Page 113 - The Wish Stream Year of 2022 CREST

The sail there was tricky, exciting, a good dem- onstration of what the sea can quickly turn into and how best to manage it in a yacht. Once we arrived in Cabrera, the water was much calmer, and we were able to tie onto a mooring buoy for the night. We inflated the tender and made our way ashore to head up to the castle to watch the sun set over the island and into the sea. The next day was the final leg of the first week, back to S’Arenal, with blue skies and small winds; it was an idyllic sail back.
After close down of the yacht ready for HOTO with the next crew from 13 Fd Coy, we headed into town for all 14 personnel to meet and have a team meal out. The crews changed over, and we conducted the first day administration similar to the first week – safety briefs, CILOR shops, and a route plan for the week. This time, there were no indications of storms but instead blue skies and gentle winds with 25-30°C of sun. We decided we wanted to conduct some night sailing and headed south on a 13-hour sail towards San Antonio in Ibiza. With some exciting moments throughout the night from bio-lumines- cent jellyfish and dolphins to course-correction and 200m cargo-ships. After a safe arrival in San Antonio, we spent the evening on a beach in the local town. The following day, we sailed South- west and circumnavigated the island of Ibiza tak- ing us into Botafoc marina, on the South-eastern side of the island. On this day, we had a good chance to swim in the middle of the sea, rig- ging a rope swing and ascend the mast at the sea. After an evening on the boat watching yet
another beautiful sunset, we set off to spend the day in a hidden cove as we fished, swum, and prepared for another night sail back to Mallorca. Much like the first night sail, the return leg was ideal weather where we sailed alongside dol- phins and through bright pink jellyfish that lit up the dark sea. Projected storms meant we spent two nights in Palma De Mallorca for the end of our trip, so we could spend a day in the local area on land instead of struggling to sail through potentially dangerous seas and close down the boat to prepare for 13 Fd Coys return to Tid- worth on Wednesday 4th May.
Overall, this trip is best summarised by several senior soldiers who regularly said this expedition was one of the best things the Army has offered them and that it demonstrated to the junior sol- diers, what the Army can offer you. It is particularly important to thank and to note that none of this would have been possible without the support from the REME Charity and the Sandhurst Trust.
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