Level 1 Training

Day One

The first day was all about First Aid. Although some of us have done first aid courses over the years, it was a sobering reminder that we were depending on one another in an emergency.

Day Two

The second day focused on safety on board and equipment - where everything is (fire extinguishers, fire blankets, life vests etc etc). We were introduced to the rosters (Mothers and Engineers). As a member of Mother watch you are expected to cook and provide the three meals for the day as well as cater for teas & coffee. There is no fridge, freezer or microwave on board, so apart from some goodies in a cooler box, most of the food comes out of a can or packet. Being a Mother (and cooking for 11 people) is going to be a challenge for all of us. The Engineers look after all the daily maintenance functions; bilge inspection, engine ‘WOBBLE’ (an acronym for water oil belts bilge leads electrical) and we mustn’t forget the important heads or toilets - there are two on board which need daily cleaning and if you are unlucky, they may need unblocking. To clean the heads you are equipped with gloves, get down to your shorts & bog in! (excuse my little pun). It did happen and the crew involved were very circumspect on their lot.

Once we had covered below decks we received tuition on every piece of equipment including sheets, ropes, halyards etc that was on deck.

Day Three

The third day we were off to sea; during the day we went through various drills to familiarise ourselves with the sails, winches and all the gear. We departed the Solent in the evening about 6pm & as we left the radio forecast reported the onset of a storm; a Force 8 on the Beaufort scale; 34-40 knot gale winds.

There were moderately high waves, crests breaking into spindrift and white foam. The skipper & first mate seemed unconcerned; we novices were beginning to think “what have we got ourselves into??!!!”.

Our destination was En Fleur in France. We were split into two groups for our watches; 4 hours on and 4 hours off. When our watch came on deck the storm was in full force. We knew when trying to dress down below that it was on but our arrival on deck was met with rain, wind & the churning sea. Apart from the skipper & first mate we all experienced sea sickness. It was a good indoctrination for all of us and I’m sure it is what we can expect plus more as we travel around the world.

Day Four

We survived the night and arrived in En Fleur about mid morning. Our French speaking crewmate spoke to the harbour control and enabled us to dock in the quaint village via a lock. We enjoyed their hospitality had a meal and a quiet night tied up at a wharf. All was well with the world and we prepared ourselves for the return journey.

Day Five

Our return journey back to England was a brilliant sail; we departed about 9am and arrived back at Gosport 12 hours later. What a difference the sea conditions made, we had more wind on the way back but less wave action and maintained, for most of our sail, 11 knots SOG.

Day Six

We sailed around the Solent today continuing our drills on MOB (man over board), points of sail, raising and lowering of the yankee & staysail and learning knots. We anchored at the Marina in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. All is well.

Day Seven

Ongoing training for sail changes during the morning and returned to Gosport Marina about mid day.

It was explained to us the need for a ‘deep clean’ at the end of each training cycle. We had to pull out below all the bilge covers, galley cushions, bunk cushions, all the unused food, all 8 sails and all ropes from the rope locker. We repacked all life vests & all the oilies in the wet locker. We also had to take onto the pontoon all our personal gear.

We then vacuumed or sponged out all the bilges, scrubbed & disinfected all surfaces throughout the yacht including the heads & galley. On the pontoon all covers were scrubbed & dried. We then reassembled everything and put our gear back on board for our last night (farewell dinner at the Jolly Roger pub in Gosport). A good night was had by all; not too much to drink as swimming was on the menu for our last day.

Day Eight

Sea Survival course - Hamble.

The first part of the day was back in the classroom for tuition and instruction on the safety equipment carried onboard the yachts. I must admit we struggled to concentrate at times because of our night out but we soon woke up when we moved from the classroom to the swimming pool to put into practise what we has just learnt.

Hearing and seeing a life raft inflate is a noisy, wet affair and part of the instruction is to get on board at sea level. This is no mean feat when you have not done it before.

We where all of the opinion that the live raft is not really the place that you would want to be but it is better than any other option you can think of if you had to abandon ship in the middle of the ocean.

Sir Robins Tip. As well as holding on make sure you clip on whenever you can. It may slow you down as you move around the boat but your safety is more important.