A group of Combined Cadet Force cadets aged 16-18 were selected to take part in an expedition that started in A Coruňa, Spain on Sunday 14th July and finished in Brest, France on Sunday 27th July. The cadets came from a range of different schools, had a range of different yachting and dinghy experience, and were made up of 5 males and 5 females.
The group met in Portsmouth a day before the expedition started, stayed overnight on board HMS BRISTOL at Whale Island, and visited the Historic Dockyard to allow time to meet and get to know each other before flying out to Spain. The group were initially quite quiet and reserved. Apprehension surrounding the trip was obvious. The previous sailing experiences among the cadets included two very recently qualified Day Skippers, four cadets had completed a Competent Crew Course, one of the cadets had finished 27th in the Topper World Championships, another is an Assistant Dinghy Instructor and several cadets, Emma, Beth, Issy, Jack and Eoin hoped to use the Expedition to complete the Residential Section of the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award.
The flight to A Coruňa on Sunday 14th was on time but the security check revealed that some stray items had been left in hand luggage. It was, however, reassuring to see that the checks were thorough. After a short taxi ride, we met the Skipper, Paul and the female Watch Leader and Second Mate, Geraldine who had arrived at the Marina Coruna on Saturday, a day earlier to accept the transfer of the JSASTC (Joint Services Adventurous Sail Training Centre at Gosport) Yacht ADVENTURE from the previous crew. Our departure was going to be delayed as components had to be flown out from the UK to repair parts that had failed on the previous leg from the Azores. The delay allowed for on-shore training to start and the first in a series of lectures. Storm sails were hoisted and tested, points of sail explained and the Competent Crew course got well underway. The group was split into two watches, Blue and Red, with Jack and Eoin, the recently qualified Day Skippers, as second in charge of a Watch under the Adult Watch Leaders Geraldine and Gary. This allowed the boys to test their leadership skills, help them develop skills in managing a group and put into practice the skills they had learned on the Day Skipper Course.
In each watch one person was nominated as ‘Mother Watch’ and they became responsible for cleaning and the cooking of all meals, snacks and drinks for a 24 hours period from 1600 to 1559. Sarah and Dervla cooked Chicken Curry on the first evening of the Mother Watch rota which caused some alarm amongst some of the crew as cadet Simon Chicken, Geraldine Poulet-Bowden and Honorary Crew member (Shore based) Geraŕd Poulet all hoped they were not on the menu.
As the group had a range of different skills and experiences, the expectations from the course varied. The younger members, Issy and Beth, wanted to learn about sailing and living on a 67’ yacht. Emma and Sarah who had sailed before were interested in learning how the watch system would operate on long overnight passages. Josh and Tom were keen on the physical aspect of crewing on such a large powerful yacht.
The expedition completed over 800 miles in mostly light winds but it did reach force 8 around the headland at El Ferrol (Cabo Prior). We visited 8 different ports: A Coruňa, El Ferrol, Gijon, La Rochelle, Lorient, Concarneau, Camaret-Sur-Mer and finished in Brest. The yacht was night sailed by both watches for a total of 31 hours. Dolphins swam alongside the yacht 5 times playing in the bow wake and posing for photographs. Watches were 4 hours on and 4 hours off watch which involves considerable personal discipline in order to sleep off watch.
At the beginning of the trip 10 pale, reserved cadets met on HMS Bristol with varying expectations of a trip across an unpredictable stretch of water in a large and heavy sailing boat. After 13 days of working together and looking after each other they depart as a cohesive team.
In 2012 the CCF organised a 14 day sail on a challenge 67 from Portsmouth to St.Malo via the Channel Island. This year we tried to improve on this by completing a 750nm trip across the Bay of Biscay. It was a fantastic trip, the cadets were all hard working, focussed and gained a great deal from the trip and all of them have aspirations to continue sailing yachts in the future.
