This was sail training at its best - glorious weather, a volunteer skipper who pulsated enthusiasm and a crew who were up for anything!
12 boys left Parkside with Mr Lochhead on 23rd September to spend 3 days on a 72 foot boat, the John Laing. The boys did everything associated with sailing: changing and hoisting sails, steering (helming), cooking, washing up and even sleeping on board.
On Friday, we boarded by 2.00 pm and, after some safety talks, raised the mizzen and motored/sailed from Gosport to West Wittering, where we anchored for the night.
Throughout the night, the boys had to take turns doing ‘anchor watch’ for an hour and a half at a time, where the lookout, the watch, had to check that the boat wasn’t in danger.
Saturday was an early start but the sun was out and there was a gentle wind so all the sails were hoisted (4 in total) and we set off for Poole. This was a far from relaxing passage as we raised then dropped the Jib (a sail in the front), changing it for a bigger sail (dug from the depths of the sail locker) before dropping this! We finally moored up in Poole harbour, at 7.30 pm, a 10 hour day working the sails! A quick run ashore ensued for the boys, before an exhausted crew fell asleep at 11.00 pm.
An early 6.00 am start for Sunday and, without even breakfast being eaten, we were underway again. The wind had picked up and so had the size of the waves. Again all 4 sails were set and we were soon see-sawing through steep waves created by the wind blowing in the opposite direction to the tide, which were further complicated by overfalls. This had an unfortunate effect on some off the boys, (and Mr Lochhead!) who succumbed to seasickness! Those not affected made their way to the bow, where, safely strapped to the boat, they rode the waves, crashing up and down with the spray blowing over them!!
In the afternoon, the wind eased a little, allowing a Cruising Chute (a type of Spinnaker) to be rigged - it was only the third time it had been used this year! The boat was now carrying 5 sails and 55 tons of steel was moving at 10 knots. The boys went through many sailing drills including tacking, gybing and a simulated ‘man over board’ exercise. As night drew close, all the sails were dropped and ‘put to bed’, as we motored in to Gosport, finally getting to our bunks after an 18 hour day, all of it on deck and, much of that, sail handling.
During Monday morning, we cleaned the boat in preparation for the visit of the Mayor of Gosport. I was impressed by the boys. They took everything in their stride and rose to every challenge – in the eight years I have organised this trip, I have never raised, dropped, and changed so many sails. I think the only thing we didn’t try to put up was the dish cloth!! A brilliant trip with a great group of boys who always had a joke, or song, no matter how tired they got.
