On Monday 9th October there was what appeared to be a quite small, and amicable, invasion of Luton Airport as a mass of Officer Cadets descended on the check in desks. Quickly, the members of various UOTCs started to get to know each other on the way to Hamburg, perhaps scouting the competition in the spirit of friendly rivalry which always accompanies such expeditions.
All this was with one purpose: to crew the yachts of British Kiel Yacht Club and Kiel Training Centre on Exercise Blue Odin, a challenging sailing expedition around the Baltic Sea. With a generous grant from the Ulysses Trust, this made for a fantastic opportunity to get back out on the waves for some, and a great (if intense) introduction to sailing for others.
Having met our skipper, a man with a fantastic sense of humour which helped him endure the expedition, we arrived at Kiel and finally boarded the yacht. This was easier said than done as with our kit we seemed to take up every inch of space in the Hallberg-Rassy 342. Luckily, through some excellent engineering, every bit of the interior seemed to conceal some kind of storage space, and we were soon living incredibly comfortably for seven people in such a small space.
The next morning we received a whole host of other equipment we needed to find storage space for, then it was out to the Kiel Fjord to finally get sailing and, in some cases, desperately try to find our sea legs. Looks of confusion were often seen on the faces of all the crew and we began simply pointing and shouting "that one" in increasingly urgent tones, rather than using the strange sailing terms for everything. All of this was not without gain however, and we returned to Kiel with a good understanding of the basics needed to be one of the crew.
The next morning, we set off for Marstal, Denmark. This was easier said than done as whilst the weather was not all that bad, the sea was just rough enough to catch all of us who weren't hardy sailors (read: everyone but the skipper) off guard. Despite this, it was a good learning experience and for most of the crew their first time on a long passage race. Having moored up we soon discovered that one of the crew, Rick, was something of a culinary genius and there was a definite surge in morale as we squeezed around the small table and tucked in.
As the week went on we all started to find our sea legs, started to gain confidence in sailing and navigating, and stopped referring to everything on the boat as "thingy" as the real names started to sink in. Days would be spent doing short distance "round-the-can" races in the mornings, which generally got quite frantic, and a long distance passage race to the next port in the evening.
The final long passage was to be at night, 60 nautical miles from Ærøskøbing, Denmark to Strande, Germany - it was of course now that the gale force winds came out to play. We sailed on in the pitch dark, constantly on the lookout for ferries and lighthouses as the wind speed climbed. The crew performed magnificently, each member taking the helm and keeping a good course as we took shifts through the night. Whilst geographically more or less exactly on course throughout, it's safe to say every member of the crew was well outside their comfort zone for that night. As we reached force 9 winds, or strong gale, we opted to abandon the passage and instead motor for the safer waters of Kiel. Arriving as the sun rose, we finally got a restful sleep for a few hours.
All that remained was to hand over the yachts, and of course a farewell social. In a use of space worthy of Doctor Who the Liverpool yacht played host to what seemed to be the whole fleet, a great way to blow off steam after the challenging night passage. All of those who had started as novices agreed that they would love to come back, although perhaps with a break on terra firma first. The week had combined good, challenging sailing with a relaxed social side building up to a night sail that even seasoned skippers were challenged by - each member of the crew had achieved something to be proud of in the exercise.
