Over the summer, a group of Bloxham sailors took to the sea to sail from Plymouth all the way to France, Guernsey and Jersey.
Some of Bloxham’s sailors were accompanied by Mr Skevington and staff from Ocean Youth Trust to take part in a particularly challenging sailing adventure this summer.
On Monday 20th July, our sailors joined members of the Ocean Youth Trust to begin their adventure from Plymouth, across the sea to France. After the preliminary briefings, the team sailed to Cawsand Bay and prepared for the next day’s early start. The day began with a man-overboard drill before they finally set sail for Guernsey, averaging 8 knots to arrive late in the evening. It was a slower start for the team on the following day, giving them the chance to go ashore and have showers, before departing for St Cast in the afternoon. The next morning saw another slow-paced morning again, before they sailed to St Malo, before arriving at their final destination, Jersey, on the Friday.’
Many thanks to Mr Skevington, who coordinated and led the trip, for his report below:
Wow, what an amazing experience we had; perfect weather and great sailing! We saw a shark and were even followed by a school of dolphins. The night sailing was a particular highlight and the whole trip was full of incidents and occurrences, which only added to the drama and fun. The engine broke down and we snapped an oar whilst going ashore in the tender in Guernsey so had to be rescued by the harbour master. On arriving in St Cast, we discovered that our (pre-booked) place had been pinched by the French customs boat, so we had to moor alongside it at 2.00am. In St Malo, despite booking the lock time, the grumpy local lock keeper disappeared off for lunch and, finally, whilst sailing into Jersey we encountered a thunder and lightning storm. The OYT staff were really helpful throughout the trip and got on brilliantly with the group.
Click here to take a look at some photos from Sailing at Bloxham during 2014-15 year, including snaps from this voyage.