Fri 17th – Sun 19th April
I arrived at the harbour on the Thurs evening and met up with Ashley and Will who own the boat. Ashley is my best friend, Bec’s, father-in-law, and Will is one of his best mates. I have been on a couple of sailing trips previously with them along with Bec, her husband Will (Ashley’s son) and a couple of other family and friends, from Southampton to Isle of Wight, which have always been great fun. It was during Bec and Will’s wedding last year that Ashley had mentioned he was thinking of moving the boat up to Scotland, and I had mentioned I was taking a year out from work, that Ashley suggested I could potentially help crew the boat. What an experience that would be, I thought. We couldn’t make any plans, as sailing plans can be quite fluid, and Ashley had other things to prep, but I kept it in mind that he might be sailing around mid April. It was on the lead up to me finishing work that I messaged him to find out if any more plans had been made, and although they were still potentially fluid, due to weather changes etc, I was able to work my route around joining them on the boat.
After a night on the boat in harbour on the Thursday, we spent the Fri prepping the last little bits for the journey. The deck needed scrubbing, the water tank needed filling, new batons needed adding to the mainsail, a food shop needed to be done. The weather was sunny and we enjoyed getting ready at a leisurely pace. In the afternoon we were joined by the rest of the crew who Ashley had managed to bring together. Adrian is from Whitstable and had joined Ashley and Will on a Fastnet challenge, Mick is from Dumbarton and also joined Ashley and Will on the same Fastnet, and Alastair is from Bridgnorth and had joined Ashley and Will on a competent crew course. Both Adrian and Mick are retired, along with Ashley and Will, which helps with the flexibility of the trip, but Alastair still works. It was lovely to meet them all and start to get to know them a little more over dinner, before we hit the hay fairly early, with a view to get up ready to leave at 8am latest.
Ashley is the Skipper of the boat and has incredible knowledge of sailing, the waters, reading the forecast, adapting to conditions. He used to work at the power station in Ironbridge but retired early a good few years ago and leads groups in training courses and races sporadically throughout the year. We were aiming to sail non-stop, with no overnight stops at port along the way, as this would eat massively into our times, and with unpredictability of weather we needed to ensure we were ahead of time rather than behind, in case unforeseen issues cropped up. Skipper had decided we’d work in 4 hourly watches, with 3 on each watch, starting at 7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm, 11pm, 3am. I was on a watch with Will and Adrian, starting at 11am.
We started with a sunny morning out onto the Solent with the mainsail up, but motored out due to lack of wind, and it coming directly behind us, so not of any real use. It was only when we got further out into the channel, changing direction, that we put the foresail up too, benefiting from the wind. We passed the Portland boat race as we were sailing along the Isle of Wight, most of the sails were black on those boats due to them being made of carbon, making them lighter for more effective, faster sailing. We even had one of Skippers friends pass us while in the race, as we were changing the foresail to a smaller number 3, from a number 2 sail. You can have numerous foresail sizes, 1-6, the smaller the number the larger the sail. We passed the Needles at the end of the IOW and got caught on camera from the racing photographers.
Being on our schedule of watches meant our group got to see the sunset and sunrise each morning. The sky being clear meant we had a fabulous sunset as we passed Weymouth on the first evening and as the light dimmed into night you could see the glow of human light emitted from Plymouth in the distance. This had now been my longest trip on a boat in one sitting, and my experience of popping to the loo during sailing on choppier waters than I had been used to had left me a little queasy. Sitting back on deck and looking at the horizon had helped ease the feeling, but once our shift was over and I made my way back downstairs, moving about getting in position for bed started my belly going over again! While sailing continuously on choppy waters you don’t really ‘get ready for bed’, maybe just take off your outer layers and buckle down into your sleeping bag. I sat on my bed feeling off, ready to lie down to ease the sea sickness, but my belly wasn’t having any of it. I jumped from my bed and rocked to the head (bathroom) to be sick. Oh well at least I got it out the way. I felt better afterwards and was able to get my head down and benefit from some sleep before the next watch.
Back on watch and I was able to benefit from another beautiful scene from the sun, this time sunrise, just as we sailed past Plymouth. The waters were calmer today, which meant we popped the motor back on, passing the southernmost tip of England, Lizard point at lunchtime, then skirted round longships lighthouse just off Lands’ End by late afternoon. The sun had continued shining for us all day and we enjoyed a beautiful dinner of chicken korma, prepared by Ashley’s wife, Angela. It’s a real privilege being on the boat and being able to see the country from a different viewpoint. It’s great to see the regions of the country from sea, seeing the shoreline you’d never ordinarily see, and seeing towns in a different context, being able to place them in relation to each other as you sail by.