TNS600 Southampton Round Trip

I took park in the TNS600 Voyage 7 day trip starting and ending in Southampton

The Voyage Begins
Berthed at Southampton Docks, ready to set sail on a grand adventure on the S.V. Tenacious. One of the largest, purpose built ships that enable people with zero experience of sailing (that's me) to work alongside experienced sailors and inexperienced sailors alike as a team.

I met Allison in the queue to get aboard, she is a long time supporter of the JST and on her 7th voyage having already completed a number of sailing voyages, some spanning weeks!
Once we were onboard, we were arranged in groups and allocated a watch leader. Our Watch Leader Judy was also a veteran with Tenacious, and clocked up many voyages with Tenacious and also a sister ship Lord Nelson. 

Onboard
Once onboard, we were given a tour of the ship, allocated oilskins (waterproof jackets, trousers, and boots) and shown to our quarters. When booking, I chose the option of becoming a buddy (this is optional) and upon arrival I was introduced to my allocated buddy who had arrived a little earlier and was waiting for me in the ship's lower mess.
The totally blind, delightful, funny Adrian. 

As I was only shown around the ship quickly, and easily lost my bearings, Adrian guided me around the ship to where we needed to be. This happened on more than one occasion.

We meet all the other members of our Watch, (there are 4 watches in total, each watch typically number 6-10 members) and we met and chatted to the other 3 Watches.

Watch Life and Fo'c'sle's
The experienced Watch Leaders co-ordinates the team under the guidance of the permanent crew. Our watch was the Forward Starboard, and each watch has responsibility for the various tasks required to sail and run the ship.  Between the 4 watches we had needed that needed to be completed all day through the night. 

When not on Watch Duty, we ate, relaxed, chatted, played games and took part in demonstrations, workshops, and learnt the skills we needed to fully participate in the running of the ship.
Food was fabulous, hearty fare and there was always plenty to go round. 
Sleeping accommodations for crew are arranged as fo'c'sles (rooms with a number of bunks), and cabins (1 bunk) 

Hauling Ropes, Sailing and Climbing
During the next few days, we took part in the day to day activities needed to keep the ship running. This involves a lot of rope handling, setting sails, steering at the helm, on lookout for potential hazards at sea. One highlight was getting fitted in harnesses and climbing aloft! Over 30m up the main mast, and then walking out onto the yards. (the horizontal arms that hold the sails) This is optional so if you are afraid of heights, you can stay down below.

Visiting Sark in the Channel Islands 
After some sailing and motoring in the night, we arrived at Sark, a small island neighbouring Guernsey. We settled for the night and the next day we formed away-teams and hopped in the Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) and sped towards Sark. The island was tranquil, beautiful and occupied by only 400 inhabitants with their newest member having just been born at sea, and heading back to the island. 

It was a major shame the shop selling locally made chocolate was not open, but there are a number of amenities that were open including the village pub and hotels.

After an afternoon exploring, we headed back on the RIB to the warmth of a shower and a hot chocolate and cake in the lower mess. 

Night Watch
Night watches were a little different to day watches depending on if we were anchored or moving. During my night watches at anchor, we kept a quarter-hourly log of our bearing and distance from nearby landmarks to check that the ship had not drifted outside of the boundaries set by the 1st Mate. 

Wind Direction and wind speeds were also noted.
Each hour, we took dry and wet temperature readings, visibility checks were made and other important data was recorded, and patrols were made around the ship to ensure all is safe and quiet. This was accompanied by lots of tea and coffee and munching of snacks left in the galley for the hungry Night Watchers!

Heading Back to Southampton
Returning to Southampton was sad with tearful farewells as we parted company. It was a brilliant experience and I would heartily recommend this experience for anyone! (even a non-sailing, non-swimming novice like me)

If you are interested in supporting this brilliant charity, please do consider including a donation when booking a class with us. We will match all donations given this way.

Alternately, you can donate directly via the www.jst.org.uk website, or book a voyage with JST through their website.