This morning after breakfast we lifted the anchor and set the sails. At 11am we started ‘Happy hour’ (we still haven’t worked out why it is called this). We had to clean the heads (toilets) which was not fun. After lunch we were on watch. There was not much wind.
Also we have to keep an eye on Emily as she keeps being a ‘danger’ as she doesn’t like staying on four wheels, she would much rather be doing wheelies around the boat!!! This could be a hazard to passers by (joke).
Katie saw something black in the water and believed it was buoy, whereas the rest of us thought it was a seal. Katie turned out to be correct but the tide seemed to make it move, which is why we all thought it was a seal. Good eye Katie. About 10 minutes later we actually saw a seal (Katie spotted it). Joanne spotted a dolphin in the water whilst Emily again enjoyed a packet of crisps.
At the moment while on watch, Sue has been given the job of sanding paint off the cockpit on the bridge while the rest of us are relaxing in the sun. : P It is quite warm as there is not much wind! We are going at about 3.1 knots but it is mainly the tide pushing us. We have just seen another seal. J
It’s now 14:15 and we have just past a buoy that went in front of the ship then came out from the side of the ship again. When it past the ship it was going too fast to be the tide and we think that something was towing it (a dolphin or whale) but we are not sure. It was very strange and everyone is puzzled!!!
Jennifer has moved the chair that was at the side of the cockpit to in front of the wheel and is now steering with her feet! John, the 2nd mate won’t stop going on about it! She had common sense to move it. J He is making jokes and sarcastic remarks. He even said to Jennifer: “You wouldn’t steer your own mother with your feet. The ship is part of your family!” It was quite funny. We aren’t going anywhere very fast, but at the moment we are near Peterhead. The sea is so flat that it is like a mirror, and there is no swell.
Our meals are great we get plenty and they are very tasty but Emily always seems to be munching a packet of crisps just after we have eaten it seems like she eats her own body weight in crisps a day.
The crew and bosun + bosun’s mates through over the dummy in a man-overboard drill. Everyone shouted out man-overboard and maintained eye contact on the dummy, just like we were taught to do. The lifeboat was lowered and John, Natalie and Freya went in the boat to rescue the man-overboard. Radio contact was kept throughout the rescue between the whole crew. The dummy was placed in the recovery position as this is teaching them how to rescue a person should they ever fall overboard, not that we ever want someone to go overboard. When they brought the dummy back, Steve and Jo, along with the assistance of the voyage crew (all us Guides + leaders) hoisted the dummy up onto the deck and Jo spoke to the dummy, just to make sure he was okay. The captain, Claire supervised the whole rescue, just like she would do if it was real.