An early start again this time from Haslar Marina. The weather was bright but the forecast was very rough. In the lull some of thought this would mean a day of dry drills and thought the skipper was mad when he asked us to prep for sea.

No complaints though the training was valuable and very good. We went through tacking and gibing and put up the storm sails. Ram was missing from the Port Wash so we had to create our own entertainment. After ‘I Spy’ had run its course we went out the A-Z of ‘I went to a sex shop and bought….’ where Kiera showed her excellent memory for such things. After the fun came a little pain when I lost a finger in the winch when the wind took hold of the fore sail. Fortunately I was able to reattach it with an elastoplast. Things seem to be contagious in Port Wash (vomiting being one) and before I knew it my bad luck had passed onto Kiera who banged her eye on a metal rail. Returning to Gosport blue we practised taking down sails efficiently before settling in for the night

Neil Hewitt