This week, 4 students from Year 10 were lucky enough to join students from Bohunt Liphook for an unforgettable trip to Tall Ships in Portsmouth.
Tall Ships Portsmouth is a youth charity whose mission is “to enable young people aged 12-25 to fulfil their life potential through genuinely life changing adventures at sea.”
On arrival, Mimi Millerchip, Hazel Wall-Palmer, Archie Addison and Ruby Marshall enjoyed bacon sandwiches, donned wet weather sailing gear and life jackets, and listened to a briefing. They learnt how to tie knots and pull ropes in, and then set sail on a very bumpy Solent where winds gusted to 42 knots (equivalent to 50 MPH!). This meant that they could only put up the tri/storm sail as it was too windy for the tall sails. They zig-zagged towards the Isle of Wight, but unfortunately due to the weather conditions they could not reach Cowes.
However, it was an amazing experience, and despite some seasickness, they were very excited and exhilarated by it. They returned to calmer waters by the naval ships in the harbour to eat lunch and then came in to moor next to a super-yacht owned by a Russian banker. It took 7 attempts to moor due to the wind and the tide, and several of the super-yacht’s crew members had to help!
Karen Heath, College/Careers Co-ordinator said, “the students showed resilience and teamwork, and it was a thrilling day for us all!”
