Wednesday 18 April 2012
Tuesday 17 April 2012
Finishing with a big day and a circumnavigation of Bute...
Day 5
Another early start was followed by warm porridge. However, not many of us slept very well the night before as there were gale force winds and the boat was rocking and producing some pretty funky noises. We got on deck in our oilys and set sail from Holy Loch Marina, unfortunately Rehana let a line out of the boat without instruction causing Max to panic and leap into action (save the day).
Shortly after we had set off we hit our record of 8.4 knots. This excited the crew as the boat was rocking wildly and at an angle in the water. Meanwhile in the galley Mollie and Annie were cooking up a feast of fajitas, cake, bread and flapjack. This kept the crew on deck very happy. However, there was a worrying moment when the cake mixture fell off the bunk and did a roly poly across the lounge area, but still managed to remain in the mixing bowl! Even though the waves were big and rough at times, we managed to not die from oncoming vessels.
For lunch we stopped at Wreck Bay and ate fajitas made by Annie and Mollie, which were absolutely delicious! After lunch we girls decided to play a game of Articulate which the Max, Ian and Krystl couldn’t resist but joining in. A tense few rounds past, but it was clear the winners were going to be Madison and Ian, after all Ian had played this game many a times and new the majority of the cards. The game didn’t get to be finished as we had a lot of sailing to do in very little time, because time flew by when we were playing Articulate.
Mollie and Lottie were on by with glasses of water and milk as Annie found out she was allergic to walnuts and had a close call with shortness of breath and closing of the throat which left Mollie sweating (even more than usually). After all the drama, Ian kindly offered to make tea, a posh style of fish and chips. This was enjoyed on deck in high winds, therefore we had to eat rather quickly or else our food would be stone cold. Our view whilst eating the food was a shag (a bird) which Annie found rather amusing as usual!
Once anchored at White Bay, we all enjoyed the amazing cake by Mollie and Annie with a spot of custard. Although many of us didn’t manage to finish the cake as it was huge and quite sickly from the monstrous amount of butter cream in it. We all are having an early night now as Max just broke the devastating news that we have to be up at 6.30am to be able to arrive at Largs by 8.30am!
Picvtures to follow tomorrow! Night Night!
Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/
Another early start was followed by warm porridge. However, not many of us slept very well the night before as there were gale force winds and the boat was rocking and producing some pretty funky noises. We got on deck in our oilys and set sail from Holy Loch Marina, unfortunately Rehana let a line out of the boat without instruction causing Max to panic and leap into action (save the day).
Shortly after we had set off we hit our record of 8.4 knots. This excited the crew as the boat was rocking wildly and at an angle in the water. Meanwhile in the galley Mollie and Annie were cooking up a feast of fajitas, cake, bread and flapjack. This kept the crew on deck very happy. However, there was a worrying moment when the cake mixture fell off the bunk and did a roly poly across the lounge area, but still managed to remain in the mixing bowl! Even though the waves were big and rough at times, we managed to not die from oncoming vessels.
For lunch we stopped at Wreck Bay and ate fajitas made by Annie and Mollie, which were absolutely delicious! After lunch we girls decided to play a game of Articulate which the Max, Ian and Krystl couldn’t resist but joining in. A tense few rounds past, but it was clear the winners were going to be Madison and Ian, after all Ian had played this game many a times and new the majority of the cards. The game didn’t get to be finished as we had a lot of sailing to do in very little time, because time flew by when we were playing Articulate.
Mollie and Lottie were on by with glasses of water and milk as Annie found out she was allergic to walnuts and had a close call with shortness of breath and closing of the throat which left Mollie sweating (even more than usually). After all the drama, Ian kindly offered to make tea, a posh style of fish and chips. This was enjoyed on deck in high winds, therefore we had to eat rather quickly or else our food would be stone cold. Our view whilst eating the food was a shag (a bird) which Annie found rather amusing as usual!
Once anchored at White Bay, we all enjoyed the amazing cake by Mollie and Annie with a spot of custard. Although many of us didn’t manage to finish the cake as it was huge and quite sickly from the monstrous amount of butter cream in it. We all are having an early night now as Max just broke the devastating news that we have to be up at 6.30am to be able to arrive at Largs by 8.30am!
Picvtures to follow tomorrow! Night Night!
Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/
Quick pop to the shops (8hrs and 32nm)
Today began slowly starting off with an extremely icy shower for Ri-Ri and Mo who were daring enough to attempt to wash in it as they were stupid enough to put the body wash on first which they never do. They found themselves lucky having not dived straight under with washing the hair too. We set off from Holy Loch later than usual as we had to clean, hoover and scrub the boat. This was the worst experience for Maddy, Mollie and Lottie and came out of it dripping wet through. Lottie began screaming because a little water was spraying in her face, think maybe it was a little too early for her to be working. Meanwhile Annie and Rehana were downstairs cleaning the heads and writing the blog from previous days. We each were given a separate job to do down below in the time of an hour, working as a team we were all able to get up on deck in just over 50 minutes.
After all the jobs on deck were done, we soon found ourselves sailing away again to our next place. Before long Max and Ian were asking for some homemade bread and so with it being Annie’s time for baking she began the daily process of making bread. It seemed like all the time Annie was baking and cooking! She soon realised that there wouldn’t be enough plain flour to make more bread for tomorrow so Max decided to make another stop off at the Co-op. All 5 of us were very shocked that they hadn’t had enough bread already this week but they were not backing down.
Tomato soup was on the menu for lunch, this went down a treat and left red stained lips all around. Today we didn’t stop for dinner and just kept sailing our way through. We had the weather warning on full, there was excitement all around as we were in for a 9 for the wind force later on this afternoon (out of a maximum of 12). We have been used to having force 5 which we thought was bad enough. This was nothing on what we have had today. Straight after lunch, Mollie and Annie began making dinner which was Chilli and Wraps. Half an hour into cooking, Tenacity began rocking forwards and backwards like we had never seen before. Pots and pans were rolling all around the kitchen and mugs were flying off the kitchen table (luckily they were empty). At one point Annie ended up on the hob with the chilli!
After tea the crew decided we should do a quiz, Max and Ian wrote a sailing/boat based quiz. We perfomed well under the pressure and both teams produced high scores. Off to bed now.
Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/
After all the jobs on deck were done, we soon found ourselves sailing away again to our next place. Before long Max and Ian were asking for some homemade bread and so with it being Annie’s time for baking she began the daily process of making bread. It seemed like all the time Annie was baking and cooking! She soon realised that there wouldn’t be enough plain flour to make more bread for tomorrow so Max decided to make another stop off at the Co-op. All 5 of us were very shocked that they hadn’t had enough bread already this week but they were not backing down.
Tomato soup was on the menu for lunch, this went down a treat and left red stained lips all around. Today we didn’t stop for dinner and just kept sailing our way through. We had the weather warning on full, there was excitement all around as we were in for a 9 for the wind force later on this afternoon (out of a maximum of 12). We have been used to having force 5 which we thought was bad enough. This was nothing on what we have had today. Straight after lunch, Mollie and Annie began making dinner which was Chilli and Wraps. Half an hour into cooking, Tenacity began rocking forwards and backwards like we had never seen before. Pots and pans were rolling all around the kitchen and mugs were flying off the kitchen table (luckily they were empty). At one point Annie ended up on the hob with the chilli!
After tea the crew decided we should do a quiz, Max and Ian wrote a sailing/boat based quiz. We perfomed well under the pressure and both teams produced high scores. Off to bed now.
Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/
Monday 16 April 2012
Sunday
We started the day off with scrambled eggs on toast and after this hearty breakfast we motored over to Brodick to replenish our diminishing food supplies. After walking around CO-OP in lifejackets and sailing gear for 30 minutes we had our shopping and had returned to the boat. We then set off and very soon the sea got very busy! After some sneaky steering between a ferry and a warship the sun came out and after a while of pretty fast sailing the wind began to calm down. Conveniently the boat slowed down to a halt whilst we ate our lunch.
The wind soon picked up and we were off sailing again, amused by Max’s and Ian’s hilarious sarcasm :D For the best part of a day a Merlin submarine hunter had been hovering around The Firth of Clyde and finally we sighted a Norwegian submarine after it appeared to pop up out of nowhere! After taking turns looking at it through the binoculars we were treated to freshly baked, warm soda bread by Annie, Lottie and Mollie. When the bread was finished the helm was then passed over to Madison who managed to get the boat to sail at 7.6 knots! The wind then decided to die down so we put two of the four sails down only for the wind to pick up again. We set off sailing again and then after numerous cups of tea, decided that we would go night-sailing later that evening. We sailed on and when it got to dusk we all had to clip on our safety lines. We enjoyed a delicious bowl of Chorizo pasta before having to quickly tack the boat. We sailed on up Loch Long for a while until we could see the hangar where the nuclear missiles from submarines are serviced in Scotland, shhh... When it became twilight we turned the boat around and started to look and name stars. Ian spotted the first planet, Venus, it was extremely bright and soon after hundreds of stars appeared. After we had had enough of looking at the stars we put the sails down and turned the engine on and started to power on to Holy Lock Marina where we would be able to sleep. It had now turned bitterly cold with no sun to warm us up. We had to keep a sharp eye out for any buoys or moorings so that we didn’t crash into them and after doing some tricky manoeuvres around some moored boats we berthed alongside a pontoon at Holy Lock. After making sure that the ship was securely tied to the pontoon we all had hot drinks and went to bed.
Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/
The wind soon picked up and we were off sailing again, amused by Max’s and Ian’s hilarious sarcasm :D For the best part of a day a Merlin submarine hunter had been hovering around The Firth of Clyde and finally we sighted a Norwegian submarine after it appeared to pop up out of nowhere! After taking turns looking at it through the binoculars we were treated to freshly baked, warm soda bread by Annie, Lottie and Mollie. When the bread was finished the helm was then passed over to Madison who managed to get the boat to sail at 7.6 knots! The wind then decided to die down so we put two of the four sails down only for the wind to pick up again. We set off sailing again and then after numerous cups of tea, decided that we would go night-sailing later that evening. We sailed on and when it got to dusk we all had to clip on our safety lines. We enjoyed a delicious bowl of Chorizo pasta before having to quickly tack the boat. We sailed on up Loch Long for a while until we could see the hangar where the nuclear missiles from submarines are serviced in Scotland, shhh... When it became twilight we turned the boat around and started to look and name stars. Ian spotted the first planet, Venus, it was extremely bright and soon after hundreds of stars appeared. After we had had enough of looking at the stars we put the sails down and turned the engine on and started to power on to Holy Lock Marina where we would be able to sleep. It had now turned bitterly cold with no sun to warm us up. We had to keep a sharp eye out for any buoys or moorings so that we didn’t crash into them and after doing some tricky manoeuvres around some moored boats we berthed alongside a pontoon at Holy Lock. After making sure that the ship was securely tied to the pontoon we all had hot drinks and went to bed.
Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/
Sunday 15 April 2012
Interim entry
It has been a long but excellent day's sailing, which was capped off with a twilight sail on Loch Long in excellent conditions with much star gazing before coming alongside at Holy Loch marina.
There are sleepy faces all round so a proper entry will come along tomorrow.
Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/
There are sleepy faces all round so a proper entry will come along tomorrow.
Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/
Saturday 14th April – An almost ‘chunder’ful day
This morning we woke ourselves up, depending on our own alarms. Everyone, especially Annie was in a better mood this morning than yesterday as we had got used to the early wake up. We got up to a warm bowl of porridge which Mollie and Lottie had prepared for the crew. Shortly after, we had set sail by 9.05 am and as the wind had picked up we were sailing instead of using the engine to move the boat.
The increase in wind meant that we got to experience sailing at a reasonable speed, this allowed us to learn more about the sails and lines necessary to run the vessel. As the waves built up we found that we were leaning starboard and rocking around quite a bit.
Madison and Annie went down to the galley to attempt to cook lunch, spinach, chickpeas and couscous. However, this was very difficult as the boat was at an 80° angle to the water and they were thrown from both sides of the galley. Not surprisingly, Madison and Annie made the majority of the meal but had to go above deck to avoid throwing up in the food. Fortunately, neither of them were physically sick but took a while to recover on the deck, while some other crew members did their washing up. Everyone’s mood improved as the wind picked up and there were jobs for us too do on deck as we did a lot of tacks and gybes.
After Madison and Annie had recovered they went down to the galley, finished cleaning up their mess and then whipped up a surprise batch of cookies for the crew, which were delicious! Shortly after Rehana and Mollie began cooking pasta bolognaise for dinner.
After eating dinner we settled down and went through navigation and then had a game of Articulate to round the day off nicely.
Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/
The increase in wind meant that we got to experience sailing at a reasonable speed, this allowed us to learn more about the sails and lines necessary to run the vessel. As the waves built up we found that we were leaning starboard and rocking around quite a bit.
Madison and Annie went down to the galley to attempt to cook lunch, spinach, chickpeas and couscous. However, this was very difficult as the boat was at an 80° angle to the water and they were thrown from both sides of the galley. Not surprisingly, Madison and Annie made the majority of the meal but had to go above deck to avoid throwing up in the food. Fortunately, neither of them were physically sick but took a while to recover on the deck, while some other crew members did their washing up. Everyone’s mood improved as the wind picked up and there were jobs for us too do on deck as we did a lot of tacks and gybes.
After Madison and Annie had recovered they went down to the galley, finished cleaning up their mess and then whipped up a surprise batch of cookies for the crew, which were delicious! Shortly after Rehana and Mollie began cooking pasta bolognaise for dinner.
After eating dinner we settled down and went through navigation and then had a game of Articulate to round the day off nicely.
Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/
Friday 13 April 2012
Battle ships and no wind..
Wake up call was at 7am, this was a shock to everyone system as the night’s sleep wasn’t the best. Mollie and Lottie, even though they spooned all night long, still managed to freeze their bottoms off. Max very kindly began to make a lovely breakfast of porridge and a round of fruit (bananas being the favourite) were handed to everyone. Faces were very miserable as we ploughed our way through breakfast. Ian asked us to rate our sleep out of 10, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. Many 2’s and 3’s were shouted across the table. After breakfast was cleared away, we all got changed into our warm clothes, Annie and Lottie having over 3 layers on. We all then made our way on to the top deck.
After the very early start, we brought the anchor back up around 9 o’clock and were then off again on another days adventure. Half an hour into the journey Mollie and Lottie were wondering what time it was, thinking maybe 11ish and were very disappointed to find out it was in fact 9.30am. It was a very chilly start and we were all huddling together trying to keep warm. Rehana decided to go down and put the kettle on and brought up the first (of many) rounds of warm juice and brews up to the top deck, this brought smiles to everyone’s faces. When Annie was given the job of steering, Mollie and Lottie decided to do a bit of revision and the BIG folders were brought to the deck and they began to chant RS unit 1 key terms. The sun was blazing and the sun cream was being applied. During this time, Rehana was again, very busy downstairs in the kitchen beginning the lunch. On the Menu today was Jacket Potatoes with a choice of tuna mayo with sweet corn, beans or cheese. Due to such an early start, stomachs were rumbling around 10.30 and so snacks were being tucked into including Mollies Thai Style mug shots which turned out to be loved by many. We dropped the anchor for lunch at Loch Ranza at 1pm, the scenery was very beautiful.
Half an hour later everyone looked like they hadn’t been fed before as all plates looked like they had been licked clean. (Annie was very happy as this meant less cleaning). Max pointed out the seals that were lurking around surrounding rocks however, many were in fact shiny rocks that were apparently moving. We lifted the anchor at 2pm and left Loch Ranza.
Mollie and Annie were very excited at this point as Max was going to show them how to make Soda bread. Annie really did get ‘stuck in’ and had dough mixture all over everywhere (including her hair which turned out to be a nightmare to remove). This took no more than 5 minutes to prepare and half an hour later was ready to be eaten. Annie found apricot and blackcurrant jam which went down well with butter melted together on top of the bread. Unfortunately we forgot Maddi didn’t have a taste of the bread and so Mollie very kindly gave her, her bread. This turned out to be very messy as there was still washing up to be done from lunch and now more from the bread. The kitchen at this point was very chaotic with pans everywhere. Meanwhile, everyone else was up on deck sunbathing and helping out with the sails. The wind by this point had picked up a little and so Max decided to put the sails up and turn the engine off.
Around 5 o’clock all the kitchen was cleaned and tidied away. Mollie and Annie then swapped with Rehana and Maddi who then went below to begin dinner preparations. On the menu for tonight was Pork with rice and stir fry which went down extremely well and seconds were eaten by everyone. Lottie took over the wheel and steered us into our stop for tonight which is Caradale Bay. Everyone was very excited as Ian told us that the plans for tonight are too get the dingy down and go across to the beach. Mollie, Lottie and Rehana helped to bring the dingy down to prepare for tonight. Ian gave them a us a quick run around tenacity to get the engine warm. We all took it in turns to steer which was fun. Mollie and Rehana were professionals. However, when it came to Lotties turn, unfortunately it did not come naturally to her as Ian asked her to to point at Tenacity (meaning point the steering Tiller at the boat). When we realised we were turning around, we realised Lottie was pointing her finger at the boat rather than the Tiller. When we got back on Tenacity, dinner was ready and waiting on the table. I have to admit it did smell delicious.
Right now it sounds like there is a lot happening in the kitchen, as people are screaming and laughing. Lottie and Rehana have just gone through the process of cleaning the ‘heads’ which are known as the toilets to us with Max. The rota has been wrote for the week for who is going to clean the toilets and make all the meals so hopefully no quibbling is going to happen.
We now look forward to a lovely night on the beach and a busy day ahead of us tomorrow.
Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/
After the very early start, we brought the anchor back up around 9 o’clock and were then off again on another days adventure. Half an hour into the journey Mollie and Lottie were wondering what time it was, thinking maybe 11ish and were very disappointed to find out it was in fact 9.30am. It was a very chilly start and we were all huddling together trying to keep warm. Rehana decided to go down and put the kettle on and brought up the first (of many) rounds of warm juice and brews up to the top deck, this brought smiles to everyone’s faces. When Annie was given the job of steering, Mollie and Lottie decided to do a bit of revision and the BIG folders were brought to the deck and they began to chant RS unit 1 key terms. The sun was blazing and the sun cream was being applied. During this time, Rehana was again, very busy downstairs in the kitchen beginning the lunch. On the Menu today was Jacket Potatoes with a choice of tuna mayo with sweet corn, beans or cheese. Due to such an early start, stomachs were rumbling around 10.30 and so snacks were being tucked into including Mollies Thai Style mug shots which turned out to be loved by many. We dropped the anchor for lunch at Loch Ranza at 1pm, the scenery was very beautiful.
Half an hour later everyone looked like they hadn’t been fed before as all plates looked like they had been licked clean. (Annie was very happy as this meant less cleaning). Max pointed out the seals that were lurking around surrounding rocks however, many were in fact shiny rocks that were apparently moving. We lifted the anchor at 2pm and left Loch Ranza.
Mollie and Annie were very excited at this point as Max was going to show them how to make Soda bread. Annie really did get ‘stuck in’ and had dough mixture all over everywhere (including her hair which turned out to be a nightmare to remove). This took no more than 5 minutes to prepare and half an hour later was ready to be eaten. Annie found apricot and blackcurrant jam which went down well with butter melted together on top of the bread. Unfortunately we forgot Maddi didn’t have a taste of the bread and so Mollie very kindly gave her, her bread. This turned out to be very messy as there was still washing up to be done from lunch and now more from the bread. The kitchen at this point was very chaotic with pans everywhere. Meanwhile, everyone else was up on deck sunbathing and helping out with the sails. The wind by this point had picked up a little and so Max decided to put the sails up and turn the engine off.
Around 5 o’clock all the kitchen was cleaned and tidied away. Mollie and Annie then swapped with Rehana and Maddi who then went below to begin dinner preparations. On the menu for tonight was Pork with rice and stir fry which went down extremely well and seconds were eaten by everyone. Lottie took over the wheel and steered us into our stop for tonight which is Caradale Bay. Everyone was very excited as Ian told us that the plans for tonight are too get the dingy down and go across to the beach. Mollie, Lottie and Rehana helped to bring the dingy down to prepare for tonight. Ian gave them a us a quick run around tenacity to get the engine warm. We all took it in turns to steer which was fun. Mollie and Rehana were professionals. However, when it came to Lotties turn, unfortunately it did not come naturally to her as Ian asked her to to point at Tenacity (meaning point the steering Tiller at the boat). When we realised we were turning around, we realised Lottie was pointing her finger at the boat rather than the Tiller. When we got back on Tenacity, dinner was ready and waiting on the table. I have to admit it did smell delicious.
Right now it sounds like there is a lot happening in the kitchen, as people are screaming and laughing. Lottie and Rehana have just gone through the process of cleaning the ‘heads’ which are known as the toilets to us with Max. The rota has been wrote for the week for who is going to clean the toilets and make all the meals so hopefully no quibbling is going to happen.
We now look forward to a lovely night on the beach and a busy day ahead of us tomorrow.
Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/
Thursday 12 April 2012
Day 1 - getting on board
Day one of duke of edinbrough silver award
The day began far too early having to meet at school at 8am where we were greeted by Matt and Mira our very kind drivers. The 8am meeting time was pushed by Rehana arriving slightly late in her DKNY wellies, however, on her arrival I was lucky enough to receive a box of guylian chocolates for my birthday which we all dug into after just a few hours of ‘hard-manual labour’ on the boat. After this delightful surprise we soon forgave her for arriving a few minutes late! After around an hour into our long journey up to Scotland we stopped off at a very posh service station where we all bought overly priced sandwiches and wraps despite it still being before 10am, then returning to the van meeting our new drivers/leaders for the week, Ian and Crystal.
We then travelled for a further two and a half hours from Penrith meeting point to Largs Marina where we were to board the Tenacity of Bolton. We were then met by the other fellow silver duke of Edinburgh participants from school who looked extremely tired and exhausted. I don’t think we as a group realised what exactly we had in store for us in the week ahead. They gave us an insight in to the activities and challenges we would be faced with. I think they were glad that they were going to be on the road home however, seemed to have enjoyed there week on a whole.
After seeing the last group off, we unloaded the Morrison’s food shop from the van and put away all the goodies for the week. Stomachs rumbled and mouths watered looking through the shopping bags. During this time Ian our lovely instructor cooked up beans on toast which was delicious and lined the stomach very nicely. The juice we made seemed to taste very different to at home as the water tank was refilled by Max at the Largs Marina.
As we began to settle ourselves in and sort bags out, I think everyone was a little in shock by what we had ahead of us. There was little discussion of who was staying in which bed as we all wanted to snuggle together. However, seeing as Moll has the longest legs ever, she definitely needs the big double bed at the back of the boat. This was decided, then very kindly Annie and Madison offered themselves the front beds.
Moving on to the top deck, according to Ian we were getting ‘suited and booted’ meaning sorting out everyone’s waterproofs. I have to say they weren’t the most flattering outfits I have seen as we all looked like obese dummies. Everyone was so keen to get out of the docks, so we sped through the health safety process as fast as possible. As a team we split up and helped get ‘Tenacity of Bolton’ away from the sides of the boat. This was quite difficult but we managed to do this very successfully. We all realised that this week ahead is all going to involve working together as a team and communicating well.
Finally out to sea! Max took over the steering wheel while Ian went through all important rope methods we need to know. One for example was ‘ A half turn and two round hitches’. This took a long time to get into our heads and pronounce the name. Madison and Annie took the wheel for a bit. We sailed to Millport on Great Cumbrai and then anchored up in front of the pretty and cute village. The sun was shining as we started to cook tonight’s dinner of sausages, mash, yorkshire puddings, peas and sweet corn. Fortunately we had no casualties and everyone was free of seasickness!
Whilst cooking dinner a few of us decorated the saloon with balloons and ‘Happy Birthday’ banners for Lottie, which livened the place up and added a personal touch. As Rehana attempted to complete her textiles work, the rest of the crew relaxed, chatted and prepared for dinner.
We sat down and ate our yummy dinner whilst reflecting on our first day on the sea. We finished up and unfortunately had to wash up the pots which took a longer than necessary! We then played a very lively game of Articulate which woke everyone up. We then retired to bed and fell asleep immediately as we were all shattered from travelling and sailing. Although the first day is supposedly the worst as your body is adjusting to life on the sea, it was surprisingly pleasant and we were all looking forward to the week ahead.
Due to technical issues, we'll have photos for you tomorrow.
Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/
The day began far too early having to meet at school at 8am where we were greeted by Matt and Mira our very kind drivers. The 8am meeting time was pushed by Rehana arriving slightly late in her DKNY wellies, however, on her arrival I was lucky enough to receive a box of guylian chocolates for my birthday which we all dug into after just a few hours of ‘hard-manual labour’ on the boat. After this delightful surprise we soon forgave her for arriving a few minutes late! After around an hour into our long journey up to Scotland we stopped off at a very posh service station where we all bought overly priced sandwiches and wraps despite it still being before 10am, then returning to the van meeting our new drivers/leaders for the week, Ian and Crystal.
We then travelled for a further two and a half hours from Penrith meeting point to Largs Marina where we were to board the Tenacity of Bolton. We were then met by the other fellow silver duke of Edinburgh participants from school who looked extremely tired and exhausted. I don’t think we as a group realised what exactly we had in store for us in the week ahead. They gave us an insight in to the activities and challenges we would be faced with. I think they were glad that they were going to be on the road home however, seemed to have enjoyed there week on a whole.
After seeing the last group off, we unloaded the Morrison’s food shop from the van and put away all the goodies for the week. Stomachs rumbled and mouths watered looking through the shopping bags. During this time Ian our lovely instructor cooked up beans on toast which was delicious and lined the stomach very nicely. The juice we made seemed to taste very different to at home as the water tank was refilled by Max at the Largs Marina.
As we began to settle ourselves in and sort bags out, I think everyone was a little in shock by what we had ahead of us. There was little discussion of who was staying in which bed as we all wanted to snuggle together. However, seeing as Moll has the longest legs ever, she definitely needs the big double bed at the back of the boat. This was decided, then very kindly Annie and Madison offered themselves the front beds.
Moving on to the top deck, according to Ian we were getting ‘suited and booted’ meaning sorting out everyone’s waterproofs. I have to say they weren’t the most flattering outfits I have seen as we all looked like obese dummies. Everyone was so keen to get out of the docks, so we sped through the health safety process as fast as possible. As a team we split up and helped get ‘Tenacity of Bolton’ away from the sides of the boat. This was quite difficult but we managed to do this very successfully. We all realised that this week ahead is all going to involve working together as a team and communicating well.
Finally out to sea! Max took over the steering wheel while Ian went through all important rope methods we need to know. One for example was ‘ A half turn and two round hitches’. This took a long time to get into our heads and pronounce the name. Madison and Annie took the wheel for a bit. We sailed to Millport on Great Cumbrai and then anchored up in front of the pretty and cute village. The sun was shining as we started to cook tonight’s dinner of sausages, mash, yorkshire puddings, peas and sweet corn. Fortunately we had no casualties and everyone was free of seasickness!
Whilst cooking dinner a few of us decorated the saloon with balloons and ‘Happy Birthday’ banners for Lottie, which livened the place up and added a personal touch. As Rehana attempted to complete her textiles work, the rest of the crew relaxed, chatted and prepared for dinner.
We sat down and ate our yummy dinner whilst reflecting on our first day on the sea. We finished up and unfortunately had to wash up the pots which took a longer than necessary! We then played a very lively game of Articulate which woke everyone up. We then retired to bed and fell asleep immediately as we were all shattered from travelling and sailing. Although the first day is supposedly the worst as your body is adjusting to life on the sea, it was surprisingly pleasant and we were all looking forward to the week ahead.
Due to technical issues, we'll have photos for you tomorrow.
Read more about Sail Training on board Tenacity of Bolton at http://www.tenacityofbolton.org/
Day 7 - Time to return to Largs
Time to head home....
After another early start and our large gourmet meal, we lifted the anchor for the last time in the sunrise at Callum Bay. We got out all four sails as soon as we could and started heading towards Millport...it seems a long time since we anchored there on our first night. Although we were not going very fast we loved our last sail, and even had a cheaky seal swim along next to us. We are now back in Largs and busily sorting the boat out ready for us to leave. Its been a fantastic week...
Heres a quick sumary of this week...the choppy seas and the wonderful scenery. Lots of different places and the beautiful peace and quiet...the world looks so different from a boat. Wildlife, company and the lovely surroundings. Learning to man the boat, independance, running the boat ourselves. And of course food...home made food and we made it all...what an achievement.
Overall...totally Life changing.
Back to the real world now...or is it? We think maybe life at sea is the really world.
Love from Paloma, Jess, Maddie, Kajol, Claire, Humairaa, Ellie, Dawn and Max...and of course...Sid
xxxx
Wednesday 11 April 2012
Day 6 - Sun, sails and scones...
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| Trying to blow enough wind into the sails to move Tenacity |
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| Difficult navigation through the Burnt Isles |
Gluttony and great fun on the High Seas...
Wednesday was the day Paloma had been waiting for...scrambled eggs and homemade bread for breakfast, and more importantly, hash browns! (Made by Jess and Humairaa, they never thought they could achieve it!) After having found them in the Co-Op they were eagerly anticipated by all and vanished within seconds of landing on plates. The weather forecast was a North Westerly wind, force 4 or 5 and thundery showers so the day was understandably being dreaded by us all (how different they day would turn out to be! I’ll come back to this...).
The sails were up and we spent a good half an hour waiting for the wind to kick in, but it never did. During this time deep conversations took place discussing many theories of life and quantum physics – a bit more heavy than the usual Tenacity conversations! Finally we were in fact starting to go backwards so a joint decision was made to turn on the engine. A real shame, but it did save us from the endless tacking we had all been dreading as the way we were going to get up the East Kyle. As the peace was about to be broken by the engine, a couple of porpoises were spotted only 100 metres from Tenacity! Cameras were whipped out (typically they didn’t surface that often anymore) and we relished the time we had to watch them play in the beautiful surroundings. As the motor was turned on, Humairaa and Paloma headed down to the galley to start on some homemade chocolate chip cookies.
The plan for the day included the fact that all of the meals and snacks had to be homemade. The cookies that were produced were incredible, and Sid even had a little one of his own! The galley was very busy today, so as soon as the cookie mess had been cleaned away, Maddie and Jess headed down to start on Max’s famous spinach and chickpea with cous cous recipe. This went down a treat with our pretty little anchorage near the Burnt Isles, and the sun had come out by now so everyone wanted to be on deck. 
The waterproofs came off, we were advised to wear sun cream and it was WARM!! The wind still wasn’t picking up so the engine stayed on and we powered along in the blissful sun and light breeze. As we headed down the West Kyle we found what we had been waiting for...wind. We had a late change of plan as it was our last day of sailing and we wanted to make the most of it. Instead of heading straight to our anchorage for the night, we made a sharp starboard turn and decided to venture to an anchorage on the Kintyre peninsular for afternoon tea and scones (homemade of course by Claire and Kajol)! The sail to our anchorage for the night wasn’t quite as smooth as we had hoped, due to the fact the wind now decided to change around to a north easterly. Humairaa and Ellie had a rollercoaster of a journey in the galley trying their best not to let pans and washing up fly around everywhere, but still made a delicious dinner of chicken or pork with mash and veg, ready for our arrival in Callums Bay. They even managed to knock up some lovely flapjack and send it up to top deck to keep the crew going until we reached our final destination. The crew on deck tried to be positive and pass the time by again entering into more serious conversations about plans for life and how excited but terrified we all are about growing up! After an initial pessimistic view of today, it turned out to be the best day of the whole week with our singing deteriorating but spirits very high. I think I say on behalf of all the crew that we’ve had a very enjoyable week, rain or shine, and feel that we have learnt a vast amount from Dawn and Max and had a fantastic time putting this information into action!
See you tomorrow...
Love From a Tired and Happy Crew
Love From a Tired and Happy Crew
Tuesday 10 April 2012
Day 4 - Holy Loch to Kames Bay
A damp and grey start to our day here in Holy Loch...we think we may treat ourselves to showers before planning the day and heading to sea...Catch up later
xx
Hello again...
SHOWER TIME! Needless to say we all very much enjoyed our first shower of the week and to step on dry land for a little while. Although we were asked not to take too long, we all made the most of our down time and luxury. After our showers we headed back to Tenacity to finalise the plans for the day. Our original plan had been to sail north, but looking at the weather forecast for the next couple of days we decided we needed to change this... after numerous suggestions and options we opted for sailing back down to Rothesay Bay and then heading round to the very pretty Kames Bay, which allowed us the best options for a good days sailing on Wednesday. 
We set sail down the Firth of Clyde in some good winds and reached our top speed yet of 7.7 knots. We sailed down the west side of the Firth as the main channel was really busy today with lots of larger vessels. The weather brought many April showers, most of which were rather cold, but we enjoyed the patches of sun in between. It was soon lunch time! We tucked into cheesy pesto pasta with pine nuts in the pouring, freezing rain and we’ve never enjoyed a meal so much. Many ate it faster than usual just so the bowl wouldn’t fill up with rain and make an unpleasant watery pesto mess. 
We soon arrived at Rothesay Bay to a rather choppy sea. We dropped anchor and Ellie, Maddie and Dawn ventured across the waters to get to the Co-Op for a few supplies whilst the rest of the crew waved them off and set about doing some baking...making our very own Tenacity soda bread...yum. With the shopping done, and bread made, we lifted anchor and headed round to a rainbow filled bay for the evening.
Now we’re getting ready for Ellie’s chicken goujons with wedges for tea and we’re looking forward to it. You may have realised by now, food comes first for this crew. After tea, we are going to do some planning for tomorrow and aim to have a full day of adventuring and hopefully running the boat ourselves (and hopefully with a few less freezing cold down pours).
See you soon!Team Tenacity xx
Monday 9 April 2012
Day 4 continued...Sunshine and Rain...
Ahoy me hearties! We are currently moored up at Holy Loch Harbour right next to a real life pirate ship! Some of us are secretly hoping Johnny Depp will step onto our deck at any moment. Wishful thinking, but you never know...
This morning was the first day of our expedition! We had to take over the boat all by ourselves (although we did have our skipper watching over us and helping us out along the way) which we never thought we could do but amazingly we did it very well, we’re all here safe and sound. After yesterday’s slow start we decided getting up at 6.30am this morning instead of 7am would be the best idea, and that we did. We were out sailing by 8.50am - a new record! In addition we were able to sail with all four sails out for most of the day and only used the engine twice for a short while, just to help us out when the wind went a bit funny. Our sailing was helped along by the tasty hot chocolate made by Dawn, a well earned treat.After a storming start reaching speeds of 7 knots we actually managed to decrease to 0.9 knots for at least an hour. However we were not disheartened and we all sang a Michael Jackson medley including Man in the Mirror and Earth Song, as well as a little Lionel Richie by Ellie. The slow speed allowed us a little time to get ourselves comfortable on the boat, be able to move around and take in the view, and let us all find our sea legs for the rest of the day.
After our long slow patch of light winds (caused a little by the shadow of the hills) we were back up to more acceptable speeds of about 5 knots. However later on we hit another slow patch due to a drop in the wind; so the kettle was put on and we got out the chocolate biscuits and the mini eggs as well as the awful, but yet hilarious egg related jokes were cracked. Sid, also came aboard to help make our sailing adventure more egg-citable. As you have seen, Sid was helpful in manning many areas of the boat.
By mid day, we had managed to reach our intended location along the route, to be turning the south east corner of Bute (the 7 knots had help make up for the time we lost when the wind died). It was then time for our voluptuous jacket potatoes with various fillings; these were made by Kajol and Claire and they went down really well with all of the crew. After lunch we were all raring to carry on with the journey.
While sailing up the Firth of Clyde, the sun came out and spirits were raised even more. We were then introduced to ‘Jibing’ which triggered many ‘Jiving’ movements by Jess and Paloma. This is similar to tacking but you’re turning away from the wind instead of into it, things happen a little quicker on the boat and it was really exciting. Maddie excelled in the jibing, and became the number one ‘jive bunny’!
The rest of the journey was very pleasant and the singing and good weather continuing. There were a few interesting moments for navigation...all was quiet and serious on the boat, the crew were waiting for instruction, Claire remained calm at the wheel and this is when Humariaa was obviously more importantly occupied and chose to ask ‘Is that a caravan on the horizon?’ Perhaps not the best timing...The good weather just couldn’t hang on until we had moored up at Holy Loch. As we pulled into the harbour the heavens opened with rain and hail but the crew still soldiered on! We have just had a lovely stir fry whipped up by Maddie and Jess and are now all warm and dry. A definite highlight of the day include Max’s impressions, accompanied with actions....as well as some fantastic sailing.
We are looking forward to tomorrow after probably our most successful day yet!
And, don’t forgot...Sid says you should always clean your teeth before you head to bed to dream of ropes, and sails and the high seas...Love from Jess and Crew
Day 4 - Sid Goes Sailing
Today we had a new skipper. Sid...usually alone on a sea of solitude, came to ride the high waves on Tencity. As a skipper should be, he was great on the helm, and loved to drink tea. 
And he enjoyed hanging out with the kids...Egbert, Yoko and Shelly...
He's really helpful at teaching us about navigation and how to plan a route while we work the boat...
He's also great a cooking, maintanance work and cen even turn his hand to a spot of gardening along the way...
And once we have eaten some tea and warmed up, we will tell you all about our sid-purb day that was egg-stremely great, and involve some egg-ceptional weather, but was really egg-citing...
Love the crew
xx
Sunday 8 April 2012
Day 3 - Happy Easter...
At this very moment in time, after approximately seven hours of sailing, we are attached to a pier on East Lochs Tabert, it has been a rather long but most certainly eventful day... we have learned so much and are beginning to feel more in control.
Before the choppy waters, our friend the porpoise made a second appearance! We’ve seen more wildlife than we thought we would so far, so we hope for even more to come (dolphins ideally). On these calmer waters, we had a chance to practise manoeuvring around other vessels and learnt who was the give-way vessel in certain situations. Just before we anchored up for lunch, we sailed past Richard Attenborough’s house, we felt a bit like paparazzi!Today we learnt about tacking (quickly switching the sail direction to all you people at home!), this was a manoeuvre eagerly anticipated by Maddie: It was made increasing exciting when we reached choppy, open waters where we reached a top speed of seven knots! Saying this, the choppy seas certainly had consequences. With the wind blowing at gale force 7, being a passenger on Tenacity felt like being on a rollercoaster. Some people were introduced to the buckets at this point and no one felt up to much, but we seemed to handle it well and stayed in control.
“Foooooood!” Definitely the highlight of our day! Homemade leak and potato soup prepared beautifully by Ellie and Humairaa for lunch; and Jess and Maddie made delectable spaghetti bolognaise for tea, perfect after a hard day’s work and well received by all.
We have just been panning our route for the next days of the expedition. We will continue to circumnavigate the Isle of Bute (as it really is bute-iful!). And so just like the Vikings may have done, we think we will claim it for our own if we manage to sail all the way around it...
We are sure that we will have lots of tales to tell of our adventures when we get home. But for now, its time for our beds and some well needed down time.We’re having a whale of a time!
Big hugs Mummies and Daddies!
Love from the ‘Tenacity Bunnies’ :D xxxxx
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