Over the summer, 8 OCdts (many of who’m were complete novices) set sail from Gosport to Cherbourg (France) and the Channel Islands. Over the the week the crew explored the remote Islands learning about the geography and history of each destination. The OCdts developed basic sailing skills, practicing drills such as gybing, tacking and man-overboard scenarios. All thoroughly enjoyed developing unique skills alongside their personal resilience, teamwork and leadership style, supplementing their usual university experience.
Exercise Diary – OCdt Collins
Sunday
The crew arrived in Portsmouth via combi van on Sunday afternoon with just enough time to squeeze in the big grocery shop for the trip, giving the crew a sneak peek to some of the culinary delights we had in store.
We met our skipper, Major Kennon – Jonty for the week, in Haslar marina, on our home for the week, a gunner corps boat by the name of Saint Barbara IV, a homely Rustler 42. After settling bunk rights and a complete safety brief, we got to cooking. A small delegation was sent to bring some drinks back which we heartily enjoyed over our first meal as a crew.
Monday
Monday morning brought with it some lessons for the less experienced crew on board to get to terms with winch drills and making off on cleats, with the more experienced crew pitching in to teach knot tying skills.
With lessons for the morning wrapped up, we slipped lines and motored round the corner to JSASTC where we were able to get hands on some of the safety kit and were able to see some deployed liferafts and lifejackets. Having picked up an outboard (that never came to life!) we set off for Alum Bay.
Turning right out of Portsmouth we hoisted sails, cruised past Cowes and arrived in Alum Bay where, despite some heavy winds further out, we enjoyed a calm night’s sleep with an hour on anchor watch each.
Tuesday
The anchor was lifted at 0730 by OCdt Lee’s watch and sails were hoisted as we exited the needles and headed South for Cherbourg. Working in watches 3 hours on 3 hours off and many cups of coffee to keep us fueled, the journey to Cherbourg flew by. We arrived in time for dinner followed by some crew digestifs in the marina bar. We explored town and ended the night with some rivalry between watches around the pool table!
Wednesday
At 0830 on Wednesday a delegation (still a touch bleary eyed from the day before) was deployed to locate the Boulangerie and invest in some crew pastries. With the pastries consumed and morale high, the crew took a stroll over to the maritime museum in Cherbourg where we visited the first French nuclear submarine – Le Redoutable. Frozen in time, the submarine let the crew to step into the boots of French submariners and they thoroughly enjoying spinning as many dials and flicking as many switches as possible.
After a quick trip to the Carrefour, we met the Skipper and Mate back at the boat to depart for Guernsey.
With good winds out of Cherbourg sweeping us down to Guernsey, purple took their leave after 3 hours, leaving the boat in the capable hands of red watch. Alas, they awoke to the boat heading back North to Alderney as we had narrowly missed the tidal race down to Guernsey. The call was made that an earlier night, with a chance to explore Alderney the following morning would be a better decision.
We dropped anchor in Alderney after some pretty tight pilotage through the rocky inshore waters and caught the water taxi into town for an evening stroll. Having explored the town and discovered from some locals our visit coincided with Alderney Week, we hoped on to the water taxi back to the boat, in time for refreshing swim and some well-earned rest.
Thursday
After a peaceful night at anchor in Guernsey, 3 of our crew opted for a swim ashore followed by a run around the island, whilst the rest of us enjoyed a morning ride in on the taxi and a gentle stroll around town. The runners keenness was treated to a downpour halfway through!
We departed Alderney and turning South again, hoisting sails in time to make the tidal race down to Guernsey. The waterway between Guernsey and Herm provided some excellent tacking practice for the crew, making sure we missed the many rocks! We entered the picturesque Beaucette Marina, who’s imposing cliffs and narrow passage, challenging under any circumstances (made especially so by the winds blowing across the mouth of the entrance) meant a collective sigh of relief when we made it through scratch free! Once inside we were greeted by a quiet, sheltered marina where we enjoyed our meals and had a quiet pint at the marina bar before heading to bed.
Friday
We woke up to a peaceful Friday morning, slipped lines, and motored around to the other side of Herm Island where we anchored off Shell Beach and enjoyed a punchy swim ashore with a considerable tide sweeping us back out. Ice creams were enjoyed, wrestling matches were started in the sand, and we embarked on a more relaxing swim on the way back, starting a few hundred meters uptide of where the boat was anchored.
We enjoyed the short and sunny motor down into St Peters Port, with one last shop run to stock up on food for the night to come. After dinner, the Sea Shanty hymn books were brought out as the crew erupted into song. After some time, we progressed to actual hymns for a run through of Jerusalem before heading out and exploring the town.
Saturday
An tired crew woke up the next morning to refill on water and head north for Gosport as a week of sailing had started to have an effect. After a few watch changes and naps however, the whole crew was back in fighting form. By the time we reached the needles, the sun was beating down and morale had been restored, with the long quiet miles to Cherbourg made shorter by stories shared and jokes cracked.
As we approached the Needles darkness had fallen and a heavy fog had rolled in with it. Visibility was extremely poor and the crew were left navigating light to light over the lateral marker in the channel as the eerie fog signal of the needles lighthouse rang out behind them.
Dinner was cooked and eaten as we headed east through the Solent dodging ferries and cargo ships we could hardly see through the mist. We dropped the main for the final time outside of Portsmouth and drifted once more to sleep.
Sunday
With bags packed and the deck swept we refueled the boat, offloaded kit and waved goodbye to Saint Barbara. The crew parted ways once back in London, looking forward to the next sailing adventure!
Novice Reflective Statement – OCdt Watkins
The exercise lasted a total of 8 days, with 6 days of sailing. We travelled a total of 310 nautical miles and were on board the St Barbara IV, an RAYC vessel. We began the trip in Gosport, then headed to Alum Bay, Cherbourg, Braye Harbour, Beaucette, St Peter Port, and finally back to Gosport.
This exercise proved to be simultaneously enjoyable and challenging. Even though this wasn’t a certificate awarding RYA Competent Crew course, I feel as though I was taught everything that I should know with regards to sailing within a crew. Before this sailing exercise, I was a complete novice, so being able to sail the English Channel all the way to France was a great experience and allowed me to learn a lot about sailing and, more importantly, effectively working in a small team for a long duration of time. We were taught a plethora of skills related to sailing, including hoisting the sails, anchoring drills, learning knots, winch drills, and plenty more.
We were quite lucky and, at points, had a lot of wind, which meant we were able to sail effectively and practice both tacking and gybing drills while some of us gradually got used to helming. During this time, we were also able to practice several MOB (man overboard) drills, and we even did one under sail. A unique experience during this exercise was entering the Solent under darkness on our way back to Gosport and getting 4 hours of night sailing in. During this time, we learned about navigation lights, cardinals, and the meaning of several other lights that you may see when night sailing.
Throughout the whole trip, both the Skipper and Mate taught us invaluable skills while also allowing us to enjoy our time on the yacht. It was the perfect balance, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to sail with them. This sort of experience would be nearly impossible to gain as a civilian and would highly recommended sailing AT.
