Page 12 - QARANC Vol 14 No 13 2016

10 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Exercise Channel Finn – Sailing the Solent – 204 Field Hospital
On 9 June 2016 five day skippers from 204 Field Hospital set off for Joint Services Adventurous Sail training centre (JSASTC) in Gosport as part of the unit’s first sailing expedition Ex Channel Finn. The following day we were joined by a yacht master, a retired RAF officer who volunteered to come and support us during our exercise. For the two week exercise from 10 to 25 June, we took over three 34ft Victoria Yachts, Dosinia, Amoria and Callista; all named after shells.
wind continued to increase to speeds of up to 30 knots, which meant that we were unable to leave port the next morning. We took this opportunity to explore the area around us and took an open top bus tour to the Needles, a famous rock formation and battery at the edge of the Solent. The afternoon brought more favourable weather which allowed us the opportunity to sail out into the bay.
Wednesday’s wind was similar so a trip to Poole was abandoned and we headed for Lymington and then up the Beaulieu river before stopping off at Cowes. On Thursday we sailed on Southampton water before ending up at Hamble marina, a beautiful village where we treated ourselves to a steak night at the King and Queen pub. On Friday we returned to Gosport to clean and prepare the boats for the 2nd tranche that would be arriving on Sunday.
Vessel familiarisation, safety briefs and
victualling kept us busy on the Friday and
sailing skill updates were carried out on
the Saturday. The first group, “of would
be sailors”, arrived on the Sunday and,
after safety briefs and familiarisation
training, we began our adventure. The
first sail was across the Solent which is
the stretch of water between the south
of England and the Isle of Wight. This
journey was a good introduction to those who had no sailing experience and we spent the first night in Cowes.
The following day we sailed to Yarmouth with the wind ever increasing and creating very challenging sailing conditions especially for those who were inexperienced. Overnight the
Dosinia, one of the 34ft Yachts we chartered
The first week of sailing was a fantastic and exciting learning environment for both those new to sailing and also for the day skippers due to the challenging conditions and varying levels of sailing experience. As an experienced sailor and day skipper, I felt it was a great learning environment
I was involved in the second week of the exercise and was part of a four-man crew on board Dosinia, one of the JSASTC yachts. I had never sailed before so this was a unique opportunity for me to experience sailing within a controlled environment. I felt both very excited and nervous as it was completely out of my routine and comfort zone, never mind not being the best swimmer!
The first day consisted of safety briefs and familiarisation training and an opportunity to get to know the yacht I would be spending the next six days on board. The safety routines and checks eased some of my worries knowing that we had the latest state of the art equipment on board such as life jackets, lifeboats, navigational systems and communication tools.
Our first sail took us out of Gosport and into the Solent; it was wet but pleasant. As we manoeuvred our way out of Gosport marina I helped the crew on board with ropes, sails and fenders with some hesitation and a lot of prompting from the skipper. The next day we had six glorious hours of sailing during which I had accomplished three knots - a bowline, a clove hitch and a round turn and two half hitches. We berthed that evening in Hamble marina. On stepping off the yacht and onto the pontoon I then realised what the term feeling” sea sick” meant, and for the rest of that evening, while on land I had a “swaying feeling” and no matter where or how much I tried to steady myself, I felt I was still out at sea. After a few days though I got my “sea legs” and adapted to this feeling quite naturally. We sailed across the Solent in different directions and found ourselves in many marinas such as Poole, Hamble, Cowes and Yarmouth.
Front to back Maj Elaine Vogan, Maj Gaby Smyth, Cpl Chris Ganacias
The Solent, as I found out, is a major shipping route for passenger, freight and military vessels, and, for us as small sailing yachts in comparison, it was never a good idea to be in the same path as any of these gigantic vessels, so we learned very quickly how to change our course. As you can imagine, on a perfect day for sailing, there could be tens and even hundreds of sailing boats and it poses a risk of collision, the same as if you were driving on the road.
I was taught some “road courtesy”, who has the right of