Leaving Tenacity Today

We started the day with sausage, bacon, fried egg and scrambled egg which Ian and Mary made.

We then sat down and Ian told us which jobs we had to do and people volunteered for such as, Heads (toilets), hoovering (which I got), and polishing the wood on the boat (which Drew and Dougie got).

Then we had a big game of cards (sevens, which Ian taught us before and everyone got addicted to.) Then Mary cooked us hotdogs in Baps because there was no buns left.

I’ve just been told I need to round the week off and I think I speak for all of us when I say that this week has been an experience that none of us will ever forget. It has been full of laughs!

Our last full day on Tenacity of Bolton

Today started with a lovely cooked breakfast of eggy bread made by Drew and Ollie. We then had a big knot tying race in which everyone battled it out to tie three knots as quickly as possible. Drew, Alex and Sam ended up as the clear favourites due to their “knot obsession” last night, but Sam won with 18 seconds! We had to tie a bowline, clove hitch and a round turn and two half hitches.
We then made a mad dash from Fleetwood to Glasson Dock. We had to make it in ninety minutes or face heading straight back. Fleetwood dock was late letting us out so we had to cut a corner heading back to Glasson and briefly bumped over a sandbank. Some of us sat up by the bow and had waves splashing over us. When we finally reached Glasson, the gate was half closed. Luckily the lock keeper saw us arrive and lowered the gate, the light turned to green and we went in.
For tea we had fish and chips followed by pancakes in which we all cooked our own. Drew, Matty and Dougie discovered it wasn’t a great idea to eat a Mars bar in a pancake. (Yes, you did read that right. To clarify: they put a bar of chocolate in a pancake and attempted to eat it.) Drew and Sam again tried the knot tying race and it came to a win today for Drew with a phenomenal 15 seconds, including a 1.5 second clove hitch. However, Sam would like to say it was a matter of milliseconds and he will beat him tomorrow. Watch this space…

Josh and Drew

Gusty in Fleetwood again

Hello to all you Tenacity of Bolton fans!

It’s Paddy and Dougie typing in Fleetwood where we have been stopped for the past 24 hours. Some people are singing badly (HELP). This morning half the group, Dougie included, lowered the dinghy and motored around the boat (which is awesome!!)Some people took lots of tries to start the motor but some did it in one!

The other half were given the task of taking down the Genoa sails from the front of the boat which was hard work because it was very gusty. We had to lay on it while Colin and Mary folded it, because the wind was trying to take it into the dock. We then swapped and the second team then had to put up a small sail called a Yankie.

For lunch we ate Jacket potatoes, cheese and beans. We ate the cake that was made yesterday it was made of biscuit and marshmallows (can’t go wrong with that!)At this point the wind clocked a 32 knots on our wind speed gauge so we decided not to sail today.

After lunch Drew had to clean the toilets (heads) but forgot to use the shower to rinse until the end. We made cookies (YUM YUM). Paddy and some others went and bought Crab line from the shop. For the rest of the day we perfected our knots and had a race to take the sail out them wrap it back around the mast. Josh, Alex and Max won with a time of 50secs! We then had a full team effort and got the time down to 33seconds.

For tea Dougie and Matty made chicken korma and apple crumble (It tasted amazing.)

P.S. We got free ropes to practice our knots when we get home!

Snoozing on the job!

Sunny sailing

After a fairly noisy night at anchor by Piel Island we had sausage butties and cereal for our breakfast. Once kitted we picked up the anchor and set off down the submarine channel out towards the wind farm. On the way we spotted some seals both in the water and on the beach.

We were on our way to Fleetwood under sail, the seas were rough stirred up by the gale seven winds. The boat rocked side to side going over at some points to 250, this caused Dougie, Matthew and Alex to be sick. The weather was lovely wall to wall sun. After tacking up the Lune Deep channel, which Dougie was especially good at, we arrived at Fleetwood to enjoy a late lunch made by Max.

We had chance to wash ourselves and the boat in the marina. Tea was made by Alex and Oliver we had pasta bolognaise and was scrumptious, most of us managed to eat it except Alex who dropped half of it on his trousers. After tea we learnt some knots and went for a wander around the marina.

Max and Alex

Sailing at Last!

This morning we awoke at about 6.30 for the first time and then snoozed again before getting up properly at about 7.00. For breakfast we had scrambled eggs on toast expertly made by Matthew, Max, Dougy and Josh.

After a tidy up we spent some time looking at and learning about all the safety items on the boat such as our life jackets and waterproofs, flares, life rings, life rafts etc..

At 11.20 we set off from our berth in Glasson and waited in the middle of the marina pond for the lock gate to open, the lock keepers were a little preoccupied painting their fences so we had to wait a little longer than we thought we would. The locking down was fairly swift but then again when we got to the bottom basin we had to wait for an age for the sea lock to be opened. From Glasson we travelled down the River Lune and so into the Irish Sea (well Morecambe bay really).

The sea started off quite flat but gradually the swell got larger. We set our Genoa (the sail at the front of the boat) to help push the boat along and then soon after as we got to the deeper water we set the Mizzen followed by the mainsail. The engine was turned off and we were sailing totally under wind power. Alex started to feel sick as the swell increased in size and then not long after was sick and amazingly totally kept his sense of humour.

Because of all of the shallow water in Morecambe bay we had to go along way around to get to Peil. We had to navigate along channels from Glasson to find the deep water and then also up a channel to get to Peil Island. The channels are all marked by green and red marker bouys. While we were out in the Bay we saw the wind farm that is off Barrow.

We are now anchored near Peil Island in a sheltered place for the night. For tea we had caramelised pork chops with stir fried veg and rice followed by a very popular chocolate fondue. Tonights meal was cooked by Port watch which is Dougie, Max, Mat and josh.

Written by Matt and Ollie

Not a breath of wind in Glasson

Well the week ahead couldn't look much more different than last week. It seems from the forecasts that the wind in the North has dropped (although the South of the country is protesting about strong winds) and totally changed direction (from South West last week to North East this week). The lads have arrived on board and started settling in, they are very excited about every aspect of life on board and what experiences their week might bring.

Our plan at the moment (as we head to bed) is for an early start, breakfast then a safety briefing before heading down through the lock and out to sea around midday tomorrow. From there we hope to head up to Peil Island (the illusive destination from last week) for and overnight anchorage.

Look out for more blogging from the lads as the week progresses