Friday 18 June 2010

Final day


Just a quick clear up and some more eating today, we will miss the boat and look forward to sailing her again.

Thursday 17 June 2010

Thursday - Piel Island to Glasson Dock

We needed to head home today to catch the tides to let us back into Glasson dock. We didn’t manage to get the sails up today because there wasn’t much wind but the tide was racing along with us and there were lots of other boats about on the water to watch. We continued eating our way around the seas and had jacket potatoes up on deck for lunch in the sunshine. Another fantastic day at sea.

We arrive back at Glasson and are all feeling proud of our knots and coils that we can now put into the ropes. Zoe is especially proud of her perfect coiling. We had to use these to get us through the loch, which we managed to do as a team with only a little bit of help. We are all experts now in tying bow lines in the rope and tying the fenders onto the boat! After tying the boat up in the dock we decided to head for a well earned showers and some down time of drinking juice and playing cards in the last of the evening sun. We’ll think about cooking tea in a little while…

Also, a Happy Birthday to Juliet’s dad from all of us.

Map not to scale!

Wednesday 16 June 2010

Wednesday - Whitehaven to Piel Island





We woke up late this morning, well 8am, in Whitehaven. After breakfast we prepared Tenacity for a day of sailing. When we had filled up the water tank and gone through the lock (in a rather frantic fashion!), we were back into the Irish Sea, retracing our journey from the day before. We spotted porpoises, dolphins and a PUFFIN! David said that our skin would end up wrinkly like his if we got sunburn, so we all ran off and slapped sun cream on as quickly as possible!

We have had the sails up for most of today but have been moving quite slowly which has made it a lovely relaxing day for watching the world go by, so we had plenty of time to relax, and Juliet even fell asleep but don’t worry, we covered her up with a jumper so she wouldn’t get sunburn. She woke up to find a greasy stain on her book where her sun creamed face had been!

We are now not far from Piel Island again, and the sails are spread out very wide to catch the wind, so we are sailing at our highest speed yet! It is turkey korma for tea, which we are going to eat on the deck while sailing along which will be very cool. It is going dark and the sunset is spectacular. The sky is lit up in a beautiful pinky colour and we can see the silhouette of the castle in front of the horizon. Wow!

We are going to stop for the night and once we are anchored up we are going to stuff our faces with tiffin (rocky road yummy cake) that we made ourselves this morning, and drink some hot chocolate before we head to bed. What a great blue skies adventure day on the sea.

Another day in paradise....




Have woken to another beautiful day. Will have to force ourselves to head for the open sea and put on suntan cream every hour so we can lie in the sun while sailing along looking for dolphins....its a hard life but someone has to do it!

Tuesday 15 June 2010

Tuesdays trip to Whitehaven


We were are now at Whitehaven "chillaxing" on deck letting the aromas of Juliet and Larissa's culinary delights fill our nostrils. Ahhhhhhhh........

Sorry, forgot we are on a trip for a minute then!!!!!

Today we left Piel Island and set off towards ST Bees Head, catching sight of seals, jellyfish and dolphins (yes, you heard it, DOLPHINS!) along the way. The water was fairly calm and the sky was blue, it was a bit of a “lazy day” as far as this trip is concerned. Eventually we let the sails out as the sea breeze filled in and sailed along no engine noise to spoil our perfect day. We sailed around St Bees Head at 4.5kts and soon Whitehaven was in view. On the approach we brought all the sails in and readied the fenders and mooring lines. We passed through the lock and were soon tied up alongside the sugar berth. Polly and Zoe took the rubbish and had a shower (phew they needed it!) leaving Juliet and Larissa to do the cooking. Poor Olivia had to do a bit of cleaning around the boat including the toilets.

Wow, those cookies smell DEEEELICIOUS! Hmmmm...We might just have a taste........!

P.S. Hope everyone's OK at home, by the way.

xxxxx

Monday 14 June 2010

Mondays trip to Piel



We all arrived by 6pm with our jam packed bags. One thing that surprised us was the amount of space below deck. The boat is rather cosy and comfortable.


David made us tea last night, sausage and mash with onion gravy.

This morning the lock opened at 11am and we hit the river, heading for the sea. Polly and Olivia, cooks for the day, started making lunch and as the sun came out we picnicked on deck then Olivia took the wheel. Some of us felt ill but found that steering made us feel better.

We hoisted all the sails and learned how to use the winches then practised man overboard drill.

At 4.30 we reached Piel Island and anchored and took the dinghy ashore to explore. We found a lot of snails. For dinner Ian helped Olivia and Polly to make caramelised pork with stir fried vegetables and rice. And for dessert we had fruit salad with marshmallows and chocolate fondue. As we ate we watched seals resting on a sandbank across the channel.

Map of Second Year 8 week summer 2010

Friday 11 June 2010

What we thought of our week...

We thought that:

  • The boat was very sophisticated, much bigger than we expected and very comfortable.
  • We were very worried about the size of the kitchen when we first saw it.
  • Food was yummy, even for the fussy eaters!
  • Early mornings were not expected but were actually fine
  • We liked the responsibility of looking after the boat and getting to steer the boat was our most favourite thing.
  • Learning about knots and playing around in the RIB was very exciting.
  • Cooking meals was a new task that we all enjoyed.
  • Getting used to being seasick very quickly suprised us
  • Exploring new places was great
From Amy, Gabby, Ellie and Izzy

Thursday 10th June


We woke up early, again with a fair amount of persuasion from SJ, and ate breakfast of cereals and eggy bread. We then spent most of the day sailing from Whitehaven to Glasson. As we set off from Whitehaven it was quite windy and wavy but as we got round St Bees head the boat settled down and we sailed along really nicely. Whilst we were sailing Gabby and Amy sat at the stern looking for more jellyfish. Izzy and Ellie sat in the cockpit, and we all read our books.

As we were early to catch the tide up to Glasson we anchored up at the end of the River Lune to await enough water and also have our fish and chips (well mash potato actually as it was easier) tea. When we were almost at Glasson the boat got stuck leaving us sat at an angle for some time as we awaited enough water to float off. It was quite late when we finally moored up so we had some hot chocolate and went to sleep.
Tomorrow when we wake up we just have to wait for the lock keeper to let us up into the marina before we can get back on our berth.
Amy and Gabby

Wednesday 9 June 2010

Tuesday 8th June, Whitehaven to Kirkcudbright

We woke to a fantastic start where we were flung and prodded out of bed by SJ!
Luckily for us it was sausage butty day, unluckily for Ellie and Izzy they had to make it.

Since we were late for catching the tide, we spent our time messing with knots and speeding around in the dinghy. Ellie claimed that she couldn’t steer the dinghy but was soon speeding around in perfect control. Colin had to keep reminding Gabby to slow down because she is a speed demon.

At 5.30 we set out for another adventure this time to Kirkcudbright. Izzy threw up in the bucket and SJ went to clean it out but ended up doing the same, although SJ immediately tucked into her tea after putting the bucket down. Amy felt a bit queasy so she stayed in the cockpit staring at the floor. Ellie and Gabby sat at the front of the boat getting drenched and counting jelly fish.

Later when Ellie was climbing the stairs the waves threw her back down and she collided with the galley (kitchen) and also Gabby, they then both burst into laughter.

Eventually we went past the lighthouse at Little Ross Island at the entrance to Kirkcudbright bay and let the anchor down so we could sleep in the middle of the sea :)

Gabby and Amy

Tenacity of Bolton, Whitehaven Harbour 9th June 2010








After being anchored overnight in Kirkudbright we set sail back to Whitehaven marina in the horrendous wind and waves. No-one was sick but everyone got drenched, especially Colin.

When we got back Izzy and Ellie made tiffin and lunch. Everyone smelled and tasted of salt so we decided to have a shower. Then Amy, Izzy and Gabby played a game of Rummikub. Now Amy and Gabby are busy chopping vegetables for a turkey korma.

Tomorrow we plan to sail to Piel Island.

Tuesday 8 June 2010

Whitehaven to Kirkcudbright

Just a quick blog from our anchorage in Kirkcudbright bay to let you all know that we are ok and have had a good day. After a little later than planned start, due to a planning error on the tides, we had a great sail over from whitehaven eating our tea as we sailed along at 7 knots. We will try and post pics from today when we have better signal tomorrow.

Monday 7 June 2010

Ahoy there!

We’ve just finished our first sailing and we are now docked in Whitehaven Marina. We started the day by waking up at 5.3am, not voluntarily obviously, and set sail from Glasson Dock. We’ve travelled 55 Miles so far and in those miles Izzy and Amy have been very seasick! So far we have learnt how to tie a round turn and two half hitches knot, put up and pack away the sails, how to steer the boat and tie the fenders to the outside of the boat to protect it. Amy and Gabby prepared tea tonight and we had caramalised pork with stir fried veg followed by an awesome apple crumble and custard. Yum!

Saturday 5 June 2010

Map of Girls Year 8 week, 6th - 11th June 2010