Log three - au revoir Cherbourg Although we were stuck in London, it was great fun, and we saw loads of tourist sights that we might not have seen for a long time. Meantime, repairs were being done to the sails and the cockpit railings, but this meant we couldn't leave until Thursday. As soon as we left the Thames estuary, we hit fog, so the plan to take a run down to the French coast was abandoned. Instead, we coasted along the south coast of England with the motors running. We cut across the departure lanes of the cross-channel ferries, taking a deep breath as we did - and although the rules of the road at sea state that "power gives way to sail" they never seem to be too good at stopping or altering course.
 | | Getting up in the morning can be rough |
But you'll be glad to hear, we made it! With a light wind, we made it along to Sandown Bay, the Isle of Wight and dropped anchor under clear blue skies. We were desperate to leave for Cherbourg, as so many of the Tall Ships were arriving there that evening, so we tried to break through the fog by motoring. But we had to turn round about midnight and head for Yarmouth on the other side of the Isle of Wight and just wait for the blinking fog! We were all on deck for 5am on Friday and left at 6am, and although the fog had gone, the winds were still very light, so we had to motor across the English Channel. I was on cooking watch, and, as breakfast is one of my specialities, we were all fed well. Food has been really great actually - always plenty to eat, and considering I'm brilliant at hoovering the fridge - that's really something! At least we don't have to catch our food! This is one of the busiest sea lanes in the world, and if you don't get the radar readings right, you could be re-designing the hull of a tanker, so we were all on deck watch too. The sun was out, and this was as near to Mediterranean sailing as we would get, so we soaked up the sun. Friday fun It was Friday evening when we started to see Cherbourg, and we could hear and see the chaotic noise of celebration and bands in the harbour - so we were bustin' to get there and get on shore.
 | | We said goodbye to some in Cherbourg |
Most of the ships had arrived and we were one of the last. But we were in time to get a shower and clean up before going to the crew party - this was great fun, and a chance to meet the hundreds of other crew members. Saturday was crew change for the others - this is where I would have been joining the James Cook if I hadn't been lucky enough to get the additional week. So it was goodbyes to me mates and a dash on shore for a little shore leave... The new crew arrived on Saturday afternoon, so we had to go through crew briefings before we headed out to sea again for the next leg back to England. On Sunday, we joined the Cherbourg Parade of Sail with all the other ships and left on Sunday afternoon on the high tide. There were two flotillas - the larger ships going first. But before we left, we all went up on deck as a "salute" for the Cherbourg dignitaries and in a timeless ritual, we paid tribute to King Neptune. We did this with our own version of "supping-up-the-yoghurt-upside-down". We won't go into that at the moment - but we all got rather messy.
 | | Whole new meaning to using your 'heads' |
The atmosphere was fantastic - there were well over a thousand people giving us a French farewell as we all headed out into the Channel. Heading back This time, it was "heaven help the ferries!" - there were so many of the Tall Ships on the run straight across the Channel. But we had to use the motors again as the winds were so light. We made the English coast in the early hours of Monday morning. Ramsgate was our next port of call, and we arrived in the middle of Monday afternoon. After spending the evening in Ramsgate, we heard there was a South Westerly wind of force-6 - now this was more like it - we needed to shake out the sails a bit. This was our first real sail - whipping along at about 10 knots, and we made Lowestoft by Tuesday evening with a large number of the other ships too. Goodness knows what local sailors think with all these huge vessels coming in and nicking their berths! We are still here in Lowestoft, with four Ocean Youth Trust boats all moored together - and again, a huge number of people eying us up. We are due to go on up to Whitby for the weekend, with more harbour parties arranged. I suppose Whitby's this boat's natural home really, as Captain James Cook was born there and there's a museum just near the harbour too - I reckon we'll be visiting that too. The weather forecast is looking like a force six and seven north westerly on the nose of the ship, so at least we'll get some more good sailing in - Whitby here we come! | 
