Page 70 - Wish Stream Year of 2018

Shackleton’s, but we allow ourselves to bask briefly in the sheer relief of a successful journey.
Unhappily, the inside of the hut proves to be about as warm as South Georgia, the thermostat reading a not-entirely-comfortable -9 degrees as we shuffle inside. A fire is lit, and a mere 4 hours later, the hut is something approaching a balmy 20. We settle in for the evening, telling haughty tales, eating hearty food and trying to find a dignified way of relieving ourselves in gale force winds outside the hut.
The next morning, we leave the warmth and safety of the hut and venture out into what has
become an extremely inhospitable environment, with strong winds and near zero visibility. As we make our way down the mountain, com- munication is key – each man must continually check ahead and behind to ensure the group stays together. But stay together we do. Seven went up, and seven came down – tired, aching, but more than glad to have taken on the chal- lenge and completed it. By the time we depart for home, we have had time to reflect on the past week: challenging, rewarding and another reminder of how fortunate we are to have such experiences. Hovden more than delivered. It’s a good job we found the correct one.
Exercise WINTER WAVE
OCdt Muir
We conducted Ex WINTER WAVE as a small group of five Officer Cadets between 16th and 21st of December 2018. We met our instructor, Capt Kemp Gee, upon our arrival on Sunday afternoon, who showed us around the Ajax J109 racing sailing yacht. We were issued with our life jackets and waterproof outfits that would keep us safe and warm for the next five days before we headed off for a bonding session at the local pub. Most of us had very little experience sailing, which con- tributed to the anticipation when our instructor told us he wanted to sail us around the Isle of Wight towards the latter half of the week. Most of us were thrilled to learn that it would be very choppy on the Solent that week, which would only add to the excitement of Adventure Train- ing. For the majority, the high waves meant the novelty was short-lived!
Upon the first day’s training, we made some great progress with getting to learn some knots, navigat- ing our way around the boat’s galley and learning to harbour up. We all had a few turns at mooring next to a pontoon which showed us the importance of getting the tide direction correct and various other factors including the wind. We would need to pay close attention to the wind as it really got quite gusty towards the latter end of the trip.
Throughout the first few days, we spent most of it going through the basics such as tacking, jibing
and navigating through the not so busy Solent. It wasn’t a surprise to us that the majority of the sailing boats out in the waters during the cold weather were military! We usually harboured In Cowes, where we managed to meet up for food and drinks with another sailing expedition. The harbour facilities were far beyond our expecta- tions which allowed for a nice hot shower before exploring the local town. We then spent a very arduous day sailing around the Isle of Wight, which presented a very exciting challenge. The waves were coming in thick and fast which led quite a few of us to experience sea sickness for the first time!
As our instructor was very pleased with our progress on the course, it was decided that he would push some of us for the Day Skipper Qualification. This meant working harder during the nights and learning the rules of the waters. We relished this opportunity and were tested by our instructor throughout the trip.
On the last day we experienced force nine winds, a hugely exhilarating experience and one that most of us will never forget. When we harboured for the last time, our instructor presented us with our new qualifications and we were delighted to have received the Day Skipper Qualification (for those who pushed for it). Overall we had a fantastic week and would definitely relish the chance to sail again.
68 SANDHURST