Sail away, sail away...

We did it! Well, we sailed. The channel was too rough to cross but we had a wonderful adventure all the same. I spent 3 days in close proximity with lovely Kate (fundraising as well), Mark (braun) and John (brains); 3 wonderful people that made this happen! A summary of our adventures:

Day 1: We met in Lake Yard, Hamworthy, and got straight to work, loading up Muskateer with provisions for the next few days. John decided we would brave the channel. After 2 hours we had only made it 6 miles out. There was a 4-5 metre swell and the wind was force 5/6, gusting 7/8. All ferries had been cancelled. We were all being thrown around so I firmly wedged myself in the cockpit, concentrating on not going into the angry looking water or being sick. The captain got water up his sleeve and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. We decided to turn around. Unbeknownst to the novice wedged in the cockpit, the wind was too strong to tack and John calmly had to jibe so that we could turn around and make our way to calmer waters.

We went back to Studlands and decided we deserved a meal ashore. We got in the dinghy and headed to the pub.

Day 2 - 7.30 a.m start to hear the shipping forecast: south westerly 5-7. The channel was not a good idea so we headed to Cowes, Isle of Wight. I had a 2.5 hour stint at the helm. We were sailing down wind so lots of tacking took place and Kate tacked like a pro. Hot showers were had in the marina, tasty food was had on board and we whiled away the evening drinking wine and talking about stuff.

Day 3 - Woke up at 7.30 a.m with red wine halos to listen to the shipping forecast: force 5 but 5-7 on its way. We headed back to Studlands leisurely; I began to learn how to tack and Kate was at the helm. As we approached The Needles off the Isle of Wight, there is a rough bit of water known as The Bridge. I was sick into a bucket. Ginger biscuits helped, but a sandwich didn't.

Once back at Studlands, we cooked dinner and then went ashore where we sat outside, overlooking lovely Muskateer in the bay. Back to Muskateer for dinner and wine.

2 o'clock in the morning and Muskateer ran aground as there was an unexpected swell in the bay. We had a night time sail around to Poole harbour where we found a buoy and tied up for a calm night's sleep.

Day 4 - the final day. We slept in a bit later as we knew we wouldn't be going far and therefore didn't need to listen to the shipping forecast. We were going to have a sail around the harbour and more practice tacking but the weather changed really quickly so we had to head back to Hamworthy.

In summary, 4 days with 3 wonderful people that taught me a lot about sailing, the weather, working together and stuff!!!