we had a quiet evening in port. some members of the watch were on harbour watch while the rest of us had a good sleep.
dry sunny weather greeted us and after our cooked breakfast, our first task was getting stores aboard which entailed a conveyor belt of voyage crew passing items down to storage under the lower decks. My watch, Aft Port, were on duty at 12.30 so we had an early lunch which coincided with us leaving the mooring and heading out to sea. we passed the Isle of Wight on our port side most of the afternoon we were still passing the island which seemed to go forever. during our watch there was a chance to go aloft. this meant we all were given harnesses and spent many minutes getting them on correctly. John the 2nd mate gave us a briefing and then it was all hands aloft who wanted. most people did want to get this exciting part of the trip under their belts early on. I really love climbing the ratlins and getting onto the first platform. it was however very blowy up there. We were instructed soon on getting out of the topsail yard and clipping on. Great fun.
After smoko (tea and coffee and cakes) which also coincided with the end of our watch, we were instructed in bracing the yards. good practice for when we do need to either square the yards or pull them hard over to starbord/port. Some watches let go their braces until the marks reached the pins, and some pulled to take up the slack.a good first day at sea and friendships and team spirit starting. a good start to our adventure.
Lucilla (AP crew member)