Page 70 - The Wish Stream Year of 2022

liance of Nat King Cole through a speaker to aid in relaxing our minds and getting comfortable sailing at night. With minimal flapping from both Mr Webster and Mr Wood we reached South- ampton harbour without a hitch and once the bow and stern were firmly attached, we settled back into the cheese, content with our achieve- ments at the helm.
Thursday 21st April
The day started with us eager to get out early to make our way to Port Solent. After enjoying the sights of the Southampton Marina, we got the boat all prepped, clean and ready to go; we set sail. Heading out onto the Solent, with the wind on our side, we got the sails up as soon as we hit open waters, being able to practice manoeuvres previously taught in the week.
morning, we each took the opportunity to helm the yacht. Man-overboard drills followed by sail- ing onto a buoy were the key objectives of the morning. After the loss of one buoy to the tides of the Solent, Mr Wood eventually ‘got a grip’ of his fateful crew and managed to successfully conduct the man-overboard drill before hand- ing over to Mr Webster to show him how it was done and recount his previous sailing outings on the ‘school ship’. Following 30-40 minutes of gentle flapping, Mr Hopkisson eventually took up his turn to helm the boat and conduct a series of tacks and jibes around a racing circuit of yel- low buoys, big enough to sink the yacht, which despite his best efforts he managed to avoid. Mr Badger, having proved his worth below- deck throughout the week, consistently provid-
On our way to Port Solent, we stopped off in a bay on the way in which we performed a moor to a buoy. This allowed us to enjoy a quality lunch soaking in the sun. Once we had filled ourselves up with sandwiches and cheese, we headed back out.
Following 30-40 minutes of
gentle flapping, Mr Hopkisson eventually took up his turn to helm the boat
ing the crew with an artery-clogging lunch of cheese, both hard and soft, enjoyed helming the yacht. Feeling rather hard done by that he had pre- maturely withdrawn himself from the Day Skipper course, we can all be sure he will soon return with a venge- ance to the Solent, no doubt on the Household Div. yacht. Mr Vincent’s passion for hard, fast, and aggres- sive action was not lost at sea. His ability to rapidly learn the ropes, fol-
Going through lessons, we began
further discussing the mechanics and going through and perfecting what we had learnt throughout the week. Following the route plans we had conducted ourselves, we set sail to port in Port Solent. Using the Reeds Almanac, we found the right route in and prepared ourselves for the unique lock which is present at the port. Having radioed in to inform the port master of our arrival, we arrived at Port Solent. Due to the changing water levels of the Port, we pulled into the lock where we performed a temporary moor- ing to the lock while the gates closed behind and the water level rose. This was the first time we used a lock while on the expedition and was an interesting experience to see the different types of ports and their features. All of the information is in the Reeds Almanac. Sailing in, we moored up for the night in the small port, just in time to watch the sunset. It was a fantastic day sailing and, with everything running smoothly, it gave us all a boost in our confidence of our ability to per- form well together as a crew.
Friday 22nd April
On the last day of the expedition, we covered some of the key learning requirements of the Day Skipper and Competent Crew courses, taking advantage of the strong winds and quiet
impressive
lowing just one (almost) crash jibe, all with a vape in hand, did not go unnoticed. The fifth day provided the perfect roundup to a very suc- cessful week of sailing on the RAC yacht with a second-to-none instructor, Mr Kemp-Gee, who managed to remain surprisingly calm through- out, even when we decided to set our course with an oil tanker.
68 SANDHURST