On Sunday 15th June, two staff and 6 pupils from Year 8 set off for a 6 day trip on the sailing ship Johanna Lecretia. After a four hour journey down to Devon , the pupils arrived at Plymouth harbour to see their home for the next 6 days. Almost as soon as we arrived, we transferred all of the bags onto the boat and had a session on boat safety and rules from the captain and his first mate and crew. The pupils were split into two watches for day time tasks and two groups for cabins. Whilst the starboard group got settled in the cabins and went up on deck, the port group made a tea of fajitas which the whole group were ready to eat. We moored up in a local bay for the night and after settling into cabins around 10 pm, everyone was asleep by 3am!
On Monday morning, everyone was up (not so bright and breezy) by 7.45 am and the starboard group made the breakfast whilst the port group scrubbed the decks, once the cabins were tidy and toilets cleaned we set off on our first day’s sail to Salcombe. We struggled with not enough wind, but with a bit of help from the motor we made our way to the bay and anchored at a buoy just out from Salcombe. On the way we saw dolphins in the distance, raised the sails, and had our first experience of a decent days sail. The water was fairly still although a few people felt a little seasick. At Salcombe we climbed down to the powerboat and went ashore to have ice-creams and explore the seaside town. Starboard team made a great chilli for tea and by 10 pm everyone was in bed exhausted. Less than an hour later everyone was asleep.
On Tuesday morning we woke up to a swirling fog surrounding the boat but when it cleared the sun came out and shone for the rest of the week. The two watches made the breakfast, scrubbed the decks and cleaned the toilets and we set off on a sail to Dartmouth. Oscar and Daniel got to climb out on the netting on the front of the boat and sat balanced on the wooden beam over the sea. We had a lesson in tying sailing knots and Leo steered the ship for over an hour. We had a practice of man over board drill then anchored out to sea where we had a chance for a swim at the side of the boat. Everyone got in (including Miss Mansell) and the bravest people jumped off the side of the ship into the water. We put up the main square sail and Kaiden, Daniel , Oscar and Leo worked super hard on the ropes to make the ship look like a real pirate ship to enter Dartmouth harbour. The pupils put the music on loud and danced in the sunshine and Dylan and Oscar took the chance to balance out on the netting over the sea again. Late afternoon we pulled into Dartmouth harbour and moored on the jetty. We spent the evening playing card games in the sun and everyone went to bed and settled down to sleep. When we got up on Wednesday morning the sea was really calm. The groups did their chores and we watched the seals swimming alongside us in the harbour. We set off out into the channel and headed out to sea. A few nautical miles from shore we spotted a Minky whale swimming. We followed it for a few miles as it came to the surface and went under lots of times. We had to use the motor as the sea was so still but the teams worked really well together to hoist the sails and to steer the boat. Leo took the helm for over two hours supported by Daniel and Preston having a singsong as they sailed. After an outdoor lunch, we entered international waters…Elmwood Abroad!
We sailed amongst giant container ships and lots of jellyfish. About 15 miles out from shore we were joined by dolphins at the front and back of the ship. They leapt out of the water and weaved in and out. At one point we were surrounded on all sides by happy playing dolphins! We sailed back towards a bay and put down the anchor for a choppy night at sea. We had a late evening game of hide and seek that lasted nearly an hour as pupils were wrapped in sails, hidden in boxes and in the smallest of hiding spaces and settled down with a beautiful sunset after tea and tired from a long 11.5 hour sail that day.
On Thursday we got up to the best wind of the week. After the usual chores we had the chance for another swim. This time it was a lot colder as it was early in the morning. Dylan, Daniel, Preston, and Oscar joined Frankie in a cold morning swim then after the swim everyone was needed on deck to raise the pirate sails again and do some great speedy sailing. On our fifth day on the water Oscar, Kaiden, Daniel and Leo were able to sort the ropes and do the correct moves to tie the ropes and the sails up without any direction from the crew. We sailed along the shore heading back towards Plymouth. We spotted jellyfish, lots of birds, dolphins and fish as we bounced up and down on the waves and pulled into Plymouth harbour for our last night on the boat. The evening was busy with cooking and a lot of cleaning and tidying ready to leave the boat early on Friday morning.
On Friday we did our final tidy up and had a debrief from the captain. Everyone got a certificate to say the distance we had covered at sea, over 100 nautical miles . We headed back to school on a 6 hour journey which was broken up by sleeping, games and lunch at KFC at the services and we arrived back at school just after 5 pm . The group were amazing and great ambassadors for the school. They worked hard, displayed exceptional teamwork, learnt new skills and experienced some great adventures.
