Still feeling the bruises and aches from Level 3 training, I set off last Friday afternoon to spend a weekend bonding with the other 'Team Matt' crew members at a campsite in Milford on Sea.
Even though we weren't supposed to be meeting until the next day at Go Ape, I helped set up the campsite with six of my fellow team mates. One of my roles for the weekend was to organise tents for people who needed somewhere to sleep the following night, bringing four two man tents- this worked out to be just enough! It also gave us a great opportunity to test run fellow round the world crew member, Chris' 'homemade' BBQ, which quickly cooked up a great meal.
Next morning we set off to Go Ape in Itchen Valley Park. Arriving at 9am, I met up with the rest of my crew, who many, I had not seen since May on Crew Allocation Day. Once strapped into our harnesses and debating over how easy people say Go Ape is, we took to the trees. The best bit was the leap of faith jump into a net, even though everyone heard me screech as I leapt off the edge!!! We also challenged ourselves to get across sections with no hands... not an easy task!
After Lunch, we headed back to the campsite and pitched more tents; thankfully everyone found somewhere to sleep! We then wandered to the nearest pub and got to know each other, returning later to set up the BBQ. This was to be the Victuallers first test; catering food for around 30 people and the result was a brilliant meal leaving people feeling sure we were in safe hands when it came to food on the Clipper Race.
With plenty of drinks, we played team games and sat round a large camp fire till the early hours of the next morning. Now we could look forward to a swim in the sea, after a 15 minute walk into Milford on Sea, we arrived to big waves and a windy beach; at first it didn't look very inviting, but we stripped down to our swimming gear and jumped straight in! Freezing, but after a few strokes it was fine and I spent the next 15 minutes swimming. A BBQ breakfast and then discussions of what extras we were going to buy for the boat on the Clipper Race. After cleaning up the campsite we went back to Portsmouth and then met up for fish and chips at the Portsmouth Sailing Club, all organised by Sigi, before saying our goodbyes.
The next day, some of us had signed up to take part in the Cowes Race Week on board one of the 68 foot Clipper Racing Yachts, so we made our way by Hovercraft (a first time experience for me) to Ryde. A 10am start, myself and 15 others, including a skipper, slipped the lines and raced in a very busy Solent. We had a great day sailing and it gave me my first real taste of sailing in racing conditions; exciting and tiring, with lots of tacks and head sail changes, a fun days racing.
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