1st August 2015: Channel Sailing on Tenacious
Having sailed on Jubilee Sailing Trust's (JST) Lord Nelson numerous times, I was delighted to have the opportunity of sailing on Tenacious on the occasion of her 15th birthday. Tenacious was built in Woolston and launched on 2000. Hundreds of the voyage crew that have sailed her over the years have been involved in some way in her construction. So not only has she been built to accommodate crew of mixed abilities, she was actually built by volunteers of mixed abilities. A truly magnificent achievement and one one unlikely to be ever repeated.
Joining me for this voyage, I was pleased to have my brother-in-law, Malcolm, as a fellow crew member on my watch. Malcolm has sailed many times before but never on a tall ship. So we reported to the ship in Southampton on 27 July and sailed the following morning after our obligatory safety briefing. My buddy for the voyage was Paul from Glasgow - an ardent Celtic fan so we had plenty to talk about over the week! Malcolm was on 'mother watch' for the first few hours which I felt a bit guilty about but on the other hand it was good to get it out of the way early so he could enjoy the rest of the voyage on deck. Although JST target 18-25 year old voyage crew, there is often a much older age profile and on any other occasion, Malcolm and I could have been amongst the younger crew members. As it was, the voyage coincided with the summer school and college holidays so we had a very young crew who all got stuck in and worked hard throughout the week. A special mention to Chloe and Brad who worked tirelessly the whole week and to former Vendee Globe bowman Patrick who was a great mentor to some of the younger crew members.
The weather wasn't particularly kind to us so with winds approaching force 6 we took refuge on our first night in Freshwater Bay by the Isle of Wight. The next day we sailed out into the channel in some pretty good swells with the sails up and enjoyed some good sailing - although it is fair to say one or two succumbed to sea sickness. Malcolm had told me beforehand that he probably would not go above deck level but to his credit he tried everything out. We both climbed up to the first platform of the foremast, we both took the helm for a while and, of course, we got fully involved with handing sails and bracing yards when required. Our return to Freshwater Bay under motor was evidence that the winds had not eased up and the following day we headed west to Swanage under a mixture of sail and motor. It was the end of carnival week so we enjoyed a good display of fireworks.
Friday morning we sailed back fro Southampton but this time the wind and weather was extremely kind and we sailed up with nearly 20 sails set and in light winds achieved speeds of around 6-7 knots. It was perfect opportunity to try a full mast climb with my new Veho Muvi camera to record the climb.
Having sailed on Jubilee Sailing Trust's (JST) Lord Nelson numerous times, I was delighted to have the opportunity of sailing on Tenacious on the occasion of her 15th birthday. Tenacious was built in Woolston and launched on 2000. Hundreds of the voyage crew that have sailed her over the years have been involved in some way in her construction. So not only has she been built to accommodate crew of mixed abilities, she was actually built by volunteers of mixed abilities. A truly magnificent achievement and one one unlikely to be ever repeated.
Joining me for this voyage, I was pleased to have my brother-in-law, Malcolm, as a fellow crew member on my watch. Malcolm has sailed many times before but never on a tall ship. So we reported to the ship in Southampton on 27 July and sailed the following morning after our obligatory safety briefing. My buddy for the voyage was Paul from Glasgow - an ardent Celtic fan so we had plenty to talk about over the week! Malcolm was on 'mother watch' for the first few hours which I felt a bit guilty about but on the other hand it was good to get it out of the way early so he could enjoy the rest of the voyage on deck. Although JST target 18-25 year old voyage crew, there is often a much older age profile and on any other occasion, Malcolm and I could have been amongst the younger crew members. As it was, the voyage coincided with the summer school and college holidays so we had a very young crew who all got stuck in and worked hard throughout the week. A special mention to Chloe and Brad who worked tirelessly the whole week and to former Vendee Globe bowman Patrick who was a great mentor to some of the younger crew members.
The weather wasn't particularly kind to us so with winds approaching force 6 we took refuge on our first night in Freshwater Bay by the Isle of Wight. The next day we sailed out into the channel in some pretty good swells with the sails up and enjoyed some good sailing - although it is fair to say one or two succumbed to sea sickness. Malcolm had told me beforehand that he probably would not go above deck level but to his credit he tried everything out. We both climbed up to the first platform of the foremast, we both took the helm for a while and, of course, we got fully involved with handing sails and bracing yards when required. Our return to Freshwater Bay under motor was evidence that the winds had not eased up and the following day we headed west to Swanage under a mixture of sail and motor. It was the end of carnival week so we enjoyed a good display of fireworks.
Friday morning we sailed back fro Southampton but this time the wind and weather was extremely kind and we sailed up with nearly 20 sails set and in light winds achieved speeds of around 6-7 knots. It was perfect opportunity to try a full mast climb with my new Veho Muvi camera to record the climb.