Thursday 13 June 2013

Wednesdays voyage home

Yesterday (Wednesday) was a long day, Lauren, Millie, Becca, Jess and Harriet all got up at 7:30 to go and explore Douglas. Meanwhile Ruby, Molly and Maisie stayed in bed for a lie in. They got up at 9:00 by which time the other girls had all been showered; although we only got 4 minute showers which was very hard to do and were already exploring the town.


The first girls were on a mission to find a Costa coffee as were the second girls, so when we finally saw one at the end of the high street we were literally jumping and screaming for joy. We all feasted on milkshakes, muffins, toasties and more. After Costa both groups had a walk up and down the high street, we were all happy to get back into civilisation. The second group of girls found a telephone box and rang home which made them happy. However, the other girls did not think to go to a telephone box and instead went to a diner to get some take out chips, even though they had had a enormous Costa breakfast. To finish a lovely morning both groups went for a walk along the prom in the sun which was very hot!

Once all the girls returned to the boat we needed to get going immediately to start out 10 hour voyage. There was one problem, however... We had missed the first bridge opening as our boat was hard to manoeuvre! Luckily the harbour patrol towed us off into a better position so we could get through the bridge. After we’d put up all of the sails and prepared the boat for the journey we could relax in the sun, group one were lying down at the front of the boat enjoying the calm sea.

After yesterday nobody was particularly looking forward to the ten hour journey ahead of us but the sea was a lot calmer and the weather was warmer which made the trip much more enjoyable for everyone. We even managed to get through our journey without Ruby or Jess being sick! As we were able to go down below lots of different games were played and lots of magazines were read. We took shifts in driving the boat and keeping a lookout but thus helped to pass the time.

Then, we received the bad news that we would have to sail for an extra three hours all the way back to Glasson Dock as the weather forecast had deteriorated and being at Piel Island would make it difficult to sail back the next day. This new update would mean we were going to be sailing until the early hours of the morning! The next few hours passed slowly but we persevered until we could see the English horizon. Jess decided she loved steering and carried on her shift for most of the night. Lauren and Maisie kept lookout while everybody kept themselves warm below.

We had to anchor 3 miles off the port of Glasson because the tide had not come in yet. However the hour passed quickly as we sang happy birthday to Rebecca and John who both turned another year older at midnight.

Finally we got back on deck and all helped Ian sail the final few miles into Glasson Dock, we were all relieved when we entered the first lock and fell asleep as soon as we got in bed. At this point it was about 3am and we had been sailing for 14 hours which felt like an eternity. Plus, majority of us had got up early too. Even though we had worked hard it had been a fun day filled with new experiences, we were all proud of ourselves as we had sailed across the Irish Sea and back in two days!

We are looking forward to going out on the dinghy today.

By Lauren and Ruby





3 comments:

  1. What an adventure! Glad you made it back safely. Bet you can't wait for your own beds tomorrow.... X

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  2. It's been so much fun following your progress on your epic journey ! A wonderful story we are sure you will always remember.

    Love Mum, Dad and Lucy x x x

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  3. Sounds a great way to start your birthday Becca hope you have had a wonderful day and enjoyed your birthday cake!
    love Lizzy, Mum, and Peter xxx

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