us and learning to sail the boat properly.

By Millie, Harriet, Jess

Map of Girls voyage 9 - 14 June 2013

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